Brainstorming

Developing My Vision

I plan to emphasize the solemn solitude peculiarity of industrial style by using a sharp focus and focusing on the shapes, patterns, and tones of the photographs (similar to straight photography, but in black and white). My target will mainly be industrial architecture taken during the trip to 798.

Statement of Intent

The message of my triptych will be to respect and preserve obsolete industrial architecture. I want the audience to appreciate the solemn solitude peculiarity, and greatness of these structures and buildings when looking at my presentation. For inspiration, I will try to find a photographer who explores industrial buildings and finds photographs that explore shapes, patterns, and tones with sharp focus. I’m obsessed with realistic and straight photography, so I try to adhere my style to these types of photography.

Photography Artist & Photo Gallery: Albert Renger-Petzsch

Albert Renger-Patzsch was a prominent and intriguing German photographer whose career spanned decades and continents. But when I looked through a series of his images, displaying anything from still life to flowers, each focusing on the industrial era differently, it stayed with me and my thoughts. They convey a story of a specific time and place, reflecting Renger Patzsch’s leanings toward documentary photography and the time period in which they were taken.

For example, in the first photo, the railway symbolizes industry. However, it is shown uniquely in this artwork. Instead of a train in motion or even the train tracks, the focus here is on the railway embankment, photographed from below and looking up. This perspective is highly effective since it conveys the magnitude of the embankment, which may have been a mirror of industry in general during the 1920s. This is emphasized further by the presence of a small figure near the center of the image. This figure, whose details are obscured by distance and shadows, highlights how little man is compared to some of the time’s industrial endeavors. In this image, Renger-Patzsch uses dark, light, and shades to significant effect. The arches of the railway create striking shapes, and the fact that they get smaller from left to right helps to give the photo a sense of depth and distance.

With inspiration from Albert Renger-Petzsch, I noticed that one option is to use the effect of tones, lines, and patterns, if possible, to create a contrast or a sense of depth to display the solemn solitude peculiarity.

Yellow Photos

I selected these 59 photos as “Yellow Photos” because these are all the ones I shot toward industrial architecture from a unique angle that used lines and shapes to create a sense of depth. I turned these photos into black and white to match Albert Renger-Petzsch’s style and emphasize the solemnness and greatness of the industrial structures, matching my statement of intent.

Green Photos

I chose these 10 photos as my green ones because they have a wide dynamic range, which made it possible to create contrast, as mentioned in my inspiration from Albert Renger-Patzsch. It also matches the purpose of my final presentation, which is to emphasize the solemn solitude style.

Red Photos

I chose these three as my red photos, matching my intent and vision. They have wide dynamic ranges in black and white, displaying the solemn industrial style. The first and third photographs were shot at the same target but from different angles, as implied by the time taken. Moreover, all the photos have a hard, solid, and cold (if you touch them) texture, which enhances the solemn solitude peculiarity. This can be an option for my final triptych as I cropped them into the same size, and they convey similar messages and emotions.