Pastiche

Pastiche


For this pastiche we were given the three images below to choose from that were all relevant to our city project. At first I wanted to do Struth's image however it would be practically impossible because the only place that I could think of that looked like this is in London but it is highly unlikely that you would be able to achieve a shot in London in the day time with no people in it. Also It is currently winter so the weather conditions would stop me being able to achieve the came lighting and perfectly blue sky. I discarded the idea of  creating a pastiche of Friedlanders image because i know of no where that looks remotely similar. I chose Brassai's image 'Paris after Dark, No.27'. There are many back streets in London that are similar to this one and I have never really shot at night so I felt that this would be the most beneficial for me to pastiche.


Thomas Struth, 'Bukseo Dong, Pyongyang, North Korea', 2007


Lee Friedlander, 'Albuquerque, New Mexico', 1972


Brassai, 'Paris after Dark, No.27', 1933

Brassai

Brassai came to Paris as a photo journalist in 1918. He was said to have fallen in love with the city and explored its 'people, places, and things' though his photos. His photos where not idyllic but of the real backstreets of Paris and exposed the city in a way that caused controversy. This is something that I must keep in mind when looking for my location as it can not be too pristine. 

Contact sheet

Above is my contact sheet. I went to Covent garden and back streets near Leicester square in London. I took images of three different streets. The images were quite dark on the contact sheet and I was still unsure which would be the best to use so scanned in three of the negatives below.

Neg scans

I chose this location as it was a side street with a neon sign. This image is far too bright compared to 'Paris after Dark' due to the street lighting. Also I have lost the detail of the writing of the neon sign which says 'sushi' . I fell that this street and sushi sign represent an essence of class that is not right for this pastiche as it contrasts with the idea of a back street with cheap hotels in France.

This location suitable in the way the it was quite a grotty back street in central London however I did not get the same dark mysterious vibe that is present in Brassai's image. I did nit feel that this image was at all suitable so have decided that i would be unable to use this even if it could be darkened when printing. 

I am going to choose this as my final image. Although there are no neon signs there are a row of signs and lights together so the same type of effect is created. The wet pavement is another feature that I have managed to mimic which was more luck than anything as it started raining as I was scouting for my location. I felt that this image was also alot darker that the other two but I would still be able to have the contrast of the brightness of the signs and white shine on the pavement when printing by increasing the contrast. Although the original image does not have any bollards in it I think that they make the street appear more narrow like the one in Brassai's.

Final print