From Basics to Fine Art: Black and White Photography - Architecture and Beyond PDF
Preview From Basics to Fine Art: Black and White Photography - Architecture and Beyond
FROM BASICS TO FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY - ARCHITECTURE AND BEYOND JOEL TJINTJELAAR JULIA ANNA GOSPODAROU FROM BASICS TO FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY ARCHITECTURE AND BEYOND FIRST EDITION - MAY 2014 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM, BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, OR BY ANY INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHER, EXCEPT FOR THE INCLUSION OF BRIEF QUOTATIONS IN A REVIEW. THE TERMS “(EN)VISIONOGRAPHY”, “THE MANIFEST OF (EN)VISIONOGRAPHY”, “PHOTOGRAPHY DRAWING”, “PHTD”, “RULE OF GRAYS”, “GUIDE TO VISION”, “5MF8 RULE”, “ISGM”, “ITERATIVE SELECTIVE GRADIENT MASKS”, “FOUR STEPS AWAY FROM REALITY”, “ARCHITECTURAL STREET PHOTOGRAPHY” CONSIST INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF THE AUTHORS AND CANNOT BE USED BY THIRDS TO DESCRIBE OTHER CONCEPTS OR NOTIONS THAN THOSE DESCRIBED IN THIS BOOK, EITHER IN ENGLISH OR TRANSLATIONS, OR IN ANY PARAPHRASED FORMULATIONS THAT CAN BE RELATED TO THE SENSE THEY ARE GIVEN HERE. THEIR USE ELSEWHERE SHOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY THE MENTION OF THE BOOK OR THE AUTHORS. COPYRIGHT 2014 BY JOEL TJINTJELAAR AND JULIA ANNA GOSPODAROU CONTENTS For my two sons, Wesley and Julian Tjintjelaar, who inspire me to be the best father I could be and share my knowledge without any restrictions to this and future generations. Joel Tjintjelaar The Netherlands, May 2014 To my daughter Artemis, my best critic and my best assistant also, my biggest admirer and the sweetest person in my life. Julia Anna Gospodarou Athens, Greece, May 2014 FROM BASIC TO FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY - ARCHITECTURE AND BEYOND 3 CONTENTS © JULIA ANNA GOSPODAROU & JOEL TJINTJELAAR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS When I started writing this book, almost two years ago, as a collection of thoughts addressed to my photography students, I was not expecting it to evolve into something so complex as it is today. What started small has become a complete black and white philosophy, based on architecture, but JULIA ANNA reaching so far beyond it. I somehow knew I would write this book from as GOSPODAROU far in the past as when I was an architecture student. I knew something was there, underneath the surface, waiting to manifest. I was waiting for the right moment to do it and the right moment came. This book comprises my artistic philosophy and, in a way, my life philosophy also, since these two sides can- not be separated. It is who I am, because photography is a big part of who I am. Who I am today, I owe it not only to myself but to a few people and moments that marked my path and helped me, in one or the other way, to shape the person and the artist I am. For this I want to thank them now: to my father, the first person I ever saw holding a camera, when I was at an age I could barely walk and talk, to my mother who first showed me an art book at age one, to the artists who made me dream when I was a teenager, to my teachers who helped the sparkle become a flame, to a few “lucky” moments that made me make a turn and not another, some would call it fate, but I only believe in the fate I create myself, just as the artist creates his art. A special thank you to my co-author and friend Joel Tjintjelaar, an artist I highly admire and who brought to this book exactly what it needed to be- come perfect: his inspiration, soul and knowledge. Many thanks to our professional collaborators, our very creative graphic de- signer, Artur J. Heller, and our erudite proofreader, Dr. Charles Paul Azzopardi, for investing their talent into helping this book reach the shape it has today. Special thanks also to Topaz Labs, Formatt-Hitech Filters, SmugMug, DxO Labs, Stark Magazine and Camerapixo for their warm support over time and for creating such great software, equipment and photography resources that help me and others better express ourselves as artists. Julia Anna Gospodarou Architect | Fine Art Photographer FROM BASIC TO FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY - ARCHITECTURE AND BEYOND 4 CONTENTS © JULIA ANNA GOSPODAROU & JOEL TJINTJELAAR FOREWORD BY GEORGE DEWOLFE FOREWORD BY GEORGE DEWOLFE “INTENSITIES OF LIGHT” I consider Julia’s (en)Visionography and Photography Draw- Joel Tjintjelaar and Julia Anna Gospodarou ing the most important innovation in B&W photography since the invention of the Zone System. What she does is combine classical Outside of Ansel Adams’ Basic Photo Series, From Basic to Fine Art: drawing with photography and breaks away from the original pho- Black and White Photography – Architecture and Beyond, by Joel tography in terms of light. Through the use of selections and gradi- Tjintjelaar and Julia Anna Gospodarou, is the best book on B&W ents, she transforms the image into something that glows with more photography written in the last 40 years. It is with delight and privi- of an inner light than an reflective exterior one. A whole section on GEORGE DEWOLFE lege that I was asked to write the foreword to a book that appeals classical drawing and what it can do for your own photography will not only to very advanced B&W photographers, but to beginners as send you back (literally!) to the drawing board to learn drawing, if well. In Maine, USA, where I live, we have only two ways of express- you did not already. Her main goal is to transform the original image ing our opinion of something: it is either “Pretty Good” or “Almost into something that she envisions, hence (en)Visionography. There”. This book is Pretty good! The importance of the book is reached in Julia’s and Joel’s abilities to George DeWolfe, Maine,USA, April 2014 blend the practice of classical form and content in vision and tech- www.georgedewolfe.com nique, so that Form is Content. While others claim to have achieved this state of aesthetic grace, this is the first time I have seen it ac- complished with great skill and with a brilliant explanation of how to get there. Forming this elusive aesthetic point where Form becomes Content, Real becomes Abstract. It is an act of magic. And, like all great magi- cians, Julia and Joel make it look easy, until they start to unveil the skill and technical tools used to accomplish their photographs. I am especially drawn to several aspects of the book that stand out to me as an old B&W practitioner. (en)Visionography Photography Drawing George DeWolfe is a prestigious B&W fine art photographer, writer and The Rule of Grays teacher who has studied in the past with icons like Ansel Adams and Minor White and now he is opening new roads in photography just like his famous Long Exposure Photography teachers. He is the author of a series of reference books and essays about B&W Black and White post Processing using iSGM photography, among which The Master Print and many other well-known titles. George has been widely published and recognized internationally and his photography work was exhibited in numerous exhibitions and collections. He is the creator of Optipix and Percep Tool, two Adobe Photoshop plugins specific to B&W photography and is also teaching workshops about the art of B&W photography. FROM BASIC TO FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY - ARCHITECTURE AND BEYOND 5 CONTENTS © JULIA ANNA GOSPODAROU & JOEL TJINTJELAAR FOREWORD BY CHARLES PAUL AZZOPARDI FOREWORD BY CHARLES PAUL AZZOPARDI “FROM BASICS TO FINE ART” Joel Tjintjelaar and Julia Anna Gospodarou “A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expres- sion of what one feels about life in its entirety.” – Ansel Adams I first touched a camera nary three years ago. I have been a black CHARLES PAUL and white convert ever since, but black and white photography is AZZOPARDI not a simple plugin conversion, desaturate command or a Photo- shop Channel mixer action to be taken lightly. I loved the emotions black and white conveyed, but without a vision and a drive to cre- ate images which move and evoke, it is worthless being affection- ate towards black and white as I was when I set out on my personal journey. My initial steps floundered, rudderless and lifeless; then I came across this image of the Salk Institute in California by some- one who, up until then, was relatively unknown. An artist called Joel Tjintjelaar, a Dutch-Indonesian fine art photographer… and then all was good. The quality of the work on offer communicated directly with my soul. The emotions the image conjured shone through. I was addicted. I was hooked, and after approaching Joel, I started being mentored in his methods and his vision behind the creation of his transcendental art. I have followed Joel closely from his humble FEEDING WATER TO THE OCEAN - REDUX beginnings to today and I can vouch for his immense knowledge, his © JOEL TJINTJELAAR - LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA passion, his ingenuity and his creative drive. Shortly thereafter, another artist made her presence felt on the long exposure fine art scene, an artist of Hellenic & Romanian origin and They will guide you to look at gear as merely a tool of exploration, artistic roots, Julia Anna Gospodarou. And thus the most dynamic just a conduit to your own very personal inner sanctum, and how to and creative duo in the modern history of black and white photog- find your vision to become an instrument for change in your chosen raphy came to fruition. sphere. Their images are proof that vision and art matter today more What sets Joel and Julia Anna apart though, is their artistic approach than ever before. Their drive shows a deep hunger for the unknown, and holistic background, distilling influences from classic art, engi- fused with the courage to be ignorant, but leading to an inherent neering, architecture, poetry and philosophy and resulting in a pure wisdom to recognize that the image is not taken, but given and concentrated milieu in the end-result. made in the artist’s mind. FROM BASIC TO FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY - ARCHITECTURE AND BEYOND 6 CONTENTS © JULIA ANNA GOSPODAROU & JOEL TJINTJELAAR FOREWORD BY CHARLES PAUL AZZOPARDI FOREWORD BY CHARLES PAUL AZZOPARDI In today’s humankind ever-increasing urge for homogenization and uniformity, Joel and Julia stand out. Joel is the modern equivalent of what Ansel Adams did for black & white photography in the film era, always exploring new horizons, new techniques, and new frontiers to explore. Julia Anna, on the other hand, is the chimera of Imogen Cunningham and Vivian Maier, merging one of the sharpest eyes in the art world with the artistic flair to make every image canvas come alive. CHARLES PAUL AZZOPARDI “When I’m ready to make a photograph, I think I quite obviously see in my mind’s eye something that is not literally there in the true meaning of the word. I am interested in something which is built up from within, rather than just extracted from without.” – Ansel Adams Their book and stunning images testify to their intellectual curios- ity and desire to understand where they are coming from, who they became and where they are going, together with taking black & white art to ever higher dizzying heights. All artists want to connect with others, and photography is all about communicating with light, tones, shades and ideas. Great photographers are great because they speak eloquently from their inner mind, see sharply and pro- duce consistently, meticulously and passionately. They are masters not only of the techniques of photography, but, for at least a brief PATH TO HUMAN CONSTITUTION moment, they are masters of the eyes and mind of another human © CHARLES PAUL AZZOPARDI 2013 - ATHENS being. Less than 3 years after I started my journey with these two wonder- ful persons, artists, mentors and co-authors, my art, the art they helped bring to the surface and to the fore, achieved international recognition. Open the book, sit down, open your mind and start Charles Paul Azzopardi is a B&W fine art photographer and a medical doctor your own very personal journey now towards artistic illumination. with the soul of a poet. His artistic personality and the love he has for beauty and art can be seen in the vision he transposes in both his B&W performance It is your turn now. photography as well as in his fine art work. Charles has won the 1st Prize at the Architectural Photography Contest organized by the Fine Art Athens Workshops Dr Charles Paul Azzopardi, black & white long exposure and Formatt-Hitech in November 2013 with the image exhibited above. Charles has a special richness of artistic feeling which is exactly what an artist needs (en)Visionographer - Malta, April 2014 in order to express himself through art and the first quality of a B&W fine art www.charlespaulazzopardi.com photographer and (en)Visionographer. FROM BASIC TO FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY - ARCHITECTURE AND BEYOND 7 CONTENTS © JULIA ANNA GOSPODAROU & JOEL TJINTJELAAR INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION In front of you lies a book on photography. Just like so many other As you know by now, the subtitle of the book is “Black and White Pho- photography books available, or... is it something else? tography - Architecture and Beyond”, “beyond” being an important part JOEL Agreed, there are so many books on the market these days that cover of this title. Why “Beyond”? The answer is simple: although archi- TJINTJELAAR different topics on photography: books on basic camera handling tectural photography is the main subject matter, it is only a pretext, and skills, books on Photoshop and Lightroom, books on Black and it merely serves to illustrate the generic principles behind fine-art, White photography, long exposure photography, HDR photography, vision and good black and white processing. The core principles tran- strobist, portraiture, landscape photography and also beautiful cof- scend the chosen subject matter in such a way it enables you to utilize fee-table photo books with only beautiful images. them in any preferred genre. JULIA ANNA This is not such a book. We meant this book to be personal and universal at the same time. GOSPODAROU Meant for beginners, intermediate and advanced photographers. Its First of all, through this book, we are trying to cover photography goal is to walk next to you, from the very beginning of your fine art aspects from both a theoretical and a practical fine-art point of view, journey, by introducing you to the basics of creating photography, like which is something not really covered yet. Yes, there are books on vision and composition, to guide you, step by step, through different the artistic aspects of photography that are usually very theoretical considerations about shooting conditions and methods, gear choices, but not many books that also give practical tips for creating fine-art subject choices, styles and techniques in architectural photography photography and how to develop something so abstract as vision. or the secrets of a good black and white conversion, then drive you What we bring new and original is that we also give you an interesting towards advanced long exposure techniques, extensively presented new theoretical point of view on photography in this digital day and black and white processing methods and tips on creating a clear and age with the concept of (en)Visionography and a complete guide on easily understandable by the viewers fine art language. Every step how to discover your vision and personal style: The Guide to Vision. along this journey is illustrated and explained using our own award- Furthermore we are introducing some new and interesting concepts winning images which are well-known, but also surprise material con- on how to approach black and white photography and how to pro- sisting in unpublished so far photographs from our archive. cess photos to black and white: from the method of Photography The book is structured on chapters written by either of us and we Drawing, to the B&W processing method iSGM. In addition, we also WE MEANT THIS chose to use the first person in expressing ourselves, even if we are in give you a set of rules for good B&W photography called The Rule of BOOK TO BE fact two persons speaking, in order to be able to narrate and explain Grays, that are more than the usual tips and tricks that can be found PERSONAL AND more accurately our personal experiences, our beliefs and vision and in any other book on black and white photography. We are also pre- UNIVERSAL to help you experience them yourselves. We hope you will enjoy this senting a very comprehensive guide on long exposure photography AT THE SAME TIME. journey and find it useful. If so, we would be delighted to hear it per- and a practical pricing list to give you practical guidelines on how to MEANT FOR sonally from you as comments on either of these links: Julia & Joel. price your work as a photographer. And all of this revolves around a BEGINNERS, subject matter that can be considered the forte of the writers: fine-art Yours truly, INTERMEDIATE architectural photography. J&J AND ADVANCED Julia Anna Gospodarou & Joel Tjintjelaar - (en)Visionographers PHOTOGRAPHERS FROM BASIC TO FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY - ARCHITECTURE AND BEYOND 8 CONTENTS © JULIA ANNA GOSPODAROU & JOEL TJINTJELAAR SIMPLE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK SHARE OUR KNOWLEDGE AND VISION To share knowledge. To show the differences between classical and fine art architectural photography. To share our vision. To talk about different types of architectural photography and To introduce new innovative concepts, such as (en)Visionography, focus on black & white long exposure techniques. the Rule of Grays, the Guide to Vision, the 5MF8 Rule, Photography Drawing, 4 Steps Away From Reality and more. To unveil the secrets of a good black and white conversion. To share our love for black and white photography. To talk about light in black and white photography. To share our love for architecture and show its beauty. To talk about shapes and volumes and how they react to light. To share our experience in photographing fine art. To give practical ideas about useful gear and tools for long exposure and architectural photography. To give ideas and to offer examples based on our own work. To inspire. To provide tips & tricks and analyze how we get the results we get. To teach you how to be able to move yourself and others. To invite the readers to come closer to black and white fine art To start an artistic revolution in photography... photography and start to love and understand it. To analyze the most important aspects of black and white fine art photography, from composition to advanced processing techniques and offer practical solutions to those wanting to approach and discover this genre. FROM BASIC TO FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY - ARCHITECTURE AND BEYOND 9 CONTENTS © JULIA ANNA GOSPODAROU & JOEL TJINTJELAAR WHO WE ARE JOEL TJINTJELAAR & JULIA ANNA GOSPODAROU WHO WE ARE A photographer in love with architecture and an architect in love with photography, we have been photographing the world around us from a young age, architectural photography being our passion and one of the things that defines the relation we have with the space we live in and with the world it- self. Photography is our representation of the world, our vision, our (en)Visionography. JOEL JULIA ANNA TJINTJELAAR GOSPODAROU www.bwvision.com www.juliaannagospodarou.com FROM BASIC TO FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY - ARCHITECTURE AND BEYOND 10 CONTENTS © JULIA ANNA GOSPODAROU & JOEL TJINTJELAAR
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