Initially, I thought about a range of subjects but looking back now, I don't think I fully understood how to portray the sublime within an image perhaps as in depth as I could have. This then prompted me to do a lot of research and internet searches about creating the sublime within an image. This not only used up quite a few of my notebook pages but also cemented in the concept of beauty and the sublime.
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| learning log pages showing notes on the sublime |
I think my confusion was fuelled by the view of the sublime meaning 'grandeur' than being about 'fear of the unknown' although I know that I could've used either meaning of the sublime but in my understanding, the sublime was a fearsome aspect.
Initially, I intended to focus on photographing the vast amount of castles and ruins in my local area. This was my immediate thought when I thought about what was beautiful as well as scary. The reasoning behind this subject was because of the unknown history of these incredible structures but also as they can appear awesome and frightful in certain situations. But the more I researched the sublime, the more I thought about the subject of the assignment and how I would try to capture the sublime within them.
I read a very interesting blog, "Awe, Nature and Fear: The Sublime. Then and Now" by Eleanor Goetz, 2013. Goetz was making comparisons through art as opposed to photography but reading her account made things so much more clear to me.
"the sublime can be described as a feeling inspired by nature, or by a piece of art, which cannot be completely comprehended and often strikes awe and fear" Eleanor Goetz, 2013, kidsspiritonline.com
I decided that I needed to focus on a subject that struck awe and fear into me. The Sea.
I live near the coast and spend a lot of time at the beaches but the sea has always struck fear into me. As a young girl, three of my school friends fell victim to the strong currents at the nearest beach, Ogmore-by-sea, due to strong rip currents and I am not sure to this day whether this is what struck the initial fear in my mind but I find the sea to be beautiful as well as 'terrifying'. So this was a worthy example for me personally as a subject for my first assignment.
Brief : To produce 6-12 images conveying the beauty and sublimity of the Ocean through my eyes.
To research, I looked through a lot of seascape images as inspiration of what approach to take on shooting the sea. HERE is a link to a website article from 'Scott Photographics Inspirations' which shows a collection of seascape images from numerous photographers. Some of these images really gave me some inspiration as to which factors could help to intensify the beauty or the sublime within the image, such as time of day, shutter speed and the weather. I had also previously seen an amazing image in the past by local photographer Tim Wood, of the rough seas at Porthcawl pier and decided that I would like to attempt to recreate Wood's image to include in my final set.
My first job was to decide what factors to explore. These are:
- Black & White
- Time of day
- Weather
- Shutter Speed
- Focal length
- Camera angle
I chose these to give a mixture of natural and technical factors that could affect the outcome of the image, as they are all possibly able to emphasise the appearance of beauty and/or the sublime in the images, to give us more of an ability to manipulate the final set much like artists can create their own levels of beauty and/or the sublime in their paintings.
I started taking my camera to the beach as often as possible, trying to capture different views at all different times of the day and in different weather conditions. Trying to recreate Wood's image required high winds/stormy seas and also a high tide so this was a timing issue more than anything else. I would need exactly the right conditions at a particular time of day. While shooting, I had to encounter strong winds and heavy rain, which was head on into the camera lens, which made it the most difficult image to get during this assignment.
While undertaking this assignment I came across an image by a photographer that I follow on Facebook. His name is Johnny Joo, a 23 year old photographer/urban explorer from Mentor , OHIO. I knew immediately that I wanted to use this photograph as an inspirational image and with his permission I can include it here,
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| Lake Erie courtesy of and © Johnny Joo Photography |
The beauty and also the sublime is oozing from this image. The fact it is a lake and not the ocean, with no tide system that was present for both mine and Woods images, is even more impressive.
I have decided to present my images in pairs, so that we can see the comparisons between the original image taken alongside the image where I have explored another factor to emphasise the beauty/sublime. I think that this can give us more of a comparative view so the viewer can decide on whether the exploration factor has in fact changed the outcome of the image.
Final Images
Here are my final set of paired images;
Here are my final set of paired images;
- Black & White
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| The Helvetia © Amanda Kingston-Lynch |
This is The Helvetia shipwreck on Rhossili beach on the Gower. I felt it was appropriate to include as it is a victim of the sea and is a reminder to anyone who sees her of how dangerous the sea can be. I used this under the black and white factor as I find that black and white is very abstract, sort of like the Helvetia. I think the original image works well to show the natural beauty of the image but the sublime really does come from the knowledge that this ship fell victim to the sea. I think the black and white does increase the sublime slightly, as it gives the image a 'ghostly' feel, emphasising the age of the wreck maybe.
- Time of day
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| Rest Bay © Amanda Kingston-Lynch |
These images were taken at Rest Bay, Porthcawl. They show an image taken at around midday in the summer months and a summer sunset scene at the same area but not exactly the same view. The day scene is a lovely beck scene with the family playing in the water and a couple sunbathing on the shore. I find this image a more sublime image due to the scaling if the image. I've found when I include people in my images, its makes the sea appear more vast. By taking a similar image in the evening at sunset, I feel this has heightened the beauty factor. The sunset colours of the sky are reflected in the water and its difficult to not get a nice relaxing and calming feel from the image as opposed to a terrifying feeling. If the sunset heightens the sublime in this image at all, it's just due to the reflections emphasising that the whole bottom half of the image is water.
- Weather
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| Porthcawl © Amanda Kingston-Lynch |
This factor has produced the biggest difference in image for this assignment. The Bristol channel has a big tidal range and I think that would produce a difference in image in itself. However, I managed to recreate Woods image for this section which was made possible to the fact that the tide was almost at high tide and we had bad wet and windy weather which gave excellent for conditions for doing that. The one image is taken on a cold but sunny morning while the tide was quite low but coming back in. With the clear skies, we are able to to see the cliffs in the distance and the water at a low level, relatively calm. This is more of a beauty shot that you could find in any brochure advertising Porthcawl. The second image shows the weather has dramatically highlighted the sublime in the image. The water looks bold and terrifying. The fact the lighthouse is in the image also heightens the scale of the image and although the tide is further in than the first image, that is a very large wave!
- Shutter speed
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| Porthcawl sea front © Amanda Kingston-Lynch |
This is something I am excited to play with more following successfully achieving the affect I was hoping for. I took these at a planned trip at dawn, specifically to attempt to get this effect. The first image shows more of the sky to create more beauty but I still get more sublimity from this image as it's mostly all water. That is one thing that always terrifies me about the sea is that there is just so much of it. By slowing the shutter speed even more we get a fabulous 'ghostly' effect where the water appears more like mist. I had to zoom in more to show off the effect better but I definitely think the effect creates more mystery in the image and increases the sublimity for me.
- Focal length
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| Porthcawl near Locks Common © Amanda Kingston-Lynch |
Another day at the beach with a bit of sun and slight wind. I can watch the waves for ages and love how they move towards the shore and around obstacles. The initial image is showing an average day with the tide coming in and you can just about see the waves lashing at the rocks in the middle of the image. This could be taken as beautiful or sublime. By altering my focal length from 24 mm - 105mm and also tacking a lot of rocks to get nearer the waters edge, I managed to capture the second image. Much like the 'weather' image, this image could enhance the sublime as we can see the height and feel the force that the wave is hitting the rocks (directly in front of me!). But I find this factor has made the image more beautiful as I can see the shape and the beauty of the wave itself in countless drops of water as it forced up into the air by the rocks.
- Camera angle
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| Minehead beach © Amanda Kingston-Lynch |
As the title suggests, this is the only pair where one image is not in Landscape format. Walking along Minehead beach in the height of the summer, I captured yet another beautiful sunset (I like photographing sunsets) as well as some other people along the jetty and shoreline. The inclusion of people again shows sublimity in the scale of the sea in the image but the beauty outweighs this image. The switch of camera angle and by moving so that I am stood on the jetty has changed the image. It is still beauty but personally, the sublime is oozing from it now with the vastness of the water and the scale from the people and also the fact that they are on a jetty, with nothing but water all around them.
Conclusions.
I am really pleased with my final set of images. I think they fit the brief really well. If I had to do things differently, I think I would've liked to have thought more about the final presented images. With the time of day images, it would've been great if I had kept the same shot, same with the other images too. Keeping the horizon line the same through each pair would maybe have made my presentation better but thats not to say I don't like how they have come out. This is what I am doing for the final assignment in this course so if I had thought about it more, I could have incorporated it here but it doesn't take away from the images as they are anyway. The assignment has also shown that sometimes not only one factor but a number of them together, e.g.; you could produce an image where you incorporate all the factors, could make an interesting shot. We make a number of decisions while photographing, but I think maybe sometimes we need to think about the final outcome to make the best of our photographic decisions.
all images in my Dropbox folder here
all images in my Dropbox folder here
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