RE-PHOTOGRAPHY: Practitioners
Mark
Klett:
"Klett has come to realize that the potential of
re-photography is greater than simply tracking change; it can touch on the
experience of time itself.For recent projects in Yosemite
and the Grand Canyon, he and collaborator Byron Wolfe mined an
incredible profusion of imagery — 19th-century photographs and paintings,
modernist visions of Edward Weston and Ansel Adams, innumerable postcards and
tourist snapshots — to construct spatially cohesive panoramas spanning a
century and a half. Through these works, we understand these places as cultural
sites whose significance comes from an accumulation of human interventions,
interactions and imaginings. Klett has also ventured into urban environments,
with an exhibition commemorating the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and
panoramas of Barcelona incorporating five centuries of images.[1]
Sergey
Larenkov:
Sergey Larenkov uses his photo manipulation
skills to create a collection of intriguing images that merge the past and
present.
Using old, archived photos as his portal to the
past, Larenkov told:
"I take all the modern
images myself because the most important part is finding the desired point to
shoot… It's very interesting to find the point where another photographer once
stood. Suddenly, you see an old world with your very own eyes. You are transported
back in time; it's almost as if you've stepped into a time machine. Sometimes,
this is scary.[2]
Shawn
Clover:
Shawn Clover has photographed San Francisco,
aiming to compare old photographs from the 1906's earthquake. Explaining
himself, Clover provided:
Inspiration: "After
reading San Francisco is Burning, Dennis
Smith’s superb book of San Francisco’s reaction to the 1906 earthquake, I got
to thinking. What if I could precisely line up photos taken in 1906 with my own
and combine the two together? I’ve always been frustrated by typical “then and
now” photos because the photographer always seems to do a sloppy job aligning
his ‘then’ photos with the ‘now’ photos."
The Project: "After sifting through
catalogs of library photos of the devastation of San Francisco’s 1906
earthquake, I picked out a variety of photos taken from April 18, 1906 to 1907
that I felt give a well-rounded depiction of what was going on in the city at
the time.
Now comes the fun part. Where was the exact spot the photographer stood? What was
the equivalent focal length of his camera’s lens combined with the film medium?
How high off the ground was the camera? Where was the sun in the sky? Everything
needs to be precise when layering two photos on top of each other. My original
idea was to tear away a piece of the modern photo to expose the 1906 photo, but
after playing around a bit, everything seemed more interesting when the two
were softly blended together.
I found that many of the original photos I planned to use
were in fact unusable because the photographer was situated in a place where a
building stands today. Others now have trees blocking the view.[3]
Rational
As a starting point of managing to accomplish re-photography photographs, I had to understand what the subject is. Hence having regard to the broad definition, I understood that, re-photography, is the act of repeat photography of the same site, with a time lag between the two images; a "then and now" view of a particular area. Based on my understanding I had to search for practitioners in order to consider the way by which the subject is released by others.
Having regard to an empirical research on re-photography, I learned about great photographers such as Mark Klett and Sergey Larenkov. By examining their work as well as the work of others I understood that producing such images may be accomplished by several ways such as taking images from the same view point, with or without regard to season, lens coverage or framing. Additionally, in relation to the way of presenting them, I saw that many choose to compare them or to combine them by using several ways of editing photographs.
In order to meet the requirements of the project, I first had to find and choose places in Salford which were photographed in previous decades. Accordingly, and based on my research on practitioners I had in mind that my chosen places and older photographs should be able to be used and edited in my produced images, as I intended to combine them rather to compare them.
My given place in Salford was Broad Street. Therefore I had to find the exact place of the selected old photographs and then to capture them from the same point of view. This process was very tricky I had to examine the places which are now developed and so changed that identification to the old photographs was impossible. The only proof of capturing the correct places was the address and the help of locals.
After collecting the images of the places, I wanted to interpret the work of both Klett and Larencov. Hence, I aimed in using pieces of the older photos within my work. Respectively, for each old image I selected the best way of presenting them. Either by using the people appeared in the place from both then and now, or be choosing points of roads and buildings. By doing them I had in mind that showing the development as well as the history of Salford is what I would like to do.
In relation to the above, I used Photoshop as the tool of editing both the old and the new photographs in order to produce a final image. Generally, I was fascinated with the churches as they are a symbol of history and beauty of traditional architecture. Additionally, I wanted to show that the old buildings are the part of history that remains alive though time. Based on this, my final image for exhibition was in my opinion the strongest to show my work as well as the idea that I wanted to pass to the viewers.
Project: The Process
For this project they separated us in groups of 6-7 peoples each and they gave us a map. After that we had to go to the Salford Museum and retake the photos which are shot from 1950. Based on that we were asked to do a presentation with our groups, about which road we chose and what techniques are we going to use. Hence i had to provide a series of images which one of them capable of being used for an exhibition in Salford Museum and hung with rest work of my fellow students.
This is the map that we took for this project. According with the above i chose broad street.
SALFORD MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY
From the very begin of this project we had to visit Salford Museum. Upon the gray drawers there are the names of the streets so it was easy to find the images. Also it can be found more than 65.000 local photographs which is a good opportunity for the local people to research about there family history.
Behind the slide of the picture i found a folder with some negatives and a smaller pictures, so I found it really interesting to make a progress with them.
Pendleton - st. Thomas's Church: is located in broad street. The Church was build between 1829-1831 and its architecture is Gothic Revival. The designers were Francis Goodwin and Richard Lane.
In the first picture you can see a square full of life surrounding by beautiful mansions, stores, child's, buses and long queue be directed to the church.
At this picture things are different. As u can see, houses and local stores have been replaced by a motorway. A remarkable point was a visit to the church on a Sunday morning looking for someone to get some information for the church but no one was there and the church was closed. Nevertheless i met some local people in a pup nearby the church who gave me some helpful directions for the rest of my project.
St. Thomas's Church from different angle. As you can see this picture was taken some decades later by the previous one.
I was looking this bridge about an hour and fortunately i asked some local people and they told that the bridge was demolished. Also they were advised me to go to the three buildings ( look on the left of the image). I did so, and found the best spot to capture my pictures. One of the three buildings was collapsed and that made me worry about the rest of my journey.
St Philip's Church: is located in Wilton Place. The church was build between 1822 -1824 and the designer was Sir Robert Smirke. The architecture is Greek Revival style. The day i visited the church i went inside and i met someone who gave me some advises about the place. He explained to me the different between Church of England and Catholic Church for example, Catholics are believing that Pope he cant make mistakes. Also divorce and remarriage is a sin and women cant be clergy. According to the believes of Anglicans no one is unmistakable and they permit divorces, remarriages and women to be clergy.
When i saw the painting the first thing passed through my mined was the church near the University.
Sacred Trinity Church: it was build in 1635 and it is maintain in good condition.
Photoshop Tools
Those are the most common and basic tools that are required to be used on any image. However, as i can see for my experience in 'Photoshop you cannot learn to use it just by applying the theory. You have to practice and be experimental in order to use them correct and to achieve great results.
