Filmwasters

Which Board? => Photo Essays => : johann March 15, 2012, 08:07:29 PM

: A study of crushing
: johann March 15, 2012, 08:07:29 PM

Last week-end I finally took the time to work on a project I had put aside for almost a year.
It started when I found aluminum cans on the street. They were rendered almost perfectly flat by the repetitive passage of heavy trucks working in the industrial district I worked in last year. Another interesting fact is that the trucks doing the crushing were actually belonging to a recycling firm that transported such cans to be processed.
I liked both the almost abstract geometry they adopted and also the idea that they went from cylindrical shape to flatness in different ways each time.
I adopted the approach of photographing them in a similar way one would do to make reproduction of paintings.
I used a 4x5 Wista large format camera, a 150mm Fujinon lens, Kodak T-max 100 sheet film, a ring-flash and a second slave flash lighting the background paper from below to erase even the smallest shadows.


(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7056/6975793655_63cf089841_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johannwatzke/6975793655/)
Plate 1

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7187/6975793605_d4670894f8_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johannwatzke/6975793605/)
Plate 2

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7068/6975793539_b0301a8970_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johannwatzke/6975793539/)
Plate 3

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7186/6829668376_0f7ccc98dd_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johannwatzke/6829668376/)
Plate 4

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7042/6975793419_19b7b5692e_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johannwatzke/6975793419/)
Plate 5

: Re: A study of crushing
: Sandeha Lynch March 16, 2012, 01:40:54 PM

Definitely a left-field, out-of-the-ballpark concept.  They must look grand full size.   :)

: Re: A study of crushing
: Alan March 20, 2012, 09:51:16 AM

very interesting indeed.

love the simplicity and obviously the contours, textures and tones.

have you considered doing a set in colour?

well done on this, looking forward to seeing more !  ;)

: Re: A study of crushing
: jojonas~ March 23, 2012, 07:43:57 AM

interesting. and very well executed~ kudos :)

: Re: A study of crushing
: johann March 27, 2012, 08:23:02 PM

Thanks guys I appreciate the feedback.
I considered color for a moment, but I found it more pleasing just representing values of gray to get the textural aspect out even more.

: Re: A study of crushing
: djhopscotch March 27, 2012, 09:45:01 PM

Might help the contrast a little if the background was black, with the grey it looks a little muddy.

: Re: A study of crushing
: LT March 28, 2012, 09:13:01 AM

I love this series - looks superb.  I have to disagree with djhopscotch re the background - I think the grey reflects metallic nature of the can, and makes a nice offset to the highlights.  

: Re: A study of crushing
: Sam Thompson March 30, 2012, 04:05:50 AM

I agree with Leon about the gray background. Approaching the subject like you would photographing paintings is what make these images stand out, imo.

Warhol anyone?

: Re: A study of crushing
: Late Developer April 08, 2012, 01:27:50 PM

Interesting set of photos and well executed. I'm not sure about the background. I'm leaning towards djhopscotch's view that black (or something significantly darker at least) might just lift the metal a bit and give it a more 3D look. I'd also be interested to see a colour version as some of the colours used in advertising can be eye-popping.

: Re: A study of crushing
: Phil Bebbington April 29, 2012, 02:09:27 PM

wow! Original for sure. I hope you explore this more.

: Re: A study of crushing
: hookstrapped June 27, 2012, 01:16:20 AM

I like

: Re: A study of crushing
: johann July 09, 2012, 04:22:41 PM

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the inputs.

: Re: A study of crushing
: Alan August 14, 2012, 05:29:28 PM

I happened across this website today >

he is on the same project >

http://www.arwilkinson.com/ (http://www.arwilkinson.com/)