Fred Herzog, use of partitions within a composition and the presence of people.

BORN: 1930 in Germany


“The photographer treated the pictures “as a form of journalism,” using Kodachrome ISO10, a film that severely limited him technically in terms of what he could do.” (1)

He exhibited some of his photos at a much later date, when he was into his 70’s. Many of the photos were restored be scanning and printed through a laser jet printer.

“The greater body of his images focus on the grittier aspects of Vancouver and they were a response to the culture he found in Canada.”(1) 
Herzog found the contrast between his native Germany and Vancover to be interesting, as no one would be seen to buy second hand items, whilst in Canada the shops where an integral part of town. 

Content - 

A hardware store selling all your outdoor needs. The warm tones of yellows and browns of the clothing, belts and spades contrasts with the green paint of the store and blue price tags. I find I am drawn to the white signs and prices, then follow the red handles and orange clothing through the image.

The shapes I found within, the frame of the window, the levels of the spade handles and the pattern of the labels. It at first looks cluttered, there’s so many patterns within the photos and the subject itself is cluttered. 

I find myself constantly drawn to the hand drawn and independent stores, I like that the owner has had to decorate the window display as they think best attracts customers and looks appealing - a subjective matter and so creating a wonderful collage of shop windows. Chain stores are given out beautiful decorations to put up, especially at christmas and for sales, however, chain stores are taking over the high streets, and the duplicate windows are loosing their effectiveness. Each town is becoming the same, with the same shops and items. What is the point in visiting another town if all the shops are the same? 

Contrasting orange graffiti against the pastel tones of the tights and wall. Here, juxtaposed is a masculine, graphic shape of the stencil, and the curves of the ladies legs, It uses rule of third as the post divides, and the furthest leg to the right. We don’t see her face, and feel a lack of connection with her. There is a triangular shape, point at the graffiti and base at the waist and shoes. There is a juxtaposition of the gangster silhouette  in a dynamic pose, in orange, and the green woman resting in heels and skirt.   

This photo can be split into the Rule of Thirds.  The line of the window follows, and across it cuts through the portraits and the sign, and below it follows the bottom of the pictures and the mans leg. This division of the picture leads us through each section, adds busyness and dynamics. The texture of the wall is mimicked in the creases and folds of the photos pinned to it.

Rough rule of thirds. There is still a strong sense of vertical lines within the image.

The shape of the triangle adds dynamic movement to an otherwise static image. the bold red is really the focus of this picture as its so vivid in hue.

The colour red runs in a triangle, from the fence and scooter to the left, to the CocaCola signs. 

The theme of in and out. The striped decoration makes for a dynamic feeing, clashing with the tiled pattern both inside and outside. The white within the stripes, the window ledge, stool and within the tiles connects the separate pets if the image, creating a theme throughout. The contrast between red and blue tones also creates a strong composition, with the bold red door just off centre. 

A bold red door stars out,  and  a single limb breaks the otherwise linear image, however it becomes part of it through the straight outstretched nature. There is something secretive about the house, with curtains drawn, but an invite for the curiose through the parting.

How does the presence of figures change the sense of movement?

I have edited some of the photos, I have taken out the figures to see if they are still engaging. Is there still a sense of time? Is there any movement now?

Our attention is on the photos, but the balance is thrown out on the right by the painted sign feeling too high.

We are instead drawn to study the photos, although the inside seems bland compared to the painted windows. Our focus is on the table and wall- who are these people? Are they from a catalog or real customers? The lack of life makes us study the portraits further, and the outside seems closed off to us.

Again, the balance feels out. The weight is towards the centre and right. The lack of activity makes the shop look empty.  We look at the bold signs of the drink advertisement. Is it sinister now we know the unhealthiness of fizzy drinks? There is no subject within the place. 

The focus of the photo is removed, and we are left with the foreground of red. The photos are strongest beside each other as it shows narrative - where has the man gone? Has the cafe shut? There is no central focus to the second image, and emphasis is put towards the red of the font and the red coats of Santa the CocaCola mascot.  With the man included, he wears a dull, red shirt that links us visually between the painted shop text and the ornaments on the ledge. There is no interest or point to relate to in the image. It leaves us unsatisfied.

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BRECHT EVENS(3)

 I have chosen this image as it shows the outside street, and the windows of inside,  a factor of Herzogs photos I’ve chosen to look at.  We are up above the street in perspective, but can see into the street windows and rooms. There is no real link between the outside and inside, They are like two seperate art works.

This image shows people doing various poses, but no surroundings. What is the difference? There is a feeling of something happening but with unknown context. They have stories but it’s not written down. It differs from the empty scene of a room without figures as the room holds a story and what has happened, but it is in the past. If there are no figures then the story can’t be told, it has happened. If there are no surrounds the story is happening but with no pages to hold the words.

reference : inside/ outside/ partitions.

I plan to take photos through windows, to have an inside and outside. I will then experiment with taking out people, or even replacing them with others to see how this changes the story. 

Communication objectives: To give a sense of divide, of space within placement.

What do you want people to think/ feel? 
To think about the future and past, what just happened? What will happen? To study the layers of the image and find new things to look at.

I took this through a glass door... Looking at the reflection in the large mirror as well as the window on the left. The table and chair give strong lines. I took several, this one has a woman waking, looking up. Is she looking at the shop display? To the left, a man just enters the frame. I like that I have managed to capture the woman in line with the angle of the table. 

Here, There is the front layer of the painted glass, then the glasses themselves which are central to the image, and the back layer of the mirror. The person in it is me, although i did try to disguise myself, poorly.
Who owned this cabinet before? would it look good in my house?

Shot through a window, featuring a poster.  The alcove of the shop shows the door and other side of the window display.

I was attracted by the contrast of the green and pink, and the reflection of the trees in the window adds depth. The juxtaposition of the painting, showing a racecourse and people, and the plastic bags behind and the overgrown plant. I think I could improve it by capturing a person inside or trying to capture more reflections.

Shot through a window, it shows part of a beautiful heart shaped mirror and a vintage dress. A figure walks away. The reflection on the top left of a lamp post breaks the romanticised theme. The figure is off centre, and most of the focus is weighted to the left, a side often associated towards the past. Is there something this person has lost?

A man studies the discount goods. Would the shop be having a successful sale if there were no customers? 

Languages – Mechanisms of communication./Surrealism/ Humour/ nonsense/ Abstraction, decorative, pattern./ metaphor/conceptual/symbolic/ montage/juxtaposition/emulation /documentary, reportage/ interactivity/ realism/ anthropomorphism Aspects of production / Composition/ Viewpoint / people/gesture/expression/performance Character/ / Simplification/stylization / Scale . Narrative structure/sequence/ Time colour / place/context/background / 3d elements, made objects / platform- – Layout.

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Inside/ outside...
Looking at the elements of the outside and inside, what does it reveal? What is behind closed doors? 

Cutaway, flipbooks, exploded diagrams...

Stephen Biesty.
(4)

What is it? Biesty produces highly detailed illustrations, often showing large action packed scenes, such as what is happening on a boat and cross sectioning its compartments, a cut out of a helicopter and how the people are sat in it, and below, a fort. There is humour added in too, when looked upon closely, the people are caught up in they on drama. He has created a Where’s Wally esq scene, where the more you look, the more you see.
He studied MA at City of Birmingham Polytechnic where he specialised in historical and architectural cutaways.

Experiment with cut outs....
I have created my own small scale cutout, it was fun to explore what to show and what to hide, and what makes the bigger picture when revealed. It is a form of story telling, where each room is like a page in a book. I will definitely look into this as there are a lot of quirks you can hide in the images.

Communication objectives:
To show what may happen away from the public eye, with humour.

What do you want people to think or feel?
I want them to be explorative and find the pictures funny as they are relatable to some level.

House, with front facade and holes cut to see through into the inside. 

Inside, various rooms with actions happening in them. I have tried to add humour as like Biesty, with cats clambering everywhere and not so welcome guests.
This was a quick sketch, the perspective and dimensions are not perfect. 

Detail of some of the ‘windows’. You can just glimpse the poor boy under the bed, and the normal dinner proceeding below.  

Languages – Mechanisms of communication./Surrealism/ Humour/ nonsense/ Abstraction, decorative, pattern./ metaphor/conceptual/symbolic/ montage/juxtaposition/emulation /documentary, reportage/ interactivity/ realism/ anthropomorphism Aspects of production / Composition/ Viewpoint / people/gesture/expression/performance Character/ / Simplification/stylization / Scale . Narrative structure/sequence/ Time colour / place/context/background / 3d elements, made objects / platform- – Layout.

Next .....From this I think I could combine the street observations from my experiment from Grayson Perry’s work, and add a dimension of Brecht Evens, with the street scene and a flap of the houses so you can see inside.


(1)http://time.com/3782667/vancouver-vanguard-fred-herzogs-early-color-street-photographs/

(2)http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Acclaimed+photographer+Fred+Herzog+receives+Audain+Prize+Lifetime+Achievement/9737855/story.html

(3) http://www.brechtevens.com/

(4) http://www.stephenbiesty.co.uk