Ian Macdonald
Ian Macdonald photographs Teesside Industry, illustrating the working lives of the local people. His work is mostly landscape photography containing images of the Teesside industry and factory’s; I think that they are portrayed in a dim light because of the black and white colours making the area seem depressing. I believe that this links well to my chosen theme because it illustrates how the pollution effects the environment. Also in some images, there is a contrast been the industry and some of the natural surroundings, such as the beach. This relates to Man vs. Nature as his photographs shows aspects of the theme. I will use his photography to help inspire my idea of using the local industry to portray the idea of Man vs. Nature as the industry is destroying the nature, this is created by man. The colours of all of his images give a negative sense of mood because of the dullness of the grey, this shows that it is a serious issue.
This image links in with my theme because it illustrates how man made landmarks and industry destroys the natural landscape showing the idea of man vs. nature. Also, I like the way that the structure of the bridge is reflecting off the water giving the image more characteristics. The composition of the image is interesting because the viewer is able to see all of the industry in the background and the foreground shows the transporter bridge which is the symbol for the industrial region, which is the north east. However, the composition could be improved by taking into account the location of the camera, as there is a pole going straight through the image from top to bottom, which looks like it is attached to the boat in which the photographer is on. If the image were taken from a point where the pole was not visible, then this would highly increase the quality of this image. Furthermore, the colours of the black and white in the image prevent the viewer from seeing the true colours of the landscape; this makes the viewer look more at the details of the objects. The black and white in the image also gives the dull sense of mood for the viewer, as there are a lot of dark shadows, making the mood negative.
This is another one of MacDonald’s images of the Teesside industry, in which I am aspiring to take similar images of. I believe that this is a successful image because of the contrast between the background and the foreground. The foreground of the image is quite natural because it shows the river and grass banks, this links to my theme because the water represents the nature in the image. Furthermore, the background of the image shows the industry across the horizon, this illustrates the pollution and it shows the contrast between the manmade objects and the nature in the image. Also, the industry in the background makes the image successful because it gives the viewer something to think about, and even though it ruins the natural landscape, the lights combined with all of the different structures are appealing to the eye. I also like the angle of view in which the image has been taken because Macdonald has shot the image so that horizontally, half of the image is land and water and the other half is the sky, making the horizon in the middle of the image.
This image is interesting because of the symmetrical composition with the two sides of the image having sandbanks and in the middle of the image; the moon is in the vertical centre with its reflection creating a horizontal line down the middle of the image. The image is also interesting because the viewer is drawn to the background of the image, through the middle of the sand dunes where the industry is. From my interpretation, I believe that Macdonald's intentions where for the industry in the background to be the main point of focus in the image. It is interesting because even though the image is symmetrical, it also has a radial element because the viewer is immediately drawn to the centre of the image, which is sort of represented in a semi-circle shape. Also, the monochrome effect that is created by the artificial lighting that lights up the foreground, creates a sinister atmosphere because a lot of shadows are created and it is unclear what a lot of the objects actually are.
This is an interesting image because of the leading lines from the foreground into the background; this illustrates the distance that Macdonald has captured. It also illustrates how large the buildings are in the background, which are part of the industry, hence it illustrates the size of the industrial economy in the North East. I also like the irony of the colours in the image, because, as there appears to be snow on the ground, it would be expected for there to be bright colours and although the image is fairly bright, the black and white in the image go against this idea and it creates some shadows. Also, the black and white distorts the viewers idea of what time of day the image was taken, however, the lights on the building imply that the image was taken sometime at night when there is limited natural lighting. Furthermore, there is a slight haze in the image as the building in the image is faded which illustrates that there was most likely smoke present from the industry when the image was taken, this shows the viewer that the industry in the image has created pollution in the area, linking the image in with the theme of my project. However, to improve this image, I would shoot the photograph at a time when there is no smoke/steam in the air because this distorts the view of the background, which is, in effect, the main point of focus in the image.