Surreal Cities

Ted van cleave has set the scene of tall, towering buildings, By doing so the image portrays a sense of tranquility. This is surprising as looking up to towering buildings could feel daunting. However the composition and mixture of colours within the photo calms the mood and gives the viewer a sense of stillness.

This is because the colours flow from the building through to the sky and reflect each other, this strengthens the sense of tranquility. This image is very visually striking because whilst reflecting each other and emanating each others colours; the building is still distinct from the sky. This allows the viewer to see a clear difference and see the subject matter simultaneously.

Goodboy has created a sense of enclosure in his work. He has done this through the composition of the photograph. The buildings in the foreground are the key factors of this enclosure, their features give shape to the composition, which in turn close in on us.However I do not think this was Goodboys original intention. The typical London scene has been captured in nice weather; reflecting mood. There is also a blend of reasonably calm and bright colours. I believe the time of day has been implemented intentionally to portray the calm London scene, during ‘working hours’ it is however a very subtle feature. This is so the audience notice it slowly and possibly, not realize its presence at all.

The main focal point would be the two buildings leaning over. Maybe how the title has been generated. ‘The towering spirit of London’. But to oppose this and possibly balance the composition, a red bus has been captured in the middle background They bring us back to the unintentional subject matter of enclosure, and maybe bring the audience to the idea of London's height in authenticity; if the old buildings have been purposely chosen. I believe these photos to be a combination of the old and the new, through the visual balance of building and bus

It appears goodboy is almost trying to show off London. This is clarified through the iconic location of ST.Pauls and, again the red bus.

The collaboration of these two and the main focal point sends the message of London's ‘surealness’. This becomes the sole message being connoted to the audience.

I intend to use key features of Goodboys work in my own. However I do not intend to keep the same time of day, and I will be trying to see if the fish eye lens effect works with other locations in London. I do hope to relate to the calm sense amongst a busy location and possibly the enclosed sense. The composition of the buildings is a feature that I will find difficulty with but I hope to achieve It in a similar way.

Jonny Goodboy

Evaluation My first idea was to take pictures of London in prominent locations and then developing them in a way that changes the viewers perspective, and view on the location. I started with my initial photographs by editing colours drastically. I have used strong, bright colours so that it highlights the scurrility of the reality of London. I then went on to use the ‘warp’ tool in Photoshop to manipulate the shape of the objects captured in the photo. This tool allowed me to do so whilst maintaining the shape of the frame. This was in the hope of creating a fish eye lens effect without the actual lens.

I have tried to avoid the typical view of any famous city; a landscape that follows a horizontal flow. I have taken photos up close to portray the towering sense of enclosure and height that I have seen in the work of Jonny Goodboy and Ted Van Cleave. I believe by capturing a different perspective of an already known location will have the optimum effect on the viewer, also my development of these photos has allowed me to alter the objects withing the photo such as whole buildings, so that it alters its features and warps its characteristics. This was difficult as I had to visualize the warp process on photoshop whilst taking pictures in London, as a result I have chosen photos that work well with the tool.

I believe I have captured the surrility that London has to offer, but I also accept that some of my photo development ideas could have been stronger, there is also an unintentional amount of noise in the photos, however I will turn that around and utilize the effect to portray surrealness to a greater extent. In future though, I will take the necessary precautions to avoid this quality.

1st Final outcome

2nd Final outcome

3rd Final outcome