Photographer Research - Bill Brandt

Bill Brandt

When I first began to look at Bill Brandt's work, I immediately liked his photography, but particularly his landscapes and project of "Mirror". Brandt is known for his landscape, portrait and nude photography. Obviously, his photography work appealed to me due to the fact that some of his work relates to the formal elements such as, depth and reflection. Brandt uses depth in his landscape photography by showing a particular place, road, building etc., in a certain perspective which appears as an optical illusion because we can see that the road (for example) gets narrower in width the further away from the camera it is. However, it stays the same width throughout it's length, we just see it this way because of the angle that the photograph has been taken, allowing us to see the depth of the image. Also, in his work of mirrors, which he has mostly used people to model for, we can see reflection. We can either see the reflection of their face, a body part and the scenery around them. I like Brandt's work because the photos he has taken display ordinary aspects and objects, but because of his technique and angles, he has made the images look extraordinary, thus making the ordinary object (for example) just as interesting.

When looking at Brandt's work again, the photo above definitely stood out. I like this photo a lot, particularly because it is in black and white as it looks old-fashioned, but still modern, because of the young girl. I also like the fact that this image could have various meanings and interpretations from each individual that looks at it, spurring many rhetorical questions for them. This photograph relates to the formal elements as obviously, it is showing the reflected image in a mirror. Brandt took this at an angle, in which he was able to include the embodiment of the girl, as well as her reflection, but didn't capture his own reflection in the mirror, so the photograph is solely concentrated on the girl, who is obviously the subject matter. I also like that we can see the scene around her.

This is another photo which appealed to me, because of it's perspective. Personally, I like photos that show depth due to a perplexed angle because it makes the photo so much more interesting. Also, this photo looks mysterious, especially since it is in black and white, so it is very dark. It raises a lot of questions about where the path leads too, and why Brandt included the house in the photo as well. I think this image also represents tone, as we can see really dark places, like the house and the walls, as well as really light places, like the sky and pathway.

This photo clearly represents both depth and reflection because we are able to see the houses get smaller the further away they are, as well as the inverted, reflected image of the houses in the water. This reflection is slightly distorted because the water has made the image blurred. I like this photo a lot because it looks like two images in one. There is also a repeated pattern occurring with the houses, as they are all identical. I also like the fact that our attention is solely attracted to the houses and the reflection, because there isn't anything else to look at, its the same in the foreground as it is in the background, there are no other distractions. This means we look at the houses first, and then continue to look at them in more detail, as if we are being drawn to the photo.

In this image we can see a man, who looks like a policeman, standing at the end of an alleyway. However, this photo has been taken at a distance, so we can see the depth of the wall that the policeman is standing against. Due to this, it looks as though the alleyway gets narrower, and so the policeman looks smaller as well. As this photo is extremely dark toned, and in black and white, it is quite mysterious and secretive, when looking at the image this way, we could interpret that the policeman is trying to keep hidden from being seen in the street. One reason why I like this image is that it holds so many questions and interpretations. This photo relates to the formal elements as it represents depth and tone.

Bill Brandt's work has influenced me because i'd now like to include black-and-white images in my own work, to develop a sense of mystery within my photographs, as this will make people question what the image is about, thus producing many interpretations of the photo from each individual. I also want to include portraits of people in my photography, and could do this with the concept of representing reflection as well, like Brandt has done in some of his work. Brandt's work includes a lot of photographs which show depth and texture. I like a lot of his images and some of which have inspired my own photography work, for instance: 

This is one of the images that I shot during 'Texture', Brandt's work inspired me to focus on intense textures and make sure they stand out. If i were to edit this image into black and white, it would make the veins of the leaves stand out even more, which is what Brandt does for the texture within his photographs. 

In this photo I have used the reflection of a mirror to shoot a portrait of myself, this was influenced by Brandt's portraits. In these photographs, he uses a mirror next to a model, to show their face, and so the portrait is actually the reflection of the mirror, just as i have done in my own image. 

In summary, I like the mysterious feeling within Bill Brandt's images because of the dark toned black-and-white effect. I also like how he uses his surroundings to explore depth, as well as uses people to model reflection. Brandt's work definitely leaves his viewers with questions of what his photography is about and what it reveals.