Hi Steemians, hope you are all well! Today I am sharing my project of photographing seemingly boring objects to create fine art photographs! I hope you enjoy them! - Verity x
While I was on my university art course I really got into photography. It was when I found that I was really passionate about it. I had always thought I wanted to be a painter and had since concentrated my creative thoughts into that, but I was always impatient with paintings, I still am to some degree! So when I started doing photography I loved how it was instant, the photograph was taken and that was it! Not waiting for the paint to dry or months of touch ups! It was amazing! I had now finally found a medium to express my creative ideas!
I wanted to create unusual photographs of things that most people wouldn't think to take photographs of, and partly because at this time I was scared of photographing people! Living in the Yorkshire Dales is amazing, there is so much inspiration everywhere you look, so armed with my trusty Nikon FM2 and rolls of film I set out into the Dales to start my work!
I came across this amazing farm, it was high up in the Dales and it was a lovely misty day so the visibility was really low. When the weather is like this it gives objects new life, more separation between the background and foreground and makes the photographs more atmospheric! These tubes were a welcome splash of colour, neatly stacked on some grassy verges I knew this was going to be my first shot of the day!
I am always drawn to textures and colours and there was something really beautiful about these tubes that I just found endearing. The background was almost completely opaque with fog which worked to my advantage here! I enjoyed playing around with the framing and knowing I was using film I made sure I got it right in the viewfinder before actually taking the shot!
On the farm there were also some hay bales gently blowing in the wind. I loved that the fog was creating soft pastel colours which made the farm environment really pretty! It was a very cold morning and there was a hard frost on the floor which gave an amazing texture to the grass. Against the soft round edges of the hay bales it was another good contrast! I loved how I caught the wind blowing the hay bales polythene and gave this shot movement. Whenever I am taking photographs I always like to get as many elements as I can so movement is always a good addition!
After I finished taking photographs of the hay bales I noticed this really old fence post. The colour and age of the wood looked lovely in the frost and I liked how the barbed wire was wrapping around the fence post. I love in this shot how you can just about make out some of the moorland in the distance. I don't know why I love taking photographs in the fog so much but I know I am not alone on Steemit for thinking the same!!
I drove a little way down the road and noticed this amazing tower. I am not sure exactly what it is but I knew I had to get some photographs of it! I think I must have accidentally got something in the way in the foreground of the camera but I actually really like the effect! It adds to the foggy atmosphere of it all!
One more from this series of this lovely old fence! We actually have this one on our wall at home! I think these photographs from one roll of film were the first ones that I was completely happy with, normally with film rolls I had taken in the past there were lots that I just didn't like or didn't expose properly, this series was the first successful series I had taken so I think I will always be attached to these images! I wanted to prove that photographing boring or mundane objects can be a really satisfying project. It challenges you to think about things differently. Not constantly looking and searching for obvious beauty but to find it in everyday places and objects. I'm not sure I would think that hay bales would make a good photograph or some empty tubes would either but I really love these photos. I know not everyone would want them on their wall but that's what makes art subjective I guess!
I wanted to try the same challenge but this time with my plastic Holga camera! It actually just looks like a toy and feels like one too. This camera is very temperamental meaning that you are never quite sure what to expect with the results. My Holga actually lets in a lot of light which creates light leaks on the film, I usually just tape the back up with some tape and this seems to solve the issue getting much worse! With the Holga I wanted to try and bring life to these seemingly boring objects so I started off with these amazing stone sculptures near Glen Shee in Scotland.
These sculptures were amazing, the age to them was so good, they had so many textures from the moss and lichen growing on them that it looked like warn clothes. With black and white photographs they allow you to just focus on the subject and not get distracted by the colours. I love how the Holga has picked up all the atmosphere from the shot and almost given expression to this sculpture.
This is the other sculpture next to the one above, they create a couple looking out on the impressive views in front of them in the depths of Scotland. Instead of photographing them together I chose to photograph them individually to create more personality between them. The eyes of this sculpture were very realistic and dark, rather spooky really! The fog descending from the hill in the background made it even more ominous!
A bench isn't exactly the most exciting of photographic subjects either but keeping to my project I wanted to try and create some art with it! I think it's safe to say I love the snow and cold foggy weather and this day was another great day for it! This bench was near the sea on an island of the west coast of Scotland. What an amazing place to just sit an watch this view, that's the feeling I wanted to capture in this shot!
I always like lines and symmetry so when I saw these amazing fence poles I wanted to get some amazing shots of them. The square format to the Holga camera photographs made it really nice to frame shots like this and think that it adds more interest.
There aren't many settings on a Holga, it's basically Sunny, Cloudy or Dark that you have to choose from and then on camera flash isn't exactly pro! But it all adds to the charm of this camera. I wanted to try it in darker conditions so went to the forest to find some trees!
In this photo (above) you can clearly see all the light leaks from the edges of the film, but in this kind of moody image I actually quite like it. I wish I could say what drew me to this tree but in reality it just looked cool and they were kind of on their own in the middle of the forest so I knew it would create some separation in the shot.
There are billions of trees in the world and I really love photographing them. Again not the most imaginative things to photograph but you can get so many different creative shots by taking them at different angles. I always like to look up so with this beautiful tree I chose to photograph it from below looking up at the sky. Instead of just looking like a tree it now has created lovely abstract lines across the image and becomes something more than just a tree!
Abandoned places used to really intrigue me, how something could just be left how it was after whatever happened to make it abandoned. I am not sure if any of it is classed as beautiful or pretty but I love the emotions these photographs evoke, they make you think of all different things. Like this shot below how the TV was left and has looked like it has stayed here for a long time, it's not exactly a new TV is it! The walls of this building were really falling down creating lots of interest in textures.
This looked to be an abandoned shed, it has snowed a lot and almost covered the entrance to this place. The roof had gone completely. It's a shame so many buildings like this are just left to disintegrate into the land, so many memories must have been created in all of these buildings it's sad to see them fall into such disrepair.
I hope you all have enjoyed this post and given you some inspiration for photographing different things in the future. I photograph weddings nearly every weekend so I think I always try and photograph beauty in unusual places as on the weekends it's always so easy to see !! I like to challenge myself and photographing things like this has really inspired me. It gave me more experience and taught me how to photograph things in awkward situations which is always useful in my job!
- Verity x
Photography by me and copyrighted to me.
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Outstanding boring stuff! :)
Thank you !! haha :)
What a great post. It cannot be overstated the difficulty in evoking a reaction from these sorts of shots. I particularly like the textures and colours you spoke about in the foggy shots up top.
What I particularly love about these types of projects is the story behind how these objects and places ended up where they are in the condition they are in. Couple that with the atmospheric natural light and great composition and you're on to a winner. Great stuff.
Really nice work as always. Have you seen @catalincernat's "Unremarkable View" series? I have a feeling you may dig it.
Thank you. I am glad you can see how challenging this project is, it really took a lot of creative energy for me to do it ! But after a while I really got into these unusual objects and thought that they were underappreciated and deserved their photo being taken haha ! No I haven't seen @catalincernat's series although I recently followed her! Will have to go and check it out, thank you! :)
There is so much to comment on here.....you did a really great photo blog. I enjoyed reading how and why you set up and captured these shots.
I love benches. I have a file of them. I don't know why I'm drawn to them either. So it made total sense to me when you said the bench wasn't exciting but you felt it was art. Exactly. It tells a story. Just like the one you told.
I loved the old sculptures you shot in Scotland. Must have been a lovely place to visit. Both of these guys look like they are looking for someone.
I loved all of what you presented here. Awesome job!
Thank you so much! I am so glad you understood where I was coming from with the bench! It does tell a story and the bench itself must have seen so many stories throughout its time there so in a way you capturing the essence of all those stories!
Yes those sculptures were amazing, really unsusual to come across on a mountain side in the middle of nowhere! So glad you enjoyed my post! :)
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TrufflePigGreat, Verity! I was looking forward to this post when I first saw the bales of hay in another and it exceeded my expectations! It's amazing the beauty one can find in "discarded life", super cool series!
Thank you, I didn't know if everyone would think they were just boring photos haha so thank you for your kind words!!