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

Second montage and new working title

After performing a day shoot in Lincoln the other day, I have gathered enough material to create the second montage in the series now titled 'The Castles of the Architects'.

Drawing on the Medieval elements of Lincoln, the buildings focused on were the white with criss-crossing dark beams, and the remnants of castle walls, turrets and gates.

Currently, I have created a prototype for this montage (though the buildings have been cut around roughly).

Georgian arcitecture - montage concept [inspired by 'Archisculptures'

This project presents a chosen architectural style, in this case Georgian, as a collage/photo mural or ‘graphical assemblage’.

Within this project, a collection of architectural features and buildings of a chosen period are reborn as a larger, new structure or collage, emphasising the historical elements.

 

This project began as a colour montage, which was not symmetrical. However, it was decided that since

regularity and symmetry are the central ideals to Georgian architecture, that this should be reflected in the montage. Mirroring half of the montage was a quick technique in creating symmetry, but it also resulted in some of the montages appearing like 'manor houses', and so these separate buildings are 'born again' as part of a larger structure.

Presenting the collage in monochrome focuses the viewer’s attention on the architectural and geometrical aspects of the composition, adding cohesion to the collage. 

This concept was inspired by Beomsik Won's 'Archisculptures' (shown previously in this blog) and Paul Citroen's 'Metropolis'.

Note: The montages are still incomplete, for example, the buildings have been roughly cut out for the purposes of experimenting with the concept.

An example of Beomsik Won's 'Archisculptures'

The original montage

The first of the mirrored montages (made from half of the original)

The second of the mirrored montages (made from the other half of the original)

New montage made with the intention of mirroring it.

Georgian architecture - geometric presentation

Recently, I did a shoot in Leamington Spa, and to remove perspective distortion as much as possible, I brought a step ladder to further level myself with the centre of the photographs. Some Photoshopping was required to finish off the perspective correction (a 5x4 camera wasn't available at the time of the shoot).

The reason for this is so that the buildings are seen front on with no distortions, meaning that the viewer will focus their attention instead onto the repetition, symmetry, and carefully geometric presentation of Georgian Architecture.

Georgian Architecture - 'The Perfect House'

This is a montage I made (in Photoshop) using elements of multiple examples of Georgian architecture (shot in Leamington Spa). The idea is to create 'The Perfect Georgian House', and make it as realistic and seamless as possible. At the moment, if you look closely, the seams do show. Note: The shadow of the pilaster was created by outlining a shadow (using the pen tool) from a similarly shaped entrance and colouring in the selection.