Photographer: Keld Helmer-Petersen

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In Petersen’s photographs, 5 characteristics that stand out are:

1. High contrast colors. No matter if the photograph is colored or black-and-white, Petersen always utilizes colors to add dynamics to his photographs. Petersen generally only uses around 1-4 colors in his photographs maximum. The colors highlight and distinguish each subject from another, accentuating shape, line, and tone, and blurring the texture of the subjects.
2. Extreme tonality. In the black-and-white photos of this collection. Peterson exploits the results of shadows and high aperture to create an extremely mono-tone look for his photographs. The tonality completely takes away the aspect of texture and brings all the focus of the audience to the shape and lines of the photograph. With colored photographs, the lack of texture makes them look like paintings which resembles pictorialism. For black-and-white photos, it makes it appear like a 2D print. The tonality also makes the photo appear 2D.
3. Sharp focus. In Petersen’s photographs, practically everything is in extreme focus. Having sharp focus really defines the silhouettes of objects and defines whereas soft focus will blur them.
4. Defined Lines. In Petersen’s photographs, the utilization of lines, which is present in most of Petersen’s work, draws and leads the eyes of the audience toward different places and subjects of the photographs, creating engagement and dynamics. Lines are also commonly used as patterns by Peterson, some of his photographs are bombarded with lines like the 6th photo in his collection.
5. Defined shapes. A variety of defined shapes are featured in Petersen’s photos. The shapes can be rigid and sharp, or they can be curvy and round. Shapes are often the main theme Petersen tries to capture. The extraction of shapes offers the audience a unique perspective on everyday subjects.

Reason for Selection:

Keld Helmer-Petersen’s photographs are very similar to my vision because Petersen has a large collection of photographs of shadows. These photos of shadows commonly accentuate the shapes, lines, and patterns created by the shadows. It is in alignment with my own vision because my vision is to demonstrate the beauty that can be created through the shapes, lines, and patterns of shadows, and Petersen’s photographs are nothing less than wonderful to look at.

“I don’t want my pictures to ‘look like something.’ They should just look like pictures.” – Keld Helmer-Petersen.

I chose this quote from Petersen because to me it just captures the quintessential spirit of abstract photography, as it is not about depicting meaning or aesthetic through its content, but about capturing some thing, some moment, or some aura for what they are. What Petersen expresses through these words aligns with the essence of his own work. His photographs capture a shadow of a building, a smoke funnel, a set of colors, a pattern of lines simple for what they are. No added meanings, no implications, no intentional alterings, minimum complexity. Just plain and simple everyday things.

Evaluation of Petersen’s Photography:

I chose this photograph of Petersen in particular because this photo embodies the essential elements that appear in most of Petersen’s different works. The use of shapes and lines just astonishes me, how Petersen was able to capture the contours of the smoke funnel in a way that presents and distinguishes itself so interestingly. What also amazes me is how Petersen was able to capture the clash of colors in this photo. The colors are not complicated, just simply 3 colors, red, black, and blue. It is composed so that the blue sky takes up 1/2 of the photo and the red and black funnels take up the other half. Lastly, the most important reason why I chose this photo is because Petersen didn’t take this image for what it depicted, but for what it is, and it’s something I strive to replicate in my own photography.

What I find the most surprising about this photo is how “unsurprising” this photo is. In other words, how simple this photo is. The marvel of Petersen in this photo to me was how he was able to capture both the ordinariness and the un-ordinariness of a simple smoke funnel combined with a dash of blue sky. Petersen takes something that is every day and makes it interesting like you have never seen it before. A feat that is incredibly difficult to perform.

The most important formal element in this picture I believe is Shape. In this photo, the shape of the funnels is accentuated and serves as a guide for the audience’s eyes to explore the photo. When the audience looks at this photo, they will start with the funnel itself, then follow the cylinder shape of the tube all the way up to the oval-shaped opening of the funnel. The shape of the opening of the smoke funnel is distinct and serves as the focal point of the photo where the audience’s eyes will linger. The outline of the entire funnel structure creates a unique shape. It offers the audience a different perspective of observation that they normally wouldn’t have been able to discover in their own lives. At the same time, the funnel structure also outlines and creates the unorthodox shape of the blue sky, which also makes this photo very interesting. It is fascinating to see how the weave of two uniquely different shapes accompany each other.

I believe Petersen’s works are abstract because his photographs offer his audience a new unique perspective on ordinary things. By emphasizing and obscuring certain elements and details, Petersen manages to sprout new concepts and meanings out of predetermined subjects. Yet, another thing Petersen was able to do was that his photographs were also not focused on what message or emotion it is trying to get across, rather he focused on what they are. These two concepts seem to contradict each other, but Petersen managed to balance the two approaches perfectly.

I like how Petersen was able to challenge the audience to identify the subject of his photo by using high contrast. The high contrast can complement and bring out many unusual shapes and patterns that are very interesting to see. I also thoroughly enjoy Petersen’s masterful yet subtle compositions for his photographs.

I am really inspired by Petersen’s approach to creating new meaning out of existing subjects. I will try my best to incorporate this into my own photography in 798 by trying to take different elements and see what meaning they would produce when put together. Also, I really admire how Petersen was able to make choices to capture something not based on what it conveyed, but for what it truly is.