Mural - East Belfast (after Brassai)
John Baucher
Inspired by the photographer Brassai who documented Paris in such an iconic manner.........
www.flickr.com/groups/utata/discuss/72157602299830728/
The saloon got me thinking about my home town and how i would produce images in the style of Brassai.
Obviously we have a history here in 'Norn Iron' that has been well documented but i have been thinking about the fabric of this city and the territorial markings of "Us and Themmuns".
I do think that alot of the images associated with Norn Iron are often a stereotype (now), the aftermath of a bomb, an explosion, rioting, burning buses etc and of course the army/security forces/paramilitaries on the streets.
Here i have attempted to show a brooding presence. The mural in partial shadow with its flags caught fluttering on a still night. The paramilitaries may well have declared a ceasefire but it would be a fool who thought that they had gone away. Decommissioning has happened but there is still more to come as we move from a conflict society to one of peace.
I will be producing more of these, because of technological advances, the technical difficulties are nowhere as severe as when Brassai documented Paris but i think i might even get my film camera out to produce some B&W hand prints, (its been over a year since i've developed and printed my own work and i'm suffering from withdrawl).
I'm pretty pleased with this and i'm looking forward to finding some more places that have a relevancy and hopefully capture this fine city in the style of Brassai.
Big thanks to Greg over in Utata for the Sunday Salon which has inspired me.
The Iron Photographer Challenge
The elements for Iron Photographer 33 were inspired by the recent Sunday Salon on Brassaï:
1 - shot at night
2 - dramatic light source
3 - black and white
The first element, shot at night, is abundantly clear. You can tell it's night because the sun has set. If the sun is out, it's not night. We don't care if you shoot the photograph inside or outside so long as the sun has passed below the horizon.
The second element, dramatic light source, is the most ambiguous one. You'll have to decide that for yourself, but it won't hurt to take a look at some of Brassaï's work.
Finally, we want the photograph to Brassaï be in black and white. We don't care if you shoot black and white or if you make it black and white in post-processing. How you get it to be black and white is entirely up to you.
That's it. Go get Parisian.
Others By This Photographer
All photographs shown on Utata are stored on flickr. This photo and text © Moochin Photoman.
The previous 4 images in the loop
The next 4 images in the loop
