Research into Arnaud Bertrande

Image One Image Two

Image one and two are small, square images produced in black and white. Although both produced in
black and white, there is a very high percentage of black tones compared to white tones. This gives
the images a very spooky feeling which is slightly intriguing for me. Both images focus on looking up
at tall buildings but the subject matter between the photographs, although the same, is very different.
Image one’s subject matter focuses on an old architectural building whereas image two focuses more
on modern architecture. This is interesting when having them side by side because although this detail
is depictable by the audience, the images still use the same premises and look very similar. Both
images are framed in similar ways whereby they have empty space either side of them and on the top.
However, there is more empty space on the sides of the old building in image one because of the
angle the image was taken from. Arnaud Bertrande faced the building in image one face on so that it
looked very thin and there was more space on either side of the building. This makes this photograph
feel more spacious than image two where Arnaud Bertrande took the photograph from a side angle
so that the building had more of a structure and therefore took up more of the frame. Arnaud
Bertrande uses a digital camera to take his images and from looking at them I can tell that he has
used a fast shutter speed and very low aperture to make the building crisp clear but also not have the
image be too bright. He shoots at blue hour so that his images have a strong visual impact like these
images.

I like the technical components that he has used in these photographs however I am not a he fan of
the dark nature of these images as I am trying to make my images feel super spacious and the
darkness confines the images, preventing them from feeling spacious. For this reason I won’t be using
this technique but I will take into account the camera positioning, angles, perspective, viewpoint,
composition , etc. Image one and two both use the compositional technique, rule of thirds, to frame
the building in the centre third but it looks better in image one. Image one looks better because the
building is much thinner, because of the angle it was taken from, so it looks more central and this is
very appealing to the eye because it creates balance and symmetry in the image. This symmetry/
balance is something I would like to do in my photographs because I think it makes it a lot more
appealing to the eye and would entice my audience into looking at my images instead of others if they
were in gallery perhaps. Image two is still appealing due to the rule of thirds technique however not as
appealing because of the angle it was taken from and because it is much closer up and therefore
takes up a lot more of the frame making it feel less symmetrical and balanced. I think I much prefer
image one to image two based off all of these characteristics however I also much prefer modern
architecture to old architecture so this is something I would change about the image along with he
dark colours. In my images I like to incorporate the natural blue sky because it makes it feel spacious.