“Light is the essence of photography. Knowledgeable photographers realise that they are not photographing objects, but rather light and the way it delineates objects or is emitted by them. Photography is the study of light, the perception of light, and the interpretation of light. Lines, forms and shapes appear because of the way light reveals those compositional elements, not solely because of the forms themselves.”
Bruce Barnbaum
‘The Art of Photography’ 2010 p 67
I have decided on the following eight photographs for this final piece of work for assignment 4: 'Light'. As discussed in an earlier post, I decided to treat Avebury as 'one object' because that is how I experienced this stone circle. Plus the fact that, however interesting individual images might be, photographing a single stone has its limitations...!
Shape
ISO 100 f9 1/800 |
Light coming from behind, providing contrast and a clear sense of the edges of the stone.
Thinking about the choice for this particular image, I now know where the subconscious inspiration comes from...
As a kid I watched '2001: a space odyssey' no less than and a half times! (the 'half' because I had grown up a bit and thought that clocking eight visits to a cinema to see the same film - however visually enthralling it might have been - was one visit too many!). But the above picture is a direct echo of the monolith featured throughout the film, whether at sunrise or in space.
I hesitate to call it 'iconic', but that's what it is for me. In fact, when I look through all the photos I took on this visit to all things Neolithic, there are several where I have actually positioned the camera so that the sun seems to be rising above the stones. I clearly won't be letting go of this visual memory any time soon!
In this image, converted like some of those that follow into black and white in order to concentrate on essential pictorial elements, I like the very darkness of the stone as it emphasises its shape and solidity.
Form
These two pictures are from the same section of the circle: the above image is a closer view of an individual stone in the circle - what remains of it - seen below.
ISO 100 f8 1/200 |
Light falling from the right, creating both a shadow and a definite feeling of form and weight.
This photograph gives a sense of the shape, weight and feel of the object. It is probably a lot rougher than it seems here. There is also a slight nudge in the direction of the question as to what would happen if it fell over - and we were too close...! The shadow gives an impression of something really solid - which of course it is. I like the fact that here there is no evidence of anything 21st century - the stone is as it would have been 4000 years ago. The link between the tree and the stone could be that they are equal partners in this setting.
Colour
ISO 100 f9 1/250 |
Light shining from behind the camera and a bit to the left.
This may seem a somewhat ill-chosen image for the section of colour of the object, but I wanted to set the colour character of a representative stone into the palette of the wider landscape. As you can see we are in an image made up of green, yellow, blue and a dash of grey. Even though the stone in this photograph is grey, it is possible to make out hints or impressions of green on its surface.
Once more, we are taken back to our earlier studies, this time to the assignment on 'colour'. Here are examples of the interplay between complimentary colours. Also, we are reminded of composition - this time due to the placing of the stone, as it balances with the track in the opposite corner of the picture. The tracks have probably been here as long as the stones.
The feel of this whole area is wide and expansive and this image acknowledges that element.
Texture
ISO 100 f8 1/125 |
Light coming from the right and above, doing all the important work in revealing the very rough and 'sharp' textural surface.
This is where a feeling mystery emerges: from a distance, the megaliths look mainly smooth, with perhaps a little roughness thrown in. Yes, there are some distinctly strange configurations on certain of the stones, but in the main they seem like ordinary blocks of granite.
This is where a feeling mystery emerges: from a distance, the megaliths look mainly smooth, with perhaps a little roughness thrown in. Yes, there are some distinctly strange configurations on certain of the stones, but in the main they seem like ordinary blocks of granite.
However, on closer inspection, the story is very different. Almost every stone has its own, individual surface characteristics. Here, we see two examples. The one above shows a pitted, almost 'cratered' surface.
In the photograph below we see evidence of weathering and the growth of various forms of lichen. What made the larger indentations in the right of the image, only time knows: we can but guess and wonder.
ISO 100 f4 1/400 |
Light falling from the right and above, serving to bring out the far-from-smooth surface and lots of eveidence of weathering.
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