Lewis Baltz

About Lewis Baltz 

 Born: 12th September 1945 in Newport Beach, California

He is a visual artist and he became a well known photographer in the New Topographic movement of the late 1970's. 

Learning: Graduated from San Fracisco Art Institute in 1962 

                Gained a Master of Fine Arts degree from Claremont Graduate School. 

Location: Now living in Paris and Venice. 

His entire work is focused on searching for beauty in desolation and destruction. His images describe the architecture of the human landscape, offices, factories and parking lots. His photographs are a reflection of control, power and effects by the human race.

He completed a trilogy of work that represents minimalistic images, Ronde de Nuit, Doctule Bodies and Politics of bacteria.

   

^{New Industrial Parks:}

^{Fifty-one images reconize space and allow the expression of new relationships} 

^{between architecture, landscape and photography.}  

^{The buildings are photographed in a way that captures both the opaque and the}

^{transparent. The photographs represent shapes and} 

^{the condition of the building. The tension between the difficulty of the subject and}

^{the formal beuty of the resulting images}

^{gives the work its huge visual power.}

^{Ronde de Nuit:}

^{These images were taken between the years of 1967 through to the early 1970's.} 

^{The series of photographs focus on the sides of} 

^{warehouse sheds, stucco walls, empty billboards, and other geometric forms found}

^{in the postwar suburban landscape.}

^{He titled these works "Prototypes", by which he ment both the industrially made model}

^{structures scattered across California and the} 

^{modern culture that generated them.} 

^{How has this influenced my work?}

By researching Lewis work, It has made me even more aware at the fact that these images that I am producing need to be absolute accurate, from shapes, straight lines and to the layout of the image. 

At the moment I feel that there are shapes appearing in my images but they stand out no way near to as much as the shape in Lewis's photographs. The way that I think that they work really well in his images is the fact that the images are over exposed and the contrast is boosted up, yet again dividing the dark from the light. 

There also appears to be very few midtones in the black and white images, which make the tones stand out even more. 

Maybe I should next time over expose the images by a stop or two when I take them. Then when I scan them on the computer, adjust the contrast accordingly to make the shapes stand out.

New Industrial Parks

Most Relevant Pieces of work to my project are: 

The New Industrial Parks

Ronde De Nuit

Ronde De Nuit

(Below)

Deadpan Photographers

Matthias Hoch 

Biography



BORN

1958 Radebeul, Dresden, Germany


EDUCATION/TEACHING

2003 Scholarship to the German Academy Villa Massimo, Rome
1993-98 Assistant Lecturer at the HGB, Leigzig
1993 Travel Scholarship to Great Britain from the DAAD
1991 Post Graduate with distinction at the HGB, Leipzig
1990 Scholarship at the University of Essen from the DAAD (German
Academic Exchange Service)
1988 Degree in Photography, Hochschule fur Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig



His work is all about architectural photography. There is a large amount of the theme of shapes and colour in his work and the composition is always carefully thought out. The images are flat and lack human presence and the photographer hardly gives us any clue about the subject in the photography eg, When it was taken, where it is, what time. As it is lacks any human presance in it, I think that getting the shapes and the colours right is very important. The shapes are what makes the images interesting. 

Andreas Gursky 


(I couldn't reasearch deadpan without looking into Gursky)

He was born in Leipzig in 1955, but he grew up in Düsseldorf, the son of a commercial photographer. In the early 1980s, at Germany's State Art Academy, the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Gursky received strong training and influence from his teachers Hilla and Bernd Becher, a photographic team known for their distinctive, dispassionate method of systematically cataloging industrial machinery and architecture.A similar approach may be found in Gursky's methodical approach to his own, larger-scale photography. Other notable influences are the British landscape photographer John Davies, whose highly detailed high vantage point images had a strong effect on the street level photographs Gursky was then making, and to a lesser degree the American photographer Joel Sternfeld.

Visually, Gursky is drawn to large, anonymous, man-made spaces—high-rise facades at night, office lobbies, stock exchanges, the interiors of big box retailers (See his print 99 Cent II Diptychon). In a 2001 retrospective, New York's Museum of Modern Art called the artist's work, "a sophisticated art of unembellished observation. It is thanks to the artfulness of Gursky's fictions that we recognize his world as our own." Gursky’s style is enigmatic and deadpan. There is little to no explanation or manipulation on the works. His photography is straightforward.

Yet again, I can shapes play a huge role in Gursky's photography and the photographs are simple, Very simple. Especially the bottom one, very simple yet intriguing.

Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher.

Bernd Becher (born August 20, 1931 in Siegen; died June 22, 2007 in Rostock) and Hilla Becher, née Wobeser (born September 2, 1934 in Potsdam) were German artists working as a collaborative duo. They are best known for their extensive series of photographic images of industrial buildings.

Bernd Becher studied painting at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart from 1953 to 1956, then typography under Karl Rössing at the Düsseldorfer Kunstakademie from 1959 to 1961.

Prior to Hilla Becher's time studying photography at the Düsseldorfer Kunstakademie from 1958 to 1961, she had completed an apprenticeship as a photographer in her native Potsdam.

The couple married in 1961.

The Bechers first collaborated on photographing and documenting the disappearing German industrial architecture in 1959, and had their first gallery exhibition in 1963 at the Galerie Ruth Nohl in Siegen. They were fascinated by the similar shapes in which certain buildings were designed. In addition, they were intrigued by the fact that so many of these industrial buildings seemed to have been built with a great deal of attention toward design. Together, the Bechers went out with a large format camera and photographed these buildings from a number of different angles, but always with a straightforward "objective" point of view. The images of structures with similar functions were then displayed side by side to invite viewers to compare their forms and designs. These structures included barns, water towers, storage silos, and warehouses.

The Bechers also photographed outside of Germany, including buildings from the United States and other areas of Europe. Bernd taught at the Düsseldorf Art Academy and influenced students that later made a name for themselves in the photography industry. Former students of Bernd's included Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff, and Candida Höfer.

They were the 2004 winners of the Hasselblad Award. 

Deadpan Photography

Quick Note - Photograph the flat shapes on the closed down stores followed by text

What is Deadpan Photography?

"These pictures may engage us with emotive subjects, But our sense of what the photographer's emotions might be is not the obvious guide to understanding the meaning of the images. The emphasis, then, is on the photography as a way of seeing beyond the limitations of individual perspective, a way of mapping the extent of the forces, invisible from a single human standpoint, that govern the man-made and natural world. Deadpan photography may be highly specific in its description of its subjects, but it is seeming neutrality and totality of vision is of epic proportions" 
Taken from The Photograph as contemporary art, Page 81. 

• Deadpan refers to a plain lack of expression - applied to the sitter / subject

• "...Neutral expressions and cool, head-on compositions have become one of the signature styles of today's art photography. Some have called it deadpan photography: The tone is impassive, matter-of-fact, detached. Often the people are posed..."

• Deadpan photography is where the subject shows no emotion

• I describe deadpan photography as "It-is-what-it-is" or "Just-the-facts-ma'am" photography. It emphasizes objective over subjective. The photographer works as a documenter of reality rather than an expresser of emotions and invites an intellectual rather than an emotive response from the viewer.

Here, I can now gather that the use of Deadpan Photography is a photograph that shows or hints any form of emotion about it. Mainly by using 100% straight lines and a simple composition. 


Idea - Shape and lines of the building, Nothing else in the photo. Maybe photograph on a large piece of white background that expands around the image to isolate it further from anything else. Use of Photoshop.




"Jitka Hanzlova, for instance, a Czech artist, presents a small body of work that emerged from approaching black women in Brixton and asking them to pose for her. The resulting images are utterly deadpan: the women, about whom we can surmise nothing except that they are open to being persuaded to have their photo taken by a stranger, simply face the camera and wait for it to be over."
Found here


We can make what we want to make from the photograph without being guided or persuaded by parts of the image. It gives freedom when exploring and uncovering images. 


These photographs of closed shops at first would be thought to give dull and sad feelings, but I at the moment think that it is the way we photograph them that gives them the emotion. If photographed straight on and level, it might have less emotion. Or if I reduce the tonal range or boosted up the saturation it may uncover more ideas and new emotions, This is what I do not want, To do minimal editing as possible to the photograph and to show it for what it is at that moment in time. 


Maybe there will be emotion there in the image, if the viewer knows what the shop used to be and now see's it for what it is when it is closed down, that may produce happy/sad feelings to the viewer but that will be different to each person and I dont think there will be a way to completely take that away but to concentrate more on how it is photographed. 

Computer Says No....

"Research by a leading social entrepreneur networking website has revealed that nearly 40% of small business owners and social entrepreneurs have experienced cash flow problems in the last few months as a result of the worsening economic situation." 

Along with facing day to day cash flow difficulties, it would appear that small business owners are finding it harder to secure finance with 68% of those business owners who had recently applied for a business loan or credit card being turned down.

21% said that their business had been badly affected by the recent financial problems in the UK such as a training, research and consultancy company who has faced difficulties in its industry due to a reduction in buyers’ budgets.

Found Here

"Small UK firms are struggling in the face of the credit crisis to secure the loans they need to expand or even survive, a business group has warned." BBC Headline

"Analysts say that this implies that banks are reluctant to lend money - and that where they will offer a loan - it will be at higher interest levels."

"The issue is that the banks are being more choosy over who they lend money to until they ride out the storm," said FSB spokesman Matthew Knowles.

Found Here

Every day the news reports another company that is laying off thousands of workers or one that is shutting its doors permanently. There are very few news reports that do not have some mention of the “global credit crunch” and while we are getting tired of the phrase, it is one that is likely to be around for quite some time yet.

The housing market has also taken a huge hit during the global credit crunch. Only a year or so ago house sold at high prices and many homeowners borrowed heavily on the equity they had built up in their homes.

The huge drop in house prices on the real estate market means that many homeowners with home equity loans or lines of credit are now finding themselves in a position of negative equity. This means that the price for which they can sell their home is not enough for them to even be able to pay off what they owe on the home, let alone pay off other outstanding debts.

Consumers have cut back on their spending habits and are becoming more fiscal in looking after their finances. Manufacturing sectors, retail outlets and the service industry has been affected as a result with consumers buying only what they absolutely need. The big name stores are losing money and are not making as much profit as they have been accustomed to making and therefore are downsizing in the numbers of staff members they have on the payroll.

It is not just the large businesses that are suffering from the credit crunch. Many small businesses have had to declare bankruptcy and there have been huge job cuts in the manufacturing and service sectors of the economy

Found Here

Here I have only been on the internet for 5mins and there is no shortage of information on the situation of the "Credit Crunch" These are just a few of the top links on google. 

It is clear that banks are becoming more and more tougher to who they give loans out to and due to this many businesses are having to close or to un-employ staff. It is also having an impact on the housing market and the value of houses are decreasing meaning that home-owners have to be more careful on the money they spend it and where they spend it, meaning that small and large business's are not getting as much money as they used to which comes back to the issue of retailers and businesses closing and shutting down. 

As it is affecting most areas of the retail area, I have chosen to document and to photograph the impact it is having on the small businesses around the city of Plymouth, By selecting only this city, it narrows down  to where I document and I can look closer to the problem. 

Initial thoughts on where to go and what to research for this project on Documenting the effect the credit crunch is having on small businesses. 

• Continue to photograph shut down small businesses
• Interview small business owners
• Look at Deadpan Photography
• Try to get access to some closed down stores and photograph within them