I’m relieved that this is a research task rather than an exercise because, at the moment, sunrise is before 5am and sunset is around 9.30pm, so there is not much darkness to photograph! Instead, we are given four photographers to research, each of whom has a different approach to night or low light photography.
Really I should have viewed them in reverse order so that I could have become more and more absorbed. As it was, I went from great excitement to slight boredom.
First I studied the work of Sato Shintano, a Japanese photographer who has a passion for urban night photography in his Tokyo home. He has created some distinctive and fascinating bodies of work within the genre. Given my recent explorations of depth of field, I was intrigued to read that he has spent time investigating ‘flat’ photography using telephoto to capture a shallow depth of field. By contrast with the OCA materials, which speak of photographs as windows onto a three dimensional view, as if one could look through the print on paper as through glass, Shintano wanted to dispel this illusion, making a flat image on a flat piece of paper.
One of his bodies of work concerns a tower which was to be built in the area in which he grew up. He documented the scene at monthly intervals as the land was cleared and through the process of the tower being built.
These two photos were taken at either end of the process. In both it can be seen that low light conditions can be as good, or even better, than darkness for capturing the qualities of artificial light
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Sato Shintano, Kameido, Tokyo
https://sato-shin-taro.com/work/night-lights/?modal=3
It was hard to confine myself to selecting only four of Shintano’s images. These two are from a series of street signs illuminated at night. The sense of flatness us more apparent here than in the body of work on the building of the tower. Also these are taken in the darker part of the night, and I imagine that the bright lights knock out any light from the sky. Although these images are of human-made things rather than humans, these images are so full of life and colour. They have enlarged my understanding of the urban. I’m also happy to see images that are sharp all the way from background to foreground, bringing a sense of light and clarity.
Rut Bless Luxemburg is another urban night photographer, but rather than photographing cityscapes in Tokyo, she works predominantly in London. By contrast with Shintano’s sharply focused images, Rut Bless Luxemburg takes long exposure images which create almost liquid compositions in the beautiful hues of oil paints.
 | Rut Bless Luxemburg, Liebeslied 1997
https://rutbleesluxemburg.com/liebeslied-2
If I had seen these images before seeing Shintano’s I would have been much more excited by them. Looking again at them now, they are truly lovely, with these liquid honey hues making urban grime almost holy. The reflected light on wet pavements adds to the warm glows and the abstract quality of the images is very appealing. So much care has been taken over the creation of each image, and it shows.
Next up is Brassai, pseudonym of Gyula Halász, a photographer in the mid 20th century. His photographs are not very interesting to me because they’re all black and white, which I find hard to see. However, I have found three images which are more visible.
Brassai, Pillar of the Elevated, Metro Glaciere, 1932
I like this image because of the different textures. I’m not sure what the subject is but it seems to have a few different kinds of brickwork, some rough, some smooth, and some interesting girders.
Brassai, Avenue de l’Observatoire in the Fog, 1937
Here the fog as a visual element of design is striking in the way that it diffuses the light of the street lights, but especially the long diagonal line of light from the car headlights. The last couple of exercises have confirmed, if there was ever any doubt, that photography is all about light, but I’ve rarely seen light as the main subject of an image in such a way as this.
Self Portrait on the Boulevard Saint Jacques, 1930-32 Maybe the first selfie? He must have had an interesting setup to achieve this back in the early 1930s, in terms of equipment. He has also placed himself exactly where the light will illuminate his face.
Finally, and most uninspiringly, we were asked to look at the work of Philip Lorca diCocia. He takes pictures of people, some of them at night. I don’t find any of them particularly compelling but the following two are of some interest.
Philip Lorca diCocia, Michael Jenson, 19 years old, Dallas, 1990-92
This picture is cleverly composed so that the glass panel of the bus shelter both highlights the person sat behind it and separates him from the person sitting next to him. This image captures the sense of being isolated in a crowd, that these two people sit next to each other but are essentially alone.
Philip Lorca diCocia, Chris, 28 years old, Los Angeles, 1990-92
The sense of isolation is again present in this portrait of Chris. He sits alone, yet surrounded by doors and windows which suggest that there are many people nearby just out of sight. The fact that the subjects of these photos have their names recorded in the titles only serves to heighten the sense of dislocation as it suggests a relationship between the photographer/viewer and the subject which simply doesn’t exist.
I have to concede that every photo I’ve included, no matter my own level of interest in it, is a beautifully and carefully composed image by someone of great skill. Yet I’m drawn back to the riot of colour and visual overload of Shintano’s portrayal of urban Japan. Despite my preference for quiet places and the natural world, these images make me feel like jumping on a plane and going to see Tokyo and Osaka for myself. None of the other practitioners convey this sense of vibrant liveliness and energy. Their photos are atmospheric, and perhaps it takes a greater skill to convey a sense such as that of isolation as Philip Lorca diCochia does, but Shintano’s love for his city shines out of every photo and that is very appealing. I’m also very drawn to his complex, almost cluttered, scenes. There are so many small details making up these grand compositions - may no one ever tell him to simplify!
In terms of my own practice, this research has contributed much to my ongoing study and use of colour and texture in my work. Over the last several months I have shifted gear a bit from the more vibrant colours of Shintano towards the richer but more muted hues of Rut Bless Luxemburg. More specifically regarding my photigraphy, whilst I’ve enjoyed the creation of distortion and blur, I’ve learned that compositions with sharp focus throughout, and a shallow depth of field, are more true to my own distinctive way of seeing as a visually impaired person, and perhaps this is part of what draws me to Shintano’s ‘flat’ telephoto photography at this time. My own urban photigraphy tends to focus on rust and decay, so, perhaps I am a little closer to Rut Bless Luxemburg in terms of subject matter. It will be interesting, as the year turns and low light photography becomes more feasible, to go to some of my favourite scenes of dilapidated buildings and see whether there is any way for me to capture those beautiful glowing hues that she creates. More research needed once we get towards autumn! |
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