esa
inside/outside
a modern project
rut blees luxemburg
Rut Blees Luxemburg (born 1967) is a German-born British photographer. Her technique is to take photographs at night, mostly exploring the urban landscape. She is a Tutor at the Royal College of Art. In 2020, Luxemburg was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society, Bristol.
my first attempt
i took these from my dads work from a high composition, i like the lighting in all of them they came out really clear. i took these on his phone so i was surprised they came out in such a good quality. Rut Bees Luxemburg inspired me for the night images and the higher views of tall buildings.
www: the pictures came out clear and i managed to capture multiple buildings with one shot, i also like how the night ones stand out.
ebi: if i took a few more pictures it would be better
ebi: if i took a few more pictures it would be better
left london
William Eckersley
William Eckersley shot the project 'left London' over the span of 12 months. its a photographic portrayal of abandoned buildings. Eckersley is a graduate of Westminster University's Photographic MA and based in London. other examples of his work has been seen in various exhibitions, magazines, websites and self-published books; as well as included in the collections of sir Elton john and the museum of London.
my first attempt
i explored multiple abandoned places (a mansion, water tower, station, bunker) and took all of these on my phone at different times throughout the day. the night time pictures give off more of an eerie and unsettling feel so i prefer the images taken at night. i was inspired by the work of william eckersley, i like how his work has very small but noticeable hints of colour in dark creepy rooms so i tried to recreate that by photographing angles that include graffiti.
the station was opened on the 19th of january 1941 and closed on the 3rd of july in 1954 due to lack of finance and a reduction in passanger numbers. the mansion was originally bought by the Saudi royal family during the gulf war as a place they could escape to incase they were deposed, that never happened and now this mansion and most of the other ones on its road are abandoned due to them being extremely expensive.
the station was opened on the 19th of january 1941 and closed on the 3rd of july in 1954 due to lack of finance and a reduction in passanger numbers. the mansion was originally bought by the Saudi royal family during the gulf war as a place they could escape to incase they were deposed, that never happened and now this mansion and most of the other ones on its road are abandoned due to them being extremely expensive.
my best pictures
www: i like how i managed to get pictures of multiple locations, i also like how i managed to capture graffiti and details of decay.
ebi: some of my pictures are blurry due to them being taken on my phone so i should try to bring my camera out with me.
ebi: some of my pictures are blurry due to them being taken on my phone so i should try to bring my camera out with me.
development 1
simon phipps
London based British Photographer Simon Phipps graduated in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art. He is the renowned creator of the New Brutalism Collection of Photography on Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter and the photographer of post-war modernism and the author of three books: Brutal London, Finding Brutalism and recently published Concrete Poetry: Post-War Modernist Public Art. For his latest book, Concrete Poetry, Phipps has diverted his discerning lens towards prominent postwar public art and sculpture across the UK.
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Britain began rebuilding its fractured, rubble-ridden urban landscape and reestablishing societal morale. The hope of a new breed of citizen emerged, one that was community-minded, liberal and embraced the largely uncharted territory of communal living spaces. Then, came an era in which the function of publicly owned art came to the fore as symbols of creative democracy, emblems of Britain in the midst of progression and in the Phipps’ words, totems for ‘shared social experiences’.
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Britain began rebuilding its fractured, rubble-ridden urban landscape and reestablishing societal morale. The hope of a new breed of citizen emerged, one that was community-minded, liberal and embraced the largely uncharted territory of communal living spaces. Then, came an era in which the function of publicly owned art came to the fore as symbols of creative democracy, emblems of Britain in the midst of progression and in the Phipps’ words, totems for ‘shared social experiences’.
for this shoot i was inspired by the work of simon phipps, i liked the idea of photographing council houses so i went to archway and took some because at the time i didnt know any more abandoned places that were local.
www: the night images stand out due to the windows being lit up but the surroundings being eerie
ebi: some of my images are out of focus, i need to stand still for longer
ebi: some of my images are out of focus, i need to stand still for longer
edits
development 2
this shoot was also inspired by simon phipps, i was out and liked how the windows with lights on looked at night.
www: i got a good amount of images and the lights are a good detail.
ebi: it would be better if i went to more locations and if they were all in focus. next time i will increase the shutter speed for it to capture a more clear photograph.
ebi: it would be better if i went to more locations and if they were all in focus. next time i will increase the shutter speed for it to capture a more clear photograph.
blue room
eugene richards
Eugene Richards is an American documentary photographer living in Brooklyn, New York. He has published many books of photography and has been a member of Magnum Photos and of VII Photo Agency. He was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
development 3
this was my first time exploring the warehouse, i went at around 6pm so it wouldnt be too dark and you can still see all the details. i didnt manage to get any images of the inside this time but next time i will. this warehouse was originally a sainsburys, homebase and argos. this was one of my favourite locations ive been to as its got so much to explore and i went here as a child when it was actually open. i used my phone to take images as in abandoned places i dont trust bringing a camera.
www: i got a good amount of pictures and captured many details of decay, i also like the contrast of the bright and colourful grafiti to the dark and eerie surroundings.
ebi: if i got more images of the inside, next time i will bring a torch with me so i can capture the inside of the building more clearly.
ebi: if i got more images of the inside, next time i will bring a torch with me so i can capture the inside of the building more clearly.
my best pictures
edits
development 4
i explored more of the inside of the warehouse and took a few images, i still want to take more so i will go back. i also didnt manage to get around the whole place as it got too dark to see anything.
www: i like that i got some images of how the warehouse looks in the day for once instead of them all at night
ebi: the pictures came out very blurry when i uploaded them.
ebi: the pictures came out very blurry when i uploaded them.
development 5
in the parking lot of the warehouse there was another building which turned out to be a tgi fridays which was also abandoned. we saw this building on the way to the warehouse everytime we went there but didnt realise it was on the same lot. this building really interested me as you can see there are still paperwork and menus left over. it was a creepy place to walk through as there were doors and fences everywhere so anything could of been in there.
www: i went to a different location, i got a decent amount of images and most of them came out clear
ebi: i. should of got someone to shine a light to make some of the images clearer
ebi: i. should of got someone to shine a light to make some of the images clearer
my best pictures
development 6
this time at the warehouse i managed to go nearly all around it before it got pitch black, i prefer going to abandoned places at night as when there is a light the colour of the room pops while the rest of it stays dark and it just makes the picture more unsettling.
www: i got more pictures of the inside of the warehouse, i also like how theyre dark but not too dark so you can still see all of the detail but it still gives the unsettling eerie feel.
ebi: i had to use my phone and flash and i moved too quickly which caused some images to go blurry.
ebi: i had to use my phone and flash and i moved too quickly which caused some images to go blurry.
my best pictures
development 7
i went to the warehouse around 6 and so i managed to get some daytime images but i prefer the night ones as it portrays the way you feel when walking around the places, excited but also a bit creeped out due to not knowing what could be around each corner. when the images are at night you have to look closely at all the details and you notice more due to examining each corner.
www: i explored deeper into the warehouse and even the roof which means i have more of a variety of images rather than all the same images of the main rooms
ebi: it would of been better if i got more images and some wouldnt upload
ebi: it would of been better if i got more images and some wouldnt upload
Final piece
big up
ben watts
Watts is a British-born photographer based in New York City, whose work has been published in various international fashion magazines, such as Elle, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Vanity Fair, and Condé Nast Traveller. He created 'big up' to display photographs of americas 'raucous youth culture'.
Watts is a British-born photographer based in New York City, whose work has been published in various international fashion magazines, such as Elle, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Vanity Fair, and Condé Nast Traveller. He created 'big up' to display photographs of americas 'raucous youth culture'.
inspo
my final piece
for my final piece i was inspired by the work of ben watts, i liked how his work isnt perfect, its messy in an appealing way and i thought this went with my abandoned buildings theme. the pops of colour throughout his work are also a really nice detail as i aimed to get graffiti and pops of colour in all of my actual images.
process: i picked my favorite images from 4 of the places i went to then printed them out, some in A4 some in A5. i layered them in a similar way to ben watts and then stuck it all down. i added masking tape boarders to enhance the messy, ruined look. finally i added coloured paper and wrote the location and year it was taken, i attempted to do a different font for each to match the vibe of the places e.g a mansion is fancy and a warehouse is more bold.
process: i picked my favorite images from 4 of the places i went to then printed them out, some in A4 some in A5. i layered them in a similar way to ben watts and then stuck it all down. i added masking tape boarders to enhance the messy, ruined look. finally i added coloured paper and wrote the location and year it was taken, i attempted to do a different font for each to match the vibe of the places e.g a mansion is fancy and a warehouse is more bold.
www: im really happy with how these pieces turned out i like how they dont look perfect, the ripped masking tape adds the ruined tacky feel as if the pictures have decayed, the pops of colour under the masking tape go with the slight pops of colour in the images.
ebi: i shouldved written around the images and did more varied collage types but i didnt have time i also wouldve liked if i had time to complete a collage of another location.
ebi: i shouldved written around the images and did more varied collage types but i didnt have time i also wouldve liked if i had time to complete a collage of another location.