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Artist Statement
The architecture and look of a city/country is what makes that place unique and has the power to tell the history of said place. From the tight streets and stone homes of rural Paris, to the large Victorian terraces that align the streets of London, all these architectural differences are what gives the place its own distinctive looks and has the power to make them stand out from the rest. This can equally be said for the city of Montreal. With it’s extremely unique background/history of being owned by French settlers for a number of years and then the British, as well as having a multitude of immigrants from various different countries, it goes without saying that they have all impacted the city, giving it a very distinct and unique mixing bowl of culture as well as architecture that is unique from that of the rest of Canada. The look and feel of Montreal truly is like no other, and to explore that trough architectural photography was the main goal of the project.
To add to this, the concept of my portfolio was to discover and capture all the different architectural styles visible within the city of Montreal, and how together they create a unison even within their differences. Taking images of isolated buildings within the frame using, close-ups, medium-shots, as well as wide shots of various streets showing more than one building within, was a way in which the technical aspects of the project was able to project the meaning/intention as a whole. The buildings chosen within the portfolio are ones that reflect the various different styles of architecture within the city and follow its strong French and British influences, as well as later American influences. As Montreal was owned and inhabited by different countries and cultures over the years, they have all left their own flavour to make this new land feel more like home, which as a result, has created a sort of mixing bowl in architecture that truly is unique to the city. The mix of French Rival architecture, Art Deco, Victorian, Tudor, and Urban/Modern architecture are some of the most prominent styles in the city and the ones that are most showcased within this project. These styles being within the same city add to the sense of differences co-existing to create something beautiful. Although all of these styles have different characteristics and may not look the same, together they create something unique and special, which was the whole idea surrounding this project.
In terms of formality, in order for viewers to understand the concept as clearly as possible, though they may have their differences, all the images chosen in the project follow the same sort of formality between. In the majority of works the buildings and the streets are at the center point of the frame with camera showing them from an angle, to emphasis on the architecture, as well as for the viewer to see as much detail as possible, and potentially is a side to these buildings that they have never seen before. The images also share the same feeling as though the lens acts as a person, making it seem like the viewer is standing there as well. That being said, some of the works don’t following the same framing techniques. Some of the works lean more towards the use of the rule-of thirds where more than just the building is in the frame, well others stick to the more close-up and medium shots of an isolated building/street. This was done to give the project more variety so that the viewer isn’t shown the same type of image over and over again. The use of monochrome in the images was also a conscious decision. Monochrome tend to bring out more texture within the subject matter, and I found that to be particularly crucial within this concept as texture plays an extremely vital role in architecture and the designs of buildings. The images were also printed at in the same size to make them flow more coherently and to give off the notion of small snip-bits of the city coming together with other snip-bits to create a sense of identity and a bigger view of the city for the viewer.
The influences for this project also played a key role in terms of the conceptual aspects as well as the technical aspects. German photographer Heidi Specker was an artist I utilized in terms of the conceptual aspects of this project. Her previous work entitled “Telichentheorie”, was a serious of close-up images of various buildings found throughout the city of Berlin. With this body of work, she sought to create and identity of Berlin through piecing together these clos-up shots. The images on their own acted as particles, and once brought together, they created matter/ a bigger picture. This replicates the scientific understand of everything being made of particles that combine to create matter, which is everything that surrounds us, and can be understood through her titling use of “Telichentheorie”, which in English translates to particle theory. This concept/idea of particles building something bigger was something that I tried to implement in this portfolio. Although the images may not be small close-ups of buildings, they do act as little moments/elements of the city that when combined, create a sense of a larger picture of the city as well as giving the city a sense of identity. In terms of the visual influences for this project, the work of Thomas Struth and Kerstin Aremann were two that I relied on. Struth’s works in cityscapes are taken from the center of the street and make the viewer seem as though they are within the frame. His images incorporate a lot of leading lines as well as the rule-of-thirds which gives his images a strong sense of stability and structure, which is the very role of a building. Arnemann’s work, much like Struth’s, is extremely structed, but focuses more on the shapes of the buildings within the frame and how light hits the, creating extremely visually pleasing tonal ranges, most notable in her monochrome works. All these concept and techniques made me more aware of what I was putting in the frame and gave me an outlook to see how others had captured their images, as well as what worked well.
To conclude, my goal within photography is to give off a sense of being there for the viewer as well as a sense of understanding a different concept/point of view. In our society it seems as though differences within ourselves are not as celebrated as they should be. Many people want to look like each other to blend in with the crowd, which is not what should be happening. Differences are what makes people unique and give colour the life. Developing a sense of understanding that differences in the architectural styles throughout Montreal is what makes the city so unique and special, much like how in society, the things that make us different from each other is what makes life beautiful, was the main underlining meaning of this project.
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Work in Progress- Changes
At the begging of working on this project, I think my ideas were a bit too broad and general, making it hard to narrow it down to what photographs I truly wanted to take and how they were able to fit into my thematic. At first, I had envisioned that the images would act as only cityscapes, but as I started to dig into more research on architecture types and so on in the city, I found that in order to get a true sense of understanding of Montreal’s architectural diversity, to have a wider focus on buildings themselves as well as cityscapes and full street views, gives the project a lot more variance and the series as a whole becomes much more interesting to look at.
Another important aspect of progression is that I’ve started to pick the time of day in which I shoot and to have that be a constant in all of the images, even if they aren't shot on the same day. Golden hour (time when the sun begins to set) has worked the best for me, as when working in monochrome it’s extremely important to have tonal ranges in the images which is what golden hour offers. With this time of day, the buildings don’t blend into the sky as much as during the day, and shadows and light are much more prominent, adding a different aspect to the images. (They aren’t all shot at this time of day, but the majority are).
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Bibliography
(These aren't all used in the text, but add to the depth of architectural exploration and understanding of the project)
Art Deco Style 1925-1940. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum of Commission.state.pa.us. N.d. Web. 22 Apr 2019.(http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/architecture/styles/art-deco.html)
Drouin, Mathieu. “Montréal in Time: Thousands of pieces form Montréal’s historical patchwork quilt”. Canada History.ca. 9 May 2017. Web. 22 Apr 2019.(https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/french-canada/montreal-in-time)
Hanna, B. David. “Creation of an Early Victorian Suburb in Montreal”. Urban History Review. 1980. Print. 22 Apr 2019.
Morisset, K. Lucie. et al. “Architectural History: the French Colonial Regime”. The Canadian Encyclopedia.ca. 4 Mar 2015. Web. 22 Apr 2019.(https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/architectural-history-the-french-colonial-regime)
Shan, Vikas. “The Role of Architecture in Humanity’s Story”. Thought Economics.com. 18 Jun 2012. Web. 22 Apr 2019.(https://thoughteconomics.com/the-role-of-architecture-in-humanitys-story/)
Szasz, Colin. “Montreal’s Original Skyscraper: The Aldred Building”. Architecture Mcgill.ca 11 Dec 2000. Web. 22 Apr 2019.(http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/sijpkes/arch304/winter2001/cszasz/aldred/aldred.htm)
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Final Portfolio Proposal
The architecture of cities across the world has the power to give these places their own distinctive looks that allows them to stand out from the crowd and can tell their history. From the colourful homes that line the steep streets of Cinque Terra, Italy, to the stone facades and grand cathedrals that line the quaint streets of Paris, France, these architectural characteristics, along with the combination of the people who live there, is what forms and builds a cities identity. In the words of Sir. Winston Churchill; “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us”. Architecture helps to not only form the identity of a given city but also serves as a reflect of culture and life within. As is explained in an article written by Thought Economics, “Humanity leaves immortal echoes through its history using the media of language, art, knowledge and architecture. These echoes are not simply viewed in retrospect; they are primary to our time and define our civilization at any given moment, justifying our very sense of being human” (Shan, Vikas). Much like how a novel can unravel a story and show progression, that much is true in architecture, especially when it comes to the city of Montreal.
Like many cities in the world, Montreal has an extremely complicated past that has molded the city into what it is today. The impact of the French rule and then the British as well as the multitude of immigrations from various different countries, has without a doubt impacted the city, giving it a very distinct mixing bowl of culture as well as architecture that differs from that of the rest of Canada. From French Colonial to Gothic Revival (Notre-Dame Basilica), Victorian to Second Empire, Classical to Art Deco and Modern, the architecture reflects the long history and diverse population of the city. Although these styles are very different from each other, together, they build something truly beautiful and tell a story as unique as the city. With all this being said, “Take a look” will be a photographic series of images aimed to explore Montreal’s identity through her various architectural facades. By capturing elements of different streets, neighborhoods, and buildings of the city, this project will build a sense of identity that will serve as a visual representation of how differences in architectural styles can coincide with one another to create something beautiful and special, just like in society.
The main inspiration for the conceptual aspect of this project is that of German photographer Heidi Specker. In one of her bodies of work entitled “Telichentheorie”, she sought to create an identity of Berlin through piecing together various elements/aspects of the buildings that could be found within the city. The photographs on their own acted as particles, but once they are brought together, they created matter/ a bigger picture, replicating the scientific understanding that everything is made of tiny particles that combine to create matter, which is everything that surrounds us. This concept of particles building something bigger is essentially the goal of “Take a look”; the individual images of the city, put together, creating a sense of identity as well as a window into its unique diversity in architecture.
The main inspiration in terms of the visual aspects of the project is that of photographers Thomas Struth and Kerstin Arnemann. Struth’s works in cityscapes are taken from the center of the street and incorporate many leading lines as well as the rule of thirds which gives his images a strong sense of structure and stability, much like the role of buildings. These elements help the viewer to envision themselves within the frame. Arnemann’s work, much like Struth’s, is extremely structured, but her work focusses more on the shapes of buildings and how light hits them, creating extremely visual pleasing tonal ranges in her images, especially her monochrome works.
In terms of the logistical aspects of the project, the images will be printed using Professional Lustre Silver photo paper at Provisia printing labs and will be sized 8x12 inches. The reason for this sizing is to remain true to the notion or smaller things (particles) creating something larger. The images will be framed in clear, border-less frames and presented in vertical columns of twos to create a sense of fluidity between them. The cost of the prints will be between $12.72 (8 photos) to $15.90 (10 photos) and the frames will amount to $32 (8 photos) to $40 (10 photos), bringing the total between $44.72 and $55.90.
To conclude, “Take a look” aims to visually capture the distinctive aspects of Montreal’s diverse architecture, how that reflects the cities diverse population and its history, as well as to develop a sense of understanding that differences in the architectural styles throughout the city is what makes it so unique, much like how in society, the things that make us different from each other is what makes life so beautiful.
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Arnemann, Kerstin. Paris Impressions I. N.d. Paris, France.
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Draft Project Proposal
Countries and cities across the world offer certain characteristics and charms that make them stand out. From the colourful homes that line the coble stone streets of Cinque Terra, Italy, to the minimalistic homes and architecture of Scandinavia, these characteristics, along with the people that live there feeding life to the streets, is what shapes a cities/countries identity and what makes it unique to others. Architecture and style choices of a city plays an extremely important role the feeling of said place. In the words of Sir. Winston Churchill; “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us”. The style that buildings derive creates an atmosphere that shapes the city and its people and builds an identity. All that being said, the role of my portfolio project is to explore Montreal’s identity through various architectural facades as well as different characteristics one may come across whilst walking on the city streets.
Like many places in the world, Montreal has an extremely complicated past that has molded the city into what it is today. With various different cultures ruling over the land for a given number of years at a time (mainly the French and English), the city has a very distinct mixing bowl of architecture as well as culture. From the tight coble stone streets of the Plateau, to the lavish homes and wide streets of Westmount, the look and feel of Montreal is truly unlike many others and this mixing bowl of architecture is what makes the city so unique and sets it apart. By capturing various elements of the different streets, neighborhoods, and buildings of the city, this project will build a sense of identity that will serve as a visual representation of how differences in architecture (and in general) can come together/go alongside each other to create something beautiful and special.
The main inspiration for the conceptual aspect of this project is German photographer Heidi Specker. In one of hr bodies of work entitled “Teilchentheorie”, she sought to create an identity of Berlin through piecing together various elements/aspects of the buildings that could be found in the city. The photographs on their own acted as particles, but once brought together with each other they created matter/ a bigger picture. This idea of particles building something bigger is essentially the goal of my project; the individual images of the city, put together creating a sense of identity as well as a window into its unique diversity in architecture.
The main inspirations in terms of the visual aspects of the project are Thomas Struth and Kerstin Arnemann. Struth’s work in cityscapes are taken from the center of the street and incorporate leading lines and the rule of thirds which gives his images a strong sense of structure and stability, much like the role of buildings. These elements help the viewer to envision themselves as though they are where the camera is. Arnemann’s work, much like Struth’s, is extremely structured and utilises leading lines, but her work focuses more on the shapes of buildings and how light hits them, creating extremely visual pleasing tonal ranges in her images, especially in her monochrome works.
In terms of the logistical of the project, the images will be printed using Professional Lustre Silver photo paper at Provisia and sized 8x12 inches. The reason for this sizing is to remain true to the notion of smaller things creating something larger (particles creating matter). The images will be framed in clear, border-less frames and presented in vertical columns of twos to create a sense of fluidity between them. The total cost for the prints should be between $12.72 (8 photos) to $15.90 (10 photos).
Schedule
Week 1 (April 8th – 14th)
- Test Shooting/Finding locations
Week 2 (April 15th – 21st)
- Finalize Proposal + More test shooting/shooting in general
Week 3 (April 22nd – 28th)
- Shooting on locations
Week 4 (April 29th - May 5th)
- Shooting + Creating Artist statement
Week 6 (May 6th – 12th)
- Shooting + Editing selections
Week 7 (May 13th- Due Date)
- Finalize editing/selections + Print and purchase frame
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