Photographers and location - Research

Updated: Jun 25, 2021

Edward Burtynsky is a Canadian, born on February 22, 1955 in St. Catharines, Ontario. He is a photographer known for his large photo formats of industrial landscapes. His works illustrate locations from around the world. These photographs represent the different impacts on nature and the human existence.

Burtynsky won the TED Prize for Innovation and Global Thinking in 2005. In 2016 he also won the Governor General's award in Visual and Media Arts for his collection of works thus far.

His work reproduce the environmental devastation, the divine and the frightening.

Burtynsky's photographic style is characterized by the chosen locations, full of still life and life, beautiful and scary. With a wide-angle camera, it is able to show us large format photos. This describes the scars of humanity on the landscapes he subjects, with "amazing color and relentless details."

He wants the viewer to witness the consequences of radicalized consumerism. The viewer is left to contemplate in silence the visible result of our daily deeds. The photographer wants as many people as possible to realize the existence of these phenomena, caused by humanity.

What I find fascinating in the pictures, is the great contrast of colors, and the linear shape that created nature. The picture being taken with a drone, covers a large part of the location, so the viewer can see at sea what the area looks like, and what it is like today. It captures the wonderful disasters, from different parts of the world, and caused by different factors, be they natural or artificial. The village in my home country is in the same style as the locations of photographer Edward Burtysky.

I can definetly use this kind of technique, with arial photography using drones and shooting the mosst contrasting or interesting shapes.

Hua Shang is a very passionate and hard-working photographer. She started her career in photography in 2014 taking wildlfe photographs. She is travelling a lot all year, no matter what season is. Mostly she took photographs in China, also in United States, Japan, New Zealand, Madagascar, Hungary, Kenya, the North Pole, the South Pole and Mexico. During these trips she made a lot of photographer friends, and she become better an better. She established her goals and direction in photography. She won the Aerial Photoaward, as the Aerial Photographer of the Year in 2020, 2nd place |Nature.

I found really impressive the gradient of the photos, and how she framed the pictures. In my opinion this effect adds a unique view to her photos. The flying birds give life to the pictures, and make them very unique. I'm wondering if I'll have a chance too, to shoot flying birds in landscapes or not. Anyway, she gave me a very good idea, and if I see birds, I will use her ideas, and I will frame them in my pictures.

Cristian Lipovan is a Romanian photographer from Gherla whos passion started in 2010 when he got his first DSLR camera. Being so passionat he took photography classes in Cluj-Napoca, to delve into the secrets of photography. His style can be defined as URBEX ( Urban Exploration) photography. Most of his pictures are inspired by abandoned bulidings, houses and locations. His curiosity does not stop at this point, but he wants to find out and explore the story of what is in his photos. One of his big project is called PLACES SUFFERING, which describes the best the style and location of his photography he likes to shoot.

What I find interesting about his work is the way he is paying attention to the framing, and to the details. The way he capture the pictures, it gives a very big emotional impact. It seem to have a black vignette, which takes your gaze right in the middle of the picture. This effect gives the impression that it takes you in the picture, like a black hole. I enjoyed looking at his work, and it gave me some ideas, on how to accentuate the emotion of the places in my pictures too. With some shadows I can draw the viewers attention to the main point.

Location - Geamăna, Romania

For my project I was inspired by the lifestyle of some unfortunate people from Romania. While doing my research I found out that, the disaster of Geamăna commune began in 1977 when the Ceausescu regime decided to expropriate the 335 houses that formed the small village.

Subsequently, in 1978 the village was evacuated and flooded in the toxic waters of a copper mine. Unfortunately, the toxic water is still growing, but the grass and surrounding trees are still green, despite the toxins.

The colour of the water is very variable, due to the metals present in the water; the colours being from phosphorescent orange, to purple, combining with blue (paint) to brown and beige. Despite the evacuations, there are about 12-15 people left in the village, who refused to move away, but they moved their houses to the same locality, a little higher up the hill.

General comment:

Having done the research, it has inspired me and it gave me ideas for the framing and lightning, as well as with the colour contrast and showing the emotions. It gave me a lot of different ides, I will definetly consider the ideas and tips of what this photographers has used, however it will vary by what type of photos I can take on the area.

SOURCES:

Edward, Burtynsky, PHOTOGRAPHS, Edward Burtynsky link
Edward, Burtynsky, BIOGRAPHY , Edward Burtynsky link
Edward, Burtynsky, Wikipedia link
Hua, Shang, Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020, Aerial Photoawards, 2020 link
Cristian, Lipovan, Artist, PHOTO ROMANIA FESTIVAL SELECTED IN 2018, Futures Photography, 2018 link
Geamana, Romania, Even drowned in an ocean of toxic waste, the remnants of this Romanian village stand tall, Atlas Obscura, 2013 link
Geamana, Romania , Haunting pictures, Dailymail, 2019 link

Photographers and location - Research

Location - Geamăna, Romania

General comment:

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