EASTON MAUDIT,
CEDAR, 2018
EMULATING THE WORK OF A PHOTOGRAPHER
I jumped into the deep end with my first project, choosing to transfer the methods of Thomas Kellner from man-made architecture to natural forms. I tried the style on a variety of objects, from the very small to the very large. Exploring this style turned out to be a very interesting process, particularly as I made the choice to use different materials to Kellner. I want to say a huge thank you to my mum, who put up with driving to different locations and hearing "It's just not right" so many times - without her this wouldn't have been possible.
Learning Something New
Attempting to deconstruct and apply Kellner's style of visual analytical synthesis was a welcome challenge to my photography work. I've never taken the time to work on a project so stylised and honestly it was so much fun! Whilst it was difficult at times, it also really sparked my creativity and I'd love to explore more like this in the future.
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I did diverge from the original style in my choice of media materials. In his Fractured Architecture series Kellner works exclusively with with film camera but due to resources and time I was limited to digital technologies. On the one hand, this was much easier to handle in terms of portability and data management, but on the other hand I had to completely reinterpret the post-production process.
Creating Easton Maudit, Cedar, 2018
I began my work in this style at a shoot in Armathwaite where I attempted to apply visual analytical synthesis to a number of natural forms including trees, woodland landscapes and a weir (you can check out that first attempt in my vlog at the bottom of this page). These results didn't work out so I had to go back to the drawing board.
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I decided that to successfully translate Kellner's style I needed to return to the original - I needed to try it out on actual architecture. A trip to Rickerby Park and the war memorial proved fruitful and I ended up with a very clear understanding of the process, which would allow me to return to photographing natural structures.
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An additional experiment I indulged in as a part of this project was attempting to apply Kellner's style to a leaf. Some might say that a leaf is an inappropriate subject as it's too small to properly deconstruct in this way. Using a macro lens, however, achieved some very interesting results. Although I didn't pursue this avenue in the final piece I'm still pleased that I explored this possibility and proved its feasibility.
The Final Shoot
For my final shoot I decided that I wanted to use a cedar tree - its large size and sprawling shape making it the perfect subject for this style of visual analytical synthesis. But finding a suitable cedar tree proved to be the most difficult aspect of the project. You'd have thought there were plenty of stand-alone cedar trees just waiting to be photographed, right? But no, Compton Verney and Canons Ashby were closed, at Ickworth the trees were too close together and at Croome, bizarrely, their cedar tree was inside a house. In the end, a chance Google search led me to a trio of cedars at a tiny hamlet in Northamptonshire named Easton Maudit, where I was finally able to get the pictures I needed. Challenge 1 - complete!
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Challenge 2 was how to edit all these digital files into the final piece. Kellner uses processed film over a lightbox to assemble his images, so I decided to try and recreate this in Photoshop. I put together five columns of six photos, which I then dropped into a new file to create the full image. Although it was only an approximation of Kellner's methods it actually worked really well and I'm so happy with the end result. Moving forward with this style I'd really love to try it out with film cameras - darkroom staff, I'm on my way!
Project Mood Board
