Dealing with light in Britain
We have been briefed to research three British photographers and explain how they shot their images. This exercise makes you think into the mind of the photographer, making you think about the settings they used. This helps you to recreate similar styles and desirable looks. The three images have to of been taken in Britain. This is because light is different in Britain to other countries, our light is always varying and never constant. This is why it pays to research how other photographers deal with it and adapt to less desirable conditions.
George Rodger
British, b. 1908 - d. 1995
The first image I have looked at is by George Rodger. Rodger was a magnum photographer born in 1908 in Cheshire. He took this photo during the Blitz in London, identifying the steel helmets worn for protection. This image was taken without the use of flash or direct sunlight. To me it seem the sun was lighting from the left but being blocked by buildings, allowing the light to be bounced down the street. The soft shadows suggest it was an overcast day, this creates a diffused forgiving light. Perfect for soft skins tones and portraiture. He's used a prime lens, I would guess 35mm by the level of distortion. He has taken advantage of the large aperture by blowing out the background, this isolates the children creating a pleasing background. Rodger has pointed the camera down at the children, but the perspective isnt as high as I would expect. I would think he bent down a little to keep the boys feet and the road in the composition. He has chosen to position the children in the centre of the frame allowing equal spacing and keeping background distraction to a minimum. The persona in the image is created by the childrens expressions, they withhold the idea of a utopia.
Peter Marlow
British, b. 1952
British, b. 1952
My next chosen image is by Peter Marlow (b.1952) who started his career as an international photojournalist who in 1976 joined the Sygma agency in Paris. His work stood out to me because the lack of people in this image, in a open area in the middle of the day. I see this as quite unusual, but that is our job as photographers. To make the ordinary fictional. The image is shot on medium format with the abandoned trolley creating the interest. It shows society in the year 2000, the lack of care, or maybe the beginning of current youth culture. This image was taken without flash, using natural sunlight coming from the right. The colour film used has created warm tones but I would expect this image to have been taken in the evening, when the light is softer and combined with faint cloud coverage. I would guess the lens to be a 80mm 2.8 but shot around f12 for the image. To get light this even and soft is quite unusual in Britain, generally summer evenings create this light.
Ian Berry 1934
My last image is from Ian Berry, born in 1934 in Preston, Lancashire. He made his reputation in South Africa, where he worked for the Daily Mail and later from Drum Magazine. The photograph I have chosen shows a street of houses built for local mine workers during 1974. Berry's image encompasses many creative aspects. The fog at the end of the road brings out the eternal perspective, whilst hiding distractions and creating atmosphere. This image was shot wide, I would guess 28mm around f5.6 because of the lack of light. Again this was all natural light with the added features of reflections in the windows and symmetrical laundry. The image would have been taken in the morning when the sun was low and a light soft. The woman in the centre of the frame makes you think about what she's doing and why she's standing there early in the morning. This is my favourite image from the three, mainly because of the clever combination of aspects and the simple but effective composition. Ian Berry has created an image of mystery that carries depth and atmosphere.
