Photography Technique: Bokeh

This is a photography technique purposefully centred around the aesthetic quality of blur. It can be achieved using a wide aperture either by itself or by creating shaped apertures with something simple such as black card/paper. This can be combined with movement.

These shapes are what I am interested in. Creating apertures using the nets of the platonic/primary solids and experimenting with colours to see what effects I can create. Colour choice is relevant because we all subconsciously link colour with emotions, both positive and negative. I will experiment with warm/cold colour palettes to see what feelings I can achieve according to the natural (Platonic) nets and their architectural (Primary) counterparts, and to see whether the colour and shape combinations create varied atmospheres.

This will provide a challenge as I have never made apertures before, but I am intrigued about bokeh and think it could hold a 2D answer to the exploration of the idea that a “machine is a house for living in”. I still plan to look at the 3D models but the deconstruction of them is an avenue that I believe should be explored as the shapes and forms could create their own architectural merit. Further study of the different nets of the shapes will aid in my approach to making the actual 3D shapes too.

Below are some very recent experiments of my own bokeh, currently without shaped apertures (See if you can guess what they are!!):

the Code

Recently, I watched the BBC three part series, The Code [mentioned in earlier blogs]. This was an incredibly insightful programme about the underlying mathematical links within nature. There are numbers and formulae all around us. Often subconsciously we absorb this information as well as much of it being inherent in human nature.

The general overview of the programme – hosted by mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy – is that there is a code which underpins the whole of the natural world, including the extraterrestrial. The three parts of the series are entitled 'Numbers', 'Shapes' and 'Predictions'.

The Shapes part of the series really captured my attention. Symmetry and regularity occurs throughout worldwide cultures and has fascinated human beings for thousands of years. This includes the Greeks who came up with the regular shapes which we now know form the building blocks of nature – the Platonic solids. These consist of:

Tetrahedron : 4 regular triangular sides

Icosahedron: 20 regular triangular sides

Dodecahedron: 12 regular pentagonal sides

Octahedron: 8 regular triangular sides

Cube: 6 square sides

The idea that nature is so regular is fascinating. The mathematical precision of something seemingly random and chaotic is unnerving and therefore enchanting. Throughout the series, there is suggestions as to people being susceptible to an obsession with pattern whether they like it or not. Perhaps it is the reason we, as human beings, are often attempting to organise our lives as we appear to live in chaos.

The regularity of the Platonic solids can immediately be compared to the Primary solids – the architectural building blocks. Le Corbusier studied these shapes within existing architecture. No matter how irregular architecture may seem, these solids always appear within architecture, even if it is just a starting point and the solid becomes skewed or irregular.

(PICTURE TO FOLLOW SOON)

The shapes are:

Sphere

Cylinder

Cube

Cuboid

Square based pyramid.

To me, this highlights that by attempting to override it, one tends to simply end up copycatting nature, but by putting one's own spin on it. Nature is the overriding force and man's constant battle to gain control of nature seems to always be a step behind.

As a base I plan to use the Primary and Platonic solids as the main anchor for my final piece. Ideally they will be 3D models of each shape explored through the media of photography, which would automatically bring in the 2D element. The nets for making these shapes are varied when they are flattened too. There is another avenue that could be explored here. I have mocked them up in Google SketchUp which is an easy way to manipulate the different shapes:

What to do next...

This is essentially a detailed list for my plans for the next 2 or 3 weeks...

• Research more on Le Corbusier i.e. the man himself and his aims. I know a small general amount about him, but I have not currently got enough in depth research. Today I picked up a library book about him entitled “Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms” by William J R Curtis. I plan to look through this and pick out the relevant parts to do with his Machine d'habiter idea and also mass production and modernism in general which will include his main views. All of this will be blogged about soon and used as a base from which to explore other ideas.
• I am currently reading “Nature in Design” by Alan Powers (architectural writer) and am finding fantastic similarities with “The Code” (the TV series presented by mathematician Prof. Marcus du Sautoy). Both about nature and the patterns within which we are subconsciously tuned into due to an innate human obsession with pattern and order. This then influences design in every form.
• In “The Code” du Sautoy explores the Grecian notion of platonic shapes. Five equilateral forms that make up the entirety of nature. I will have a go at making them and photograph them as a perspective exercise and to get to grips with natural complexities.
• Another idea is a nature time lapse vs. a machine time lapse. These would be short film sequences that could be played side by side to reflect the difference between nature and machine. How would people react within a natural environment vs. a mechanical one i.e. is nature smoother and machine more jittery? (See “The Code” Episode 3: Predictions)
• Exploration of fractals and mathematical natural occurrences. What is a fractal? How do people react to it? Are they relevant in design? Explore human obsession with pattern – perhaps this means fractals could be relevant?
• Use photography as a means to exploring building structures and form and document them.
• Explore the idea of chaos theory and the butterfly effect... a mathematical phenomenon. I want to include a mathematical element in whatever my final project becomes. Although it will almost certainly be there as an invisible component of the piece, the opportunity to bring it into the spotlight through a piece of art, to me, is a juxtaposition of thinking. We always divide sciences and arts whereas I want to being them together as they are interlinked a lot more than people seem to realise.
• A final thought (for the moment) is the potential for a link between the way Leonardo da Vinci thought (i.e. an underlying code to us all) and Le Corbusier's ideas? There is certainly a link between da Vinci and nature but I want to see if I can link him and Corbusier. This takes me full circle back to the research for Le Corbusier. This is my starting point.
  
  (I will also, wherever possible, endeavour to use my own photos for examples which I will point out in captions)

'Lift'

“Filmmaker Marc Isaacs sets himself up in a London tower block lift. The residents come to trust him and reveal the things that matter to them creating a humorous and moving portrait of a vertical community.”

This is a short film essentially about a community of people who all use a lift in their residential block. It tells of most people's initial distrust of the camera and then their eventual opening up and some even take enjoyment of being filmed. Although this theme is not directly relevant to my project I do believe the film carries other merits as well as being a really uplifting piece to watch.

It tells if an average London community. People leading normal lives, relatively happy going about their ways. Accommodation for the masses interested Le Corbusier. He took issue with the Parisian slums and played a large role in the overhaul of these areas. He was looking for reasonable, practical and comfortable production for the masses i.e. ordinary people in their surroundings.

The way Marc Isaacs films the lift is both analytical and beautiful. The prolonged detailed shots of the lift descending and ascending accompanied by the echoes of people and the sounds of the lift itself are mesmerising. Filmed in winter you really get a sense of the coldness of physical tower block but the people bring some warmth and many of the 'characters' are humourous. The integration of people was a secondary thought because although the focus is to see how people react when having their every day life filmed.

The lift itself becomes the film maker's domain for 10 hours a day over an undisclosed period of time and he manages to turn the space from a place traditionally associated with awkward silences into a somewhere people will happily start to open up about their day and become more conversational. It becomes more of a community. Being physically confined in a small space for such long hours is something not many people are willing to do. This led me to think how Le Corbusier's Machine notion should be taken. Should we be living in literal machines? A house is a machine for living in: most people would not see a machine as their first idea of comfort so what is it that we should take from this idea?

The film is actually quite an uplifting one because it provides an insight into ordinary people going about their business, but also shows how people open up about some really quite personal happenings in their lives.

Ordinary people within an ordinary mechanical contraption. The cinematography of the film really captures the essence of the small spaces and long vertical corridors of the lift which has made me consider both still and moving images as a way of portraying the idea of a house being a machine for living in and therefore something to explore further.

Birmingham 28.10.2011

Last Friday, the Creative Digital Media group headed to Birmingham. Like Cardiff, this is another great, effervescent city with plenty going on. The original plan was to head to the Ikon Gallery, then down to Digbeth to the studio Fluid Design and The Custard Factory. Unfortunately Fluid had received a brief the previous night and the pitch to the client was the following day when we were in town! Understandably they had to decline us at the last minute, but have promised us a visit next term in which they will talk in great depth about their agency and the sorts of creative projects they take on. In the mean time though, I've taken a look at the blogs on their site. The first thing I noticed is the huge range of different creative topics of discussion from architecture to fashion through the environment, documentaries and bikes!

Obviously architecture caught my eye, and they have posted a blog about the Haçienda in Manchester. This music venue was the home of Factory Records which saw New Order [the reincarnation of late '70s band Joy Division following the suicide of frontman Ian Curtis] rise to fame to become one of the most influential electronica bands of the 1980s. Their 1983 single Blue Monday is still the biggest selling 12 inch single of all time. The Haçienda was created by Peter Saville of Factory Records and designer Ben Kelly in 1982 who created the iconic look by taking the FR label designs and putting them into a club. Putting Factory Records' mark on a building, gave it a home which, in turn, made the Haçienda instantly recognisable and the club itself was massively popular throughout the 80s. The link below is to a clip of the film '24 Hour Party People' [Director: Michael Winterbottom, 2002] and is great intro to the building with a bit of added humour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLCwLHqE0A0&feature=related

The Hacienda Nightclub (now city centre apparentments)

The contrasting colours and the whole design evoke fun! In my opinion people sometimes forget design is not all serious, and a club/music venue is where people go to relax, enjoy themselves, forget about their everyday lives. Ben Kelly's stark, raw interior brought the busy Manchester streets inside: “a city within a city”.

See Ben Kelly's writing on the club from his website.  

http://www.benkellydesign.com/home.php?id=2:0:24:0:0

The signs and colours within the Haçienda are reminiscent of natural warning signs. We use these colours/marks because we see them to mean danger, which then provokes a flight or fight response. This is so ingrained in our minds that they subconsciously warn us of potential hazards. Our obsession with patterns and seeing how some colours and shapes work together and others do not impacts on us whether we think about it or not. The factory Records label would probably have used these colours ecause they are eye catching and quickly recognisable. After watching the Code on BBC from a few months ago I have been thinking increasingly about human relationships with nature, the synergy of nature and how architecture is influnced and affected by this [but more to come on that in my next blog...].

As for the rest of the Birmingham trip, it was great to get out of the studio and find inspiration all around, but, if I am completely honest, I am never sure what I think about art galleries. I feel like an incompetant creative individual because I have a tendancy to race through them without thinking too much about what the artist has done! They should be seen as great resources for inspiration or at least ways of portraying ideas. I think perhaps practise is in order, a little like reading a book. The more you read, the more quickly you can take things in. If I visit more art galleries perhaps I will be able enjoy them at the speed I look through them. I found it more intreesting after we had a group chat with a curator abuot the artist and how they chose those particular works as a sort of supplement to the art. Bulgarian, Nedko Solakov, has been a prolifc artist for around 30 years and expermiments with potentially sensitive subjects largely in a humourous and childlike way. He is IKON's main exhibitor at the moment.

From a design point of view I found the IKON very interesting. I enjoyed the curved glass doors and the bare concrete walls softly lit with warm bulbs spelling out “IKON”. Simple and effective.

IKON gallery entrance
(photos by me)

Looking up from the foyer
(photos by me)

To add in a lift and stairs a very structural glass and steel aesthetic which takes you up on the inside of the gallery but on the outside of the original buildings means you can get up close the the exterior of these old buildings which are so much a part of Birmingham's Victorian history.

All in all the we enjoyed a crisp cold but sunny day out of the studio searching for inspiration in what is such a vibrant and fast moving city. Cannot wait to get back and see Fluid Design and hopefully get another chance to look at more of Birmingham.

A Trip to Cardiff

It has been an incredibly busy time over the last couple of weeks. I am massively interested in concert photography and a couple of months ago, took on a challenge down in Cardiff to shoot 2 days of live music at the Sŵn Music Festival. This is an annual event occurring in various locations throughout Cardiff city centre. As I did my first degree there, I have a particular inclination toward the place and thought it would be a great opportunity to revisit the fast moving capital city, as well as take on the challenge of more music photography. I shot 10 bands over 2 days which may not seem like a lot, but it took me about a week to recover [however it was definitely worth it]!

Here is a link to the Sŵn Festival site:

http://www.swnfest.com/

I really enjoy being able to experience new music. Cardiff's music scene is as fast moving as the development within the Capital itself and it was great to see bands come from all over the county to be a part of this intriguing underground music scene festival. I was a part of a team of about 30 photographers all with their schedules for various bands and venues. Here's a link to some of the photos I took over the weekend:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.301669586511534.81531.245879182090575&type=3

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.302662706412222.81731.245879182090575&type=3

I will tell you about a couple of examples while on the topic of music and architecture [hence some relevance towards my project]. Barfly, a typically grungey music venue has seen a recent overhaul and been renamed Bogiez, now a full on rock club and live music venue. From what I have heard it's a great little place to go and rock out, but I did not get the chance to head there myself unfortunately [but it certainly looks a lot better than it did in the old Barfly days at least!]. Sticking with the music theme, another [very different] locale has undergone a huge change over the past 4 or 5 years. The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, a particularly prestigious institute for performing arts has been massively modernised. Formerly a typical college block without much consideration for aesthetics, the new building has brought the college into the 21^st century, not just in the way it looks but also the facilities now available to students. New rehearsal spaces, recording studios, practice rooms, extensive libraries, a café, galleries and performance areas are a selection of what students now have to work with.

The RWCMD new £22.5 million building under construction

 I'm sure it is great to have these spaces/facilities but I found the building itself gave me a strange feeling – it was quite spooky. From the outside it is modern, clean, very neatly put together,quite typical wooden, concrete frontiers, it dominates the space etc. However, the sliver of glass by the entrance makes it seem unwelcoming. Or perhaps it should be seen as enticing one to come and take a closer look, but I could not help but feel it looked odd. I did see it at night once where it looked eerie. You could imagine yourself walking through this giant space, the only thing you can hear is the clip-clop of your shoes along the pristine polished floors. Then again, I could have just got used to the idea that glass is the material of the moment/century. Everyone wants you to look at the innards of their buildings so you can see what they have and what you do not. A way of showing off essentially [as well as a way of getting light into a building without compromising security or atmospheric conditions].

RWCMD 3D realisation of the new building

 I was on a bus when I first saw this and definitely did think it was an impressive sight. I had seen it nearly every day as a building site and so was in that typical situation of having forgotten about it over a year later, then seeing it in it's new glory and being quite stunned by the sheer magnitude of the building. Being on the main North Road into Cardiff and opposite the beautiful Cardiff University and Government buildings it certainly has a lot to compete with and I would say it has done this mostly quite well. It has much presence but without being gaudy. I often wonder what the fathers of modern architectur e(Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius etc) would think of the new 21^st Century take on Modernism – would they think we are doing great and adapting the principles of Modernism to suit our current needs or have we got the wrong end of the stick and gone in a completely different direction?

Cardiff has changed so much over the last few years, architecturally and socially, with the ever increasing number of students choosing to study there and the development of St David's 2, a multimillion pound shopping complex situated near the centre adding to it's already historically impressive Queen Street. At one point I remember being in Cardiff Castle grounds on a well earned day off and counting 13 cranes dotted around the city centre. This highlighted Cardiff's ever changing state: standing in an 800 year old castle seeing new layers being added to the city everyday. I hope it continues to improve, it has been a centre for change for over a hundred years now, in particular since the industrial revolution which saw Cardiff and South Wales as the worldwide hub for coal production and exports. These days may be gone but Cardiff is certainly making an impressive attempt to get itself back on the map as the place to be seen.

Them, And Us.

In contrast to Nature in Design [and digressing a little from architecture] I have been reading an article the National Geographic magazine (August 2011) entitled “Us. And them.”. It is about making robots more human. Personally I find the idea of Artificial Intelligence terrifying. We have already seen how humans alone affect the planet in a number of different ways so to add another race of superior intelligence into the mix could be disastrous. Perhaps it would work initially, but if these creatures are able to think and feel for themselves there could be great divides of opinion leading to an uproar of Global proportions. Not to forget this planet's resources are dwindling under the strain of 7 billion people [and counting], without the addition of other 'beings' needing power supplies. There has long been suggestions of domesticated robots who do human chores [think of The Jetsons - a popular cartoon series started in 1963. They had a house cleaning robot called Rosie, – there is a small clip of her here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLOBkkvwie8 and of course, Doctor Who – see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH-kV5VTuZQ for a clip of Cybermen origins] however after giving robots AI, I can see how they would not stand to do our mundane everyday jobs – the little bits and pieces we hate doing! Civil rebellions of a space age kind... just a thought.

A link to the original National Geographic article: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/08/robots/carroll-text

It is certainly an eye opening article about something that is going on right now. People who are determined to push technological, philosophical  and ethical boundaries are studying HRI [Human Robot Interaction... yes, there is an acronym for it] i.e. our reactions towards robots and from this gleaning the information they need to make these robots more human.

"If you finally can't tell the difference, does it really matter if you're interacting with a human or machine?" - Hiroshi Ishiguro, ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories in Kyoto Japan.

It is a very valid question to which I think many people, at the moment, would answer that it is still something that has been made and given artificial intelligence over naturally evolved intelligence. However, if we were to live amongst these creatures, would we eventually get used to it and just accept them for another life form? 

A House is a Machine for Living In

Yesterday was the third DMP session where everyone fairly informally discussed their main concept or proposition to the class. Definitely an interesting and varied group of creative people we are!

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I did a simple slideshow which I believe purveyed my main thoughts on “A machine is a house for living in”. I went with this topic mainly because John advised us not to do anything [too] outrageous – to stick within the realms of what we know. There's also the fact that this particular proposition conjures up a really wide selection of still very socially relevant thoughts and avenues to explore so there is plenty of material there to be picked to pieces.

The sorts of thought trails I have been pondering include

Architecture vs. Nature

Man vs. Machine

Natural Perfection

The Golden Section

Fibonacci numbers

All of which play a part in my thinking about a machine being a house for living in. Warren [a fellow CDM MA student] suggested that I take look at a short television series called “The Code” which is about the perfect ratios that occur in nature which I find particularly fascinating. Completely natural happenings, unaffected by humans, in fact influencing us in the hunt for divine proportions within architecture. The contrast between what is seemingly left to chance and what is meticulously calculated is a dilemma I will be looking into, given that nature influences architecture in so many different ways. 

An example of Fibonacci numbers

in a common daisy

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A few years back I bought a wonderful book, Nature in Design, by Alan Powers who has written much about design, and architecture in particular. I rediscovered it today! Expect snippets, articles and imagery when I have re-read it. Already turning to the first couple of pages there are small articles on Le Corbusier and Man and Machines i.e. the Industrial Revolution. Also a fantastically exciting era in history in terms of the development of design and new discoveries and inventions – perhaps something else to delve into? Already so many sub-paths to explore...

IDEAS/dicussions/DEBATES/photos/posters/campaigns...

After a week of tentatively exploring ideas for my very first Digital Media Practice module I have finally got my blog up and running. Having never really ventured into the world of blogging I find myself already doing something very new before I have even started on a project! This is one reason for doing an MA course - pushing boundaries and challenging myself to get stuck into ideas and think differently.

Various thoughts erupted after the first DMP session two Fridays ago and I took some inspiration from recent National Geographic magazines which are responsible for so many fantastic visual stories and documentations. Although, initially, my thoughts were not so enthusiastic on these ideas, discussion with John [DMP Tutor and Acting Course Leader for Creative Digital Media] led to a realisation that all three ideas below have hugh potential for a highly topical and serious visual discussion. To think, a simple catch phrase could be all I am given to run with in industry... A potentially daunting task, but most certainly a challenge to be relished.

Here is a quick overview of my [best] ideas for the very first project:

Firstly, I found this poster:

This made me think about exploring the thought that fake fur is less environmental and therefore real fur is the way forward given current considerations for the environment which are being thrust upon us nearly every day. A very controversial topic [both fur and the environment] so there is an array of avenues to venture into with this, from animal cruelty to the production of synthetics and then trying to weigh up the best option to satisfy such an ethical debate, after all animals are still going to be killed for meat – why not minimize waste and utilise everything?

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A second thought comes from not having a direct Creative Digital Media background but one of Interior Architecture. In summary the latter is about working with existing buildings, adding new layers of history, applying for changes of use and endeavouring to create the best possible design solution for a very specific challenge. A theoretical knowledge of architecture has led me to consider it's great players, particularly Le Corbusier who was a pioneer for Modernism – still seen as a controversial movement. His notion,

“A house is a machine for living in”

conjures up images of industry and mass production, but what exactly did he mean by this? How can a house where humans are to dwell be compared to an inanimate object often designed to replace humans?

 The interior of Le Corbusier's Chapel at Ronchamp, France

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Finally: Graffiti. Is it art? Or vandalism? Exploring these ideas would certainly yield a great colourful response to an argument. There is much debate about the art/vandalism point. Banksy, possibly the world's most renowned artist still goes by a pseudonym – what does this say about our views on “art”? It provokes a reaction which is the definition of art, but many cannot see past the potentially destructive nature of unauthorised artwork around towns and cities. Should it be commissioned to liven places up or would this permission open up a can of anarchic, spraycan wielding worms?!

A photo by me.

Taken outside Room 13 in Worcester – a new venue for music,

street art, films etc.

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I have to choose which one I'm going to take further and present it to everyone on friday. All of these ideas are current with strong opinions held on both sides of the arguments. I'm looking forward to engaging in detail with one for the DMP module. I plan to work in a variety of media including photography, graphic design and some 3D model making to start, however I am excited about the potential to new routes of conveying a message after rigorous research.