New architectural montage

A new commission of mine involves photographing memorable locations for the client from a certain period in their. The first such example is this one in Birmingham from when the person was at Aston University. This includes places such as the Folly near the Edgbaston Reservoir (which was near their accommodation), and their favourite Starbucks. Like with the architectural theme, this could have good commercial potential, as it can serve as a memory of that time of their life.

Below is the (very) early stages of the montage.

London architectural montage: Brutalist - prototype

 When exhibiting in London recently I photographed a new architectural style; Brutalist. Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture that is typically very linear and 'blockish', and is majorly built with concrete.

The style initially was associated with government buildings, low-rent housing and shopping centres, resulting in functional structures at a low cost, and while the style has been criticized for it's 'ugliness' and the fact that concrete ages poorly (staining easily and attracting moss), it has it's followers.

Montage for Nottingham shoot

I've been busy recently networking and improving CV etc., so have not been able to post the new montage I made until now.

Anyway, this montage differs from previous images in 'The Castles of the Architects' series in a number of aspects. For example, the montage is not mirrored, instead resembling a cityscape more than a single (fictional) example of architecture. This is to reflect the choice of subjects, which was that of tourist locations, rather than a specific architectural period of theme. To further emphasise this, more pavement is visible, and trains and trams are represented, giving a greater sense of a sprawling metropolis.

Nottingham montage shoot - early montage

Here is a in progress montage from the Nottingham shoot yesterday. It differs from the 'Castles of the Architects' montages because they focused on a selected architectural style, whereas this montage is more directed to general tourist attractions; a tourist map was used to help with this.

As with the previous montages, arranging and cutting the buildings out is slow progress, but the work is steady and quickly improving.

'Must-haves' in the montage are Nottingham Castle and the Robin Hood statue. The castle, however, was difficult to photograph, as the front was shrouded in trees, and the back was against a sheer drop, with no clear angle to photograph it from, though I managed a distance shot in the end.

The reason for the inclusion of the 'City of Caves' exhibit entrance is that Nottingham is known for having many caves, and this exhibit was the nearest to a cave entrance that I could find that was accessible.

Final tools photographs and printed images

Here are the final 10 compositions. This will still remain an ongoing project as I have ideas for other subjects, such as Mortician (which I have not yet been able to find a willing donor of tools). Overall, I am very happy with how the compositions came out, though it can get a little repetitive with the same background colour in each.

Final 'Castles' of the Architects' montages

Montages had to be resized to A1 proportions as they were all different dimensions. Overall, the changes were not major and the montages still work.

I recently discovered Foamex, rigid and durable PVC in board form, which I decided to print these montages on (A1). The final images are amazing, and the Foamex is cheaper than framing (while still looking professional), though obviously it depends on what you are displaying as to whether it works with Foamex.

Montages for 'The Castles of the Architects' project

The chosen three locations are Leamington Spa (Georgian), Lincoln (Tudor), and Oxford (Middle Ages). Now, instead of the date included (which would only cause disagreements concerning accuracy), they simply feature a name that describes the architectural style and the location. They have all been re-sized to A1 (for now double that size to ensure quality is retained), which does mean that the white border is uneven around them.

Overall, the three montages form a cohesive series that, while they resemble each other enough to be seen as a series, feature enough of their own individual appeal that they could be displayed alone.

The Castle of the Georgians

The Castle of the Tudors

The Castle of the Middle Ages