Task 1 One of the three photographs

For this task i have to pick one of the three images and try to pastiche that particular photo, considering all aspects of it including depth of feild, mood, composition, lighting, camera setting etc...
The three photos being Roger Fenton 'The Terrace Park at Harewood House' (1860), Jem Southam 'Seaford Head' (1999) and Robert Adams 'OnSignal Hill' 'Overlooking Long Beach, California' (1983).
When i first saw the images Robert Adams stood out most to me as i loved the simplicity of the photo yet dramatic screnery in the backgropund. I least liked Robert Fentons 'Terrace and park' as i found it diffiuclt to relate emotionallly to it, a beautiful photo yes, but not one i would consider recreating. Jem Southams photo is another beautiful lansdascpe, however i feel that i prefer Robert Adams overall.

Robert Adam's 'On Signal Hill', Overlooking Long Beach, California', (1983)

This is my chosen photo of the three which where provided. Immediately my eye is drawn to the thin trees, it being in black and white helps keep the tree's as the main focus in the picture, there is no colour to distract your eye. I feel that this is a strong photo which relates to the person viewing it as it contains strong emotional and valid points. The tree's are the main focus of the image, portrayed old and uncared for, most of the leaves have fallen giving the tree a skeleton shape. Beyond this, we can see a somewhat fogged California, the majority of the background is in focus however the fog seems to fade the rest of the city.

Robert Adam's was known to be concerned with the human destruction of landscapes in the American West. In the early 1970's and 1980's Adam's main focus was the scary landscapes of Los Angeles basin, concentrating on his concerns about environmental degradation. In many of his photos you can see how he has used brutal honesty to get his message across through his photos. For example, this photo, the uncared delicate trees could be a reminder of how the naturally beautiful environment is now spoilt due to neglect. They are both situated above the city which could be a hidden meaning of how us humans are destroying and spoiling whats left of the natural beauty in our city's. 

"The operating principle that seems to work best is to go to the landscape that frightens you the most and take pictures until you're not scared anymore." - Robert Adam's


I really love this quote; a reminder that something to be scared of can easily be overcome. The scary landscapes that Adam's has photographed appear to be frightful to the viewer, none the less, but not frightful to himself. He takes a photo of something that was once beautiful but has now been destroyed by man. I have noticed that in his previous work they too all have the same theme of destruction.  

Burning Oil Sludge North of Denver - Robert Adam's

- This photo (Left) is an example of another landscape that has been destroyed. This would be a rather tranquil landscape, a simple photo capturing the stillness of the environment, however the dark black smoke disrupts this. When you first see this photo your eyes are immediately drawn to the dark black smoke, the sharpness of the base to the lighter part of the smoke. It is a beautiful photo capturing the harsh reality of this particular landscape.

Referring back to Robert Adam's 'On Signal Hill' photograph, I feel i have found that the distance between the trees and the camera to be reasonably close. The tree's fill the frame but not to the point where it is over crowded with the branches, you can still see through each tree, and see plenty of the surrounding sky and city. However there is not much ground to be seen at the base of the tree's.

It seems as though the photo was taken at a particular time of day, i'm unsure of the exact time but i think it must of been in the afternoon, as the sun set maybe. This is because the light of the photo is soft, the whites in the photograph are not very bright and the trees seem too dark for the photo to be mid day, although they look as if they are in shadow, however it looks to of been an overcast day which would also change the lighting.

To re-create this photo i think i could use the cobham woods as an exmple. At the moment there are building works going on in the area, forcing a percentage of the woods to be cut down and flattened. There are many paths throughout the woods, and also bridal paths. This could be the perfect place to recreate this image, i best get capturing!