Growth & Decay
A quick note regarding this page
Unfortunately due to a harddrive failure on my computer I lost the vast majority of my Images related to my second year work as result I’ve scanned the images from my course work book, thus a degree of quality has been lost with some of the images that have been uploaded on this page.
Introduction
For my first project of year 2 I explored the concept of ‘Growth and Decay’ with photography, this meant looking at elements of new and old life, rotting and rusting, and the birth and evolution of the new.
This project had me expressing myself through varied mediums and even a combination of some of them. I experimented with things like implementing graphics via Photoshop, studio photography, printing my work in various ways to further illustrate the idea of growth or decay.
Flaura, Fauna & Skulls
During my early shoots of this project I began to utilise the colleges studio more and more, I had also researched the rather morbid and dark photographer, Joel Peter Witkin, whom is infamous for his dark arranged still life’s he produces.
Inspired by Witkin I took to the studio armed with a vast array of deceased plants, seeds, a rams skull, and a dummy human skull and began making different subjects. I think it challenged me in terms of learning different lighting techniques and setups to alter the mood of a photo, as well had to compose subjects that look good in photographs.
Victor Burgin
When it came to editing my photos for this project I began to research photographers whom used ‘iconography’ within there work to help convey ideas. This is when I came across the English photographer Victor Burgin whom used colourful bars and icons within his work.
I took inspiration from this and decided to replicate it by relating my own icons and colours to images that I had taken within this project. I also took inspiration the clinical feeling he created using studio setting. So I decided to conduct some of the photographs using harsh led lights in a white studio setting to create strong contrast within my images in favour of Burgin’s work.
Mix Media
This was piece was my inital idea behind creating some mix media work and served as a piece of expirementation to test how it came out.
After perfecting the piece of art above, I made with a larger, A3 glossy sheet, with this image of a Mercedes Bens.
After tearing the sheet up into segements, with a heat source I went around the edges burning them which I think gives this brillant ‘old damaged’ look to the piece.
Rust
During this project I researched the abstract photographer, Paul Strand & Karl Blossfeldt, in regards to their closed composition work. Both photographers work heavily features shapes, patterns, textures, and extreme contrast which was exaggerated by black and white film. Inspired by this I create this body of work revolving around ‘Rusty objects’ keeping in theme of ‘Decay’.
Using a macro lens was defiantly advantageous as it meant I could get really close up and get great focusing on the subject, which in turn helped focus on the shapes and textures within it. When it came to post editing I did applied standard editing techniques to balance the image, finally adding a black and white filter in honour of Strands & Blossfeldt for some of the images
Ryan Fayers Photography 