Reflecting upon my previous projects and photographic inspirations, I decided that a good place to start collecting images for this project would be to return to The Barbican Estate in London. The monolithic nature of this brutalist icon has been a large draw for me in my own photographic practice and I certainly can identify a bond between the stark, stoic nature of such constructs and the perception of autistic people as being cold and similarly monolithic. Having spent time exploring the Barbican many times in different seasons of the year has allowed me to see past the façade of the estate and recognise its character, its personality, and its complexity as a piece of architecture, and how this in turn reflects the narrative that often surrounds the development of relationships between neurodiverse and neurotypical individuals that beyond the surface assumptions and appearance lies a deeply complex, multifaceted and ultimately welcoming being that is often misunderstood and seen as an outlier to the societal norm.
*Cropped preveiws - click for full veiw
At the time of shooting these pictures, I decided to take some live notation whilst still within the confines of the estate surrounding my thoughts and feelings on my surroundings.
“ Weather
-Hot, Bright, Some slight cloud cover
-not ideal/less broody
Themes in mind
o Downbeat/Low
o Loneliness
o Foolishness
Themes to find
· Anxiety
· Stress
· Big world/small self
· Heavy weight
12pm
Upon arrival at the barbican via silk street I’m struck by the familiarity of the concrete facades nestled in amongst the glass, steel, and rush of the surrounding buildings and people. It almost seems like a fortress, detached from the concerns and pressures of the modern condition. I could draw comparisons to an isolated mind.
- My first plan of action was to find somewhere I could sit and take in the atmosphere of my surroundings, to position myself within the complex more than just in physicality. From the lower courtyard, by the water, and high walkway that spans it, I’m able to take in the sense of complexity and navigation that is warranted inside. Numerous stairways walkways, paths, mezzanines, tunnels and balconies that form pathways through the concrete, the isolated mind, the rest of London seems far away here. You could get lost here easily, just like the spiralling rumination of a panicked and anxious, depressed mind with no distracting stimuli.”
When it came to processing the images I had collected at the barbican I wanted to emphasise the concrete, the form, and the complexity of the estate in line with what I had felt when recording the notes and taking the pictures themselves, the sense of isolation was also a key factor to what I decided to capture and further enhance in the processing stages. Shooting in black and white is a key element of my practice, the ability to create scenes and images that feel removed from context and the current allows me to push that sense of atmosphere and feeling in the images, ultimately in line with my goal of creating affecting images that induce sensations and emotions towards my goal of expressing felt and lived experiences in ways outside of the traditional written form. With strong shadows, bold forms and intense contrast, the images taken in The Barbican are certain to feature in my compiled and arranged pieces almost certainly reflecting their strong construction as being strong bases for some of the arrangements. These images will also be likely to be elements expressing themes of isolationism, misinterpretation, and anxious/lost states of mind.
コメント