Human Choices
- Laura Marsh
- Jan 21, 2021
- 9 min read
Pre-module Tasks
In his essay Understanding a Photograph, John Berger describes human choices,
“A photograph is a result of the photographer’s decision that it is worth recording that this particular event or this particular object has been seen” (Berger,2003:18).
From this, I can relate to my own human choices within my work, a short moment of observation to determine if this object or event captures what I want, is it a decisive moment that will be gone if I do not capture it now. Once that decision is made, I contemplate the composition of my photograph. “A good photograph is a well-composed one” (Berger,2003:19) a notion that Berger also mentions in his essay and one he disagrees with in terms of photography, where he claims that composition can not be part of photography. For me it is key to my methods, as I try to frame the objects within the frame before taking the picture.
Looking for the beauty and details as well as plans to explore still life, links to a photographer that has inspired me through their work looking at similar themes. Kimberley Witham’s work is inspired by the original Dutch paintings and her interest in the art history and the natural world. Her work since 2006 has looked at the relationship between humans and animals. She uses vegetation from her own garden and roadkill she has found to create beautiful detail photographs of the animals she discovers, her aim is to portray the beauty within, even in death. Witham describes her work to say it “serves as both a celebration of beauty and a reminder of the inevitability of death” (Witham, 2018)
This is something I have tried to do with my own work and in my own images of the deceased animals, looking at the animal as a being and how graceful and beautiful they still are after death.
I do, however, keep them where they lay and compose the shot from above with some surroundings to give context of where they are. I have used dark tones within my contrasts and colours to highlight their colours and beauty, as well as bringing a softness to the image, almost as respect for them. Witham also relies heavily on her lighting to create the photo she wants, creating striking colours and harsh shadows links perfectly to the still life Dutch painting and Vanitas she is inspired by, which is an observation made by Nico Cathcart, where she describes her use of light making her photos look “painterly” and that she manages to hide “details in beautiful ways” (Cathcart,2019).
Witham’s images certainly draw you in, their dark backgrounds and tone highlight the bold colour within the flora and animals against each other. In a short video by National Geographic ‘Turning Roadkill into Art’, Witham herself describes her work as something “really beautiful, really lush rubbing up against something that also perhaps repulsive” and explains that she thinks she is aiming for a reaction from her audience as a “notion of seduction and revulsion”. Again, this is something I view in my work, an image of a dead bird can be seen as being revolting by some, but beautiful to others and by combining the two you draw focus on how they complement each other.
An area of my work I have started to consider, is that of fragility and how fragile nature is as well as ourselves, something I can see in certain images of mine, how delicate and thin a leaf is once it has fallen for example. This is an aspect Witham considers herself too and sees it as “very personal meditation on beauty, fecundity, fragility and the inevitable march of time” (Witham, 2003).
Witham’s work is discussed while in exhibit at Gallery 19, where her intent to make the audience ask questions on our relationship with nature and how these creatures came to be, the idea and understanding that destruction of their home is a cause.
Photographer Stephen Shore’s work has inspired my work by using observation while working. While using a Hasselblad X1D during his walks, shown in a short video by Hasselblad, ‘Hasselblad X1D, Stephen Shore’ around New York while walking his dogs, he started capturing points of interest in the ground, patterns and textures that are almost abstract, again this is something I have been doing in my work, capturing the colours and feel of the ground, while also being selective in what I shoot. When I spot something of interest, I imagine how it could be framed before taking the shot, using visual cues of its surroundings, is it next to something that juxtaposes its place? Are there contrasting colours and tones? Shore discusses this in ‘Q&A with Stephen Shore’ for Art Review in an interview with Fi Churchman in May 2019. While working with the Hasselblad and its print size of 4 X 5.5ft, he explains to Churchman:
“I pick up my Hasselblad and look at something in the world in front of me and know how it’s going to translate to a print that size, and make decisions that are based on that translation” (Shore, 2019)
In a short video interview ‘Stephen Shore | How to See the Photographer with Stephen Shore’ by MOMA, January 2018, Shore explains that “to make all my decisions conscious, I started filling the pictures with attention” (Shore, 2018).
My understanding of this is being aware, being in the moment. I am consciously aware of what I am shooting, what is in the frame and not in the frame. Constantly looking at the details, composition, and elements to create the image I want.
When discussing his newest work in an interview with Tom McGlynn, ‘Art in Conversation: Stephen Shore’, March 2018, regarding a retrospective at MOMA, alongside his work shown at 303 Gallery, McGlynn describes the aesthetic and compositional choices Shore makes, pointing out that the focus is “…vertically, cutting across the visual plane, yet they literally depict a ground plane” (McGlynn, 2018). This also describes my own work, my visual and ‘human choices’ recently while shooting. Instead of just filling the frame with the subject I have chosen, I have started including the surroundings, such as the edge of the pavement, road markings and other objects. Giving the viewer an insight to the location of the subject, but also breaking the image up, almost framing the subject within the frame.
Figures 3 and 4: Stephen Shore, May 19th 2017, New York, New York
Figures 5 and 6: Laura Marsh, 2020, Look Down
Another convention I use is how I compose my images. Sometimes placing the subject in the centre or sometimes off to the right or left of the frame. Again, showing the location. This is something I developed towards the end of Positions and Practice and I plan to continue to explore my choices going forward. How I will develop this yet, I am unsure, my plan is to use my visual cues while shooting and expand my skills from there.
Shore explains to McGlynn in this interview, that at the time he was shooting ‘American Surfaces’ in 1972-3, the convention was not to place your subject in the centre, Shore did not always agree with this as he explained that when you look at something with your own eyes, you are always looking straight at it. I can understand this, and I notice it myself, as the subject whatever it may be is your focus, therefore it would be in the centre of your vision.
Another factor within my work is colour, for example, my eye is drawn to the contrast between a yellow leaf laying on a grey pavement or brown decaying leaves. To me the beauty of the failing life of the yellow leaf resting on the decaying composting leaves, is something we overlook either as it is a common yearly sight that we do not take much notice or the brown of the decay we see as dirt and mud and ugly. A photographer I have also been looking at is Ernst Hass, especially his approach to observation and looking at his surroundings, as well as his use of colours and tones. His use of colour and abstraction in ordinary things to highlight the unseen and detail around him, is what I am promoting in my own work.
John Haber discusses Haas’s work in his review of the showing of Haas’s work at Bruce Silverstein in June 2005, in ‘Nothing is So Humble: Prints from Everyday Objects’. Haas’s colour work is on display and Haber states that “Haas fell in love with colour all over again” (Haber, 2005) while explaining that Haas was inspired by the work of Paul Outerbridge and William Eggleston before him. The use of colour is a decision I make each time I shoot; I have converted colour shots to black and white to see if the impact is stronger or if it suits the subject. This is not always the case and I stay with colour, as the details and beauty are highlighted far better than black and white would.
Haas’s observational skills are discussed in ‘Ernst Haas, Dreaming with Open Eyes’. In this short film, Haas is seen in footage describing his work while in New York and talks about his fascination with the vertical and horizontal lines all around the city landscape, seeing them as “frames within frames” (Haas, Dreaming with Open Eyes).
I am doing something similar, by using the edge of a paving slab or curb to almost break up or frame the subject within the frame. Observing and looking is the important aspect of my work, Haas was passionate about seeing, promoting the act, and encouraging viewers to “cultivate this sense of seeing, look around you and you will find many worlds to discover…everywhere” (Haas, Dreaming with Open Eyes). He also states that:
“…children will learn everything, will learn to walk, will learn to read, will learn to write, but we never really learn to see, to be aware of our surroundings reality, to observe with delight” (Haas, Dreaming with Open Eyes).
In an interview with Getty Image in 2014, ‘Passion for Pictures: Ernst Haas’, his son Alex Haas discusses his father’s objective to push himself and try something different, abstraction was this and he believed it showed Haas’s artistic side. This is something I can relate to as I have a fine art background from my studies, and this comes through within my choices and the styles and conventions I use. This is useful, but I want to develop that further and expand my skills and knowledge through this project and maybe try and move away from these in some way.
One piece of work discussed by Alex in this interview, is the abstraction piece ‘Holy Underwear’. This is a piece of underwear that Haas discovered in a desert, which he felt resembled the cross, with a figure of eight in it, which is also the symbol for infinity. The dark tones and the detail of dirt, sand, and creases in the fabric, are like some of the details I try to capture in the subjects I find. The dark tones give a deeper, softer feel to the images, which is a feeling I get from this work by Haas.
This is a technique I feel works in my photos, and feedback from my peers explaining that it gives a deeper meaning and softer look and feel. This inspires me to explore and experiment with this further. This technique did not work well with a sweet wrapper in a pile of decaying leaves, although the colours worked, the message did not work well, and feedbacks was that the softness was not there. This is something I am now conscious off when I will shoot in the coming module and develop further.
Bibliography
Books:
John Peter Berger and Dyer, G. (2013). Understanding a photograph. London: Penguin Books.
Websites:
Churchman, F. (2019). Q&A with Stephen Shore. [online] artreview.com. Available at: https://artreview.com/online-preview-stephen-shore-photo-london-2019/ [Accessed 10 Jan. 2021].
David Yurman. (n.d.). The Art of Seeing. [online] Available at: https://www.davidyurman.com/world-of-yurman/ernst-haas.html [Accessed 10 Jan. 2021].
Haber, J. (2020). Haber’s Art Reviews: Ernst Haas, “AND/ALSO,” and “Nothing Is So Humble.” [online] www.haberarts.com. Available at: http://www.haberarts.com/haas.htm [Accessed 10 Jan. 2021].
McGlynn, T. (2018). STEPHEN SHORE with Tom McGlynn. [online] The Brooklyn Rail. Available at: https://brooklynrail.org/2018/03/art/STEPHEN-SHORE-with-Tom-McGlynn [Accessed 10 Jan. 2021].
Smithson, A. (2018). Kimberly Witham: The States Project: New Jersey. [online] LENSCRATCH. Available at: http://lenscratch.com/2018/11/the-states-project-new-jersey-kimberly-witham/ [Accessed 21 Jan. 2021].
Witham, K. (2020). Statements. [online] Kimberly Witham. Available at: https://www.kimberlywitham.com/statements [Accessed 21 Jan. 2021].
Videos:
by, Created. “Kimberly Witham at Gallery19 in Gallery19:ARTiculate.” Vimeo.com, 2018, vimeo.com/channels/1145430/224530174. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.
“Hasselblad X1D, Stephen Shore - YouTube.” Www.youtube.com, Hasselblad, 21 May 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BplS1MmZXk. Accessed 10 Jan. 2021.
National Geographic. “Turning Roadkill into Art | National Geographic.” YouTube, 18 Feb. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2Koi4Z-xZU&list=PLBvnX-1HEhfMzcu0a_YyaUaAkGBFxWQXo&index=21. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.
“Passion for Pictures: Ernst Haas - YouTube.” Www.youtube.com, Getty Images, 13 Jan. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4XcsrAkLtk. Accessed 10 Jan. 2021.
“Stephen Shore | HOW to SEE the Photographer with Stephen Shore - YouTube.” Www.youtube.com, The Museum of Modern Art, 25 Jan. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=T029CTSO0IE&list=PLBvnX-1HEhfMzcu0a_YyaUaAkGBFxWQXo&index=52&t=5s.
“The Art of Seeing.” David Yurman, www.davidyurman.com/world-of-yurman/ernst-haas.html. Accessed 10 Jan. 2021.
The Highpoint Richmond. “The Hardest Hue to Hold - an Artist Talk with Kimberly Witham.” The Highpoint Richmond, 9 Oct. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecFNwTPXWH0&list=PLBvnX-1HEhfMzcu0a_YyaUaAkGBFxWQXo&index=22. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.
Images:
Ernst Haas Estate. “Classic Color Abstract | Ernst Haas.” Ernst Haas Estate, 2020, ernst-haas.com/classic-color-abstract/. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.
Shore, Stephen. “- Stephen Shore - GALLERY EXHIBITIONS - 303 Gallery.” Www.303gallery.com, 2020, www.303gallery.com/gallery-exhibitions/stephen-shore6?view=slider. Accessed 3 Jan. 2021.
Witham, Kimberley. “On Ripeness and Rot.” Kimberly Witham, 2020, www.kimberlywitham.com/on-ripeness-and-rot/t1bwfaqgzrv2kyqs94mxsthgnzh1qs. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.
Figures:
Figure 1: Kimberly Witham, date unknown, On Ripeness and Rot series
Figure 2: Laura Marsh, 2020, Look Down
Figure 3: Stephen Shore, May 19th 2017, New York, New York
Figure 4: Stephen Shore, May 19th 2017, New York, New York
Figure 5: Laura Marsh, 2020, Look Down
Figure 6: Laura Marsh, 2020, Look Down
Figure 7: Figure 7: Ernst Haas, 1962, Pavement 11, NYC
Figure 8: Laura Marsh, 2020, Look Down
Figure 9: Ernst Haas, 1958, Holy Underwear, California
Figure 10: Laura Marsh, 2020, Look Down
Comments