Photography Heroes
Alfonso Batalla
The first of my three photographers is named Alfonso Batalla. Born in Madrid in 1958 and continuing to work in Spain for the whole of his life, his photographs either over exaggerate the complexity of what is in view or shows real simplicity. He often uses an abandoned location but almost never pictures people. The photos shown below are some of my favourites from him.
Analysing the bottom left image, it shows a hallway leading to two rooms. Obviously abandoned, rubble has been scattered across the damaged floor and it appears as if doors or frames have been removed from the passage. However the paint and colour scheme looks fairly modern and recent as if it were being renovated. Therefore the picture leads us to multiple conclusions as this picture may not follow the photgraphers usual trend. I would describe this piece as colourful, simple, direct and messy. Batalla has achieved a technique of a 'sitting on the fence' effect by taking the picture in the middle of the hallway so the spectator has a choice of left or right as well as using perspective though a tunnel vision visual as the audience looks down the hallway.
Luigi Bussolati
Born and raised in Italy, Bussolati describes himself as a lighting designer/photographer. He is excellent in lighting the most difficult of areas with beautiful colours and brings out the best in his subjects. His love for the use of artificial light in modern photography began in the 1990's where he applied learnt skills in architecture, landscape and corporate photography. His more recent works include more landscape and technical corporate photography where lighting emphasises more ambitious parts of the piece.
One of my favourite series of works from Bussolati is called 'Electronic Landscape'. This is because the representation of an electronic landscape is unexpected as people usually associate this term with a real life city. However I am amazed at how Luigi Bussolati is able to arrange electronic components in a city like structure. The built in lights and glowing pathways against a dark background resemble a never sleeping city such as London or New York. Larger components stacked near others represent the central district full of skyscrapers. For some pictures he has used light glow to make the set even more realistic and atmospheric. He has done this by using a close up shot whilst cropping parts of the circuit board in order to give the effect that there is more of the busy city to see.
Paul Brouns
Paul Brouns is driven by geometric patterns, rhythms and lines. He is fascinated by the interplay between realistic registration and geometric abstraction, this is why he often chooses to photograph architectural structures as apart from its use as a house, office etc... it also has graphical, abstract dimension. His intention is share a sense of happiness to the world and he feels this can be achieved by introducing everyone to beautiful tapestries.
Looking Brouns' work above, you will recognise facades and windows, but at the same time you may perceive these compositions as carefully designed tapestries. For this reason, he has began to refer to his work as Urban Tapestries. They are the result of observing Dutch city life and at the same time they are abstract patterns.
When making photographs he looks for elements and places that intuitively fit into ‘a Paul Brouns world’. In this way he is often able to come up with particular fields full of dense rhythms, colors and lines. He questions himself to why is there this inclination. As a result the answer is that seeing patterns and geometrical rhythms simply is a very vital source of happiness to him.
When making photographs he looks for elements and places that intuitively fit into ‘a Paul Brouns world’. In this way he is often able to come up with particular fields full of dense rhythms, colors and lines. He questions himself to why is there this inclination. As a result the answer is that seeing patterns and geometrical rhythms simply is a very vital source of happiness to him.
Revalations
The exhibition currently being held in the science museum (10/03/15 - 13/09/15) displays a wide range of early photography from the pioneers such as William Henry Fox Talbot to Andrew Ainslie Common. However most photos depict simple or complex organisms, scenery, space exploration etc...