Brassai`s “Paris after dark No.27” Pastiche

As before we have been asked to submit a pastiche of an photographers image that we are presented with and a sequence of photographs, which are based on our own personal, conceptual approach to representing, 'Urban Space'. The pastiche again much imitate the photographic language of one of the photographs by combining research and visual elements.  Basically we need to recreate on of the following images. 

The thing I like most about Friedlander's photographs, is that he doesn't take that original structured approach that others would have - he breaks boundaries and explores new  techniques.  There is nothing in his images that allows the eyes to rest, there is always something new to look at. You find yourself constantly analysing new things in the image much like the photograph of New Mexico.  He often worked with reflections and obstructions, poles and mirrors that broke the photograph up and gave it a different perspective. 

Lee Friedlander 'Albuquerque, New Mexico 1972

Thomas Struth has captured scenes from several major cities and pays particular attention to human intervention and the technoligal progress in the landscape.  He highlights construction sites and production lines, showing the rapid changes between old and new or seeing buildings right on top of each other.
Thomas Struth 'Bukseo Dong, Pyongyang North Korea 2007

For my pastiche I am using Brassai`s “Paris after dark No.27” Brassai`s Visual style is similar to the film Noir Styling, capturing night time shots, and the man made lighting in order to create the idea of secrecy within the lights and shadows.

The shot is seen in an alleyway emphasizing the sparse quite night. Some neon signs and lights have been photographed, creating the lighting on the street, with two silhouetted blurred figures in the background. The shot appears mysterious, with the motion blur on the two silhouetted figures, seemingly male from the shape of their overcoats and fedora hats, we get a scene of preferably crime.

To find a street similar to this image will be difficult because unfortunately there are not many streets like this in England, our alleyways appear smaller and narrower, and our streets are generally wider, and with numerous street lamps, it could destroy the way the light falls in the shot.

When I begin my shoot I will probably use a wide angle lens to help frame my street. I will closely analyse the way in which the shadows fall, and the tonal and contrasts across the road. I'm hoping for a rainy night, as this will show the shiny surface similar to the original image. And will try my hardest to look for hotel sighs and neon lights, and a street that has a slight curve, to show its never ending effect.

 

information on the hugarian photographer Brassai, and the pastiche image

Brassai was a Hungarian photographer born in 1899. In 1924 Brassai moved to Paris and took a job as a journalist. He admired the city and often wandered the streets at night. In combination with his job and new found friends, this concept led Brassai to photography. In 1933 Brassai published his first book "Paris de nuit", which made him become famous worldwide.
Brassai has been called "the eyes of Paris", and has also been said that he used photography "in order to capture the beauty of the streets and gardens in the rain and fog, and to capture Paris by night". In this image, "Paris After Dark No 27", we can see these elements. We find ourselves in a narrow alley, late at night , and we can see from the reflections in the cobblestone that its been raining. The Hotel signs, establish the difference between the bright highlights and the deep blacks and shadow of the man further down the alley, these are all important elements in setting the mood and creating the mysterious atmosphere. I think the photo leaves the viewer with mixed feelings and an open imagination. The image is a pleasure to admire but at the same time uneasy. This is because of the use of camera position, large depth of field and camera angle. Brassai creates the feeling that you are actually in the scene, rather than outside of the photo .

night time pastiche / things to remember....

before shootingmy test shots i made sure i knew how i was going o accomplish my photos.

When looking back at my notes i will make sure that i have a very long shutter speed (5-15 seconds) and a very narrow aperture (high f-stop). This combination should create a huge depth of field and make everything very crisp and in focus. Of course sometimes i would not desire a great depth of field and in those situations I would widen my aperture (small f-stop).

If that technique fails to work, i will have a go at trying  the technique, Bracketing. If i bracket all my photos so the camera takes multiple exposures at different settings, i will more likely end up with a photo that has a satisfactory brightness.
I also need to remeber  that when bracketing , i need to take up to six pictures of the same subject, but doubling the shutter speed each time. This should give me a variety of effects and exposures and allow me to choose the best shot.

final peice / night time pastiche

  

On searching for location, I found the perfect shoot. However when processing my film my settings on my Mamiya RZ were incorrect for the lighting available. On this occasion, I found this to be unsatisfactory and researched further `how to shoot and obtain the perfect night time shoot`. My research showed me that bracketing was the best technique, which involved taking one picture at a given exposure, one or more brighter, and one or more darker, in order to select the most satisfactory image. This was accomplished by changing either the shutter speed or the aperture, in my case the shutter speed. I used an aperture of f22 then lowered the shutter speed each shot. I was just unfortunate that the scene had been changed and christmas eliminations had been put in place. Due to my time factor and availably of camera's, I was unable to re-shoot the pastiche. However I have gained valuable experience into night time shooting, and capturing the ideal photo first time.

This is my contact sheet and final print for the Urban environment pastiche.  I went to a little street behind in Rochester high street to shoot . As this was my second time of shooting night time photography I am very pleased with the fact that I got an exposure on every frame of the film.  I used a film called Ilford XP2 with an ISO of 400, and it gave a lot of detail in the darker part of the image as well as high-quality contrast. I used an exposure time from 20-24 seconds on F16 on the first five shots, and 55-70 seconds on F16 on the last five. 

I think that first 5 images could have been the ones to use, given that there is a lot of reflections in the street since it was raining just before I took them. But the only problem I had due to retaking the shoot , the Rochester christmas lights had appeared and therefore don’t think captured the same effect. I also shot landscape instead of portrait which was a silly mistake, but unfortunately realised this matter after printing. Due to all these problems I am still happy with my final outcome as I learnt how to use night time photography and I still think there are some aspects in the photo that are similar to the original.