Chapter 8 Notes

Architecture and Urban Landscapes

• Indirect portraits: buildings of the people inside/ and creators
• similar to landscape photography

Looking Back

• architecture has always been popular
• 1840's Charles Negre - painter used photo's as sketch
• started to see photos as end product - not "sketch"
• Frederick H. Evans (the greatest) 
• photographed English and French Cathedrals in the late 1800's early 1900's
• Eugene Atget started took up photography in his 40's (1840's)
• self taught
• took pictures of Paris and surrounding areas 
• Good friends with Bernice

Photographing the Built Environment

- Thinking artistically

• Can be used as recording of the building to exploration of abstract images
• Pay attention to the lines in the photos - can divide picture/lines/texture
• Be aware of surroundings
• edges
• structure
• the composition of the building
• every building has a pattern: the repetition of the elements in the image

Camera Settings

• for 35mm use f/11 to f/22
• the bigger the camera the f-stop (for the most depth)
• Slow films (100 ISO or less) produce gainer grained images than fast films.

Value and Texture

• With black and white photography, value is most important
• determines shapes of objects
• Contrast: greater the difference in value
• stronger/ more powerful shot
• more 3D
• Depending on the value, texture plays a big role
• Texture: the "touchablitly" quality of the object in the photo
• texture enhances the quality of the photo

Film

• Color shots - focus on color and setting
• Black and White - focus on value, shape, and texture
• Two types: commercial and artistic

Lighting

• Lighting is crucial for interior shots
• Different light bulbs create different colors in the shot
• filters can help capture the true colors
• example: incandescent  = orange shots different
• deep blue 80A will correct the orange

Lenses

• Wide angle lenses work best for architecture
• Sometimes you cannot back up far enough to capture what you want
• a wide angle lens can cause distortion

Camera Support

• for taking shots of buildings, may be not need a tripod
• mono-pods (single legged stands) work best for this
• if using a slow/ fine-grained shot with lots of depth
• tripod is necessary
• especially for interior shots

Filters

• Filters can enhance photos through color and texture
• example: using a yellow or orange filter will enhance the colors of the sky clouds
• Polarizing helps as well
• example: darkening a sky / eliminating a reflection from a glass or window

The Big View

• Big View: wide angle or overall view
• usually you must be further away as well to take the desired shot
• Perspective Distortion: when an image appears to have strong converging lines
• while the sides of building in the photo are toward each other - not parallel
• farther one stands from the building - less distortion
• Angle:
• shooting strait on - the shot will appear flat / 2D
• shooting form and angle (side-lit) - the shot will appear to have more texture/dimension/shadows/ form/etc.

Shadows

• these make shots more interesting
• lines and shapes make the object more interesting in the photo

The Detail Shot

• Detail Shot: features the individual elements of the shot
• these shots become indirect portraits of those who made them
• look around! most shots are of those above eye level

Interior Views

• two types: overall shots and the focus on smaller details
• wide angle lens are best for overall views
• want to be between 4 and 20 feet when taking pictures in doors (detail or overview shot)
• with interior shots - the smaller the room is harder to capture -limited space to place the camera
• detailed shots are better for smaller rooms
• for detailed pictures think about: 
•  depth /field/ f-stop
• complications of small room detailed shot:
• a lot of depth of field is necessary
• higher f-stop = slower shutter speed
• slower shutter speed = need a steady hand

Bernice Abott
(US 1898-1991)

• self taught artist
• in 1918 moved to Paris
• worked as an assistant to Man Ray
• By 1925 was a portrait photographer
• Became friends with Eugene Atget who photographed architecture details
• she liked his photography and molded her work after his
• came back to NYC in 1929
• she had work published and devoted the rest of her life photographing architecture