BRENDAN FITZPATRICK: SHANGHAI AT NIGHT

I find the urban landscape quite fascinating and great to photograph. It's sometimes difficult to reproduce via photography and I find I can be quite fussy to find the ideal shot. Something I'm missing while I'm living in Germany is my tripod, which would allow me to take shots at night (I haven't given up on the idea though...). I think the city has much more depth at night. As the sun goes down it metamorphoses into a different world. Colour disappears into shadow, objects become silhouettes, and lights bring new colour, light and life into lively areas. Brendan Fitzpatrick has photographed some amazing urban landscapes at night and executed them perfectly. Despite capturing mostly large concrete slabs and there being a minimal, if not absent human presence the essence and life of the city is clearly felt.

See the whole series here and Brendan's website here.

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MARCO MISHEFF: VERTICAL LANDSCAPE

I found this image by Marco Misheff to be quite haunting and a little surreal – not sure why, although the texture and lighting help to create a unique atmosphere. It almost feels like an apocalyptic setting, or even post apocalyptic given the overall darkness with the exception of the vibrant red streaks glowing from the darkness. Dull shapes sometimes becoming silhouettes of the crane and building look lifeless, uninhabited and eerie – like something from 28 days later. On a final point I love how the image is partially blurred and partially sharp, the blurriness possibly censoring or hiding something vital from the viewer. Overall a fantastically moody piece. See Marco's folio here and website here.

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LAURA A P: BLACKNESS

I've been really busy lately and haven't been working on my blog anywhere near as much as I'd like to. I'm hoping to at least keep it updated once a week until things quiet down. I had to post this pic by Laura A. P., the mystery and intrigue were too much! I think it's quite daring to pull off work like this, so much of the image is black, so much is hidden. Throughout the whole series (do check it out!) I find that I'm more curious about what I can't see than what I can. It feels a bit like an elaborate scene for some un-named horror (as HP Lovecraft would say) to be lurking. Fantastic atmosphere. Regarding what you can see, the lighting/shadow colour bring this all together very nicely (and darkly). Check out Laura's website here.

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JÉRÔME LAUTRÉ: URBAINE POESIE

I thought I'd post these shots by Jérôme Lautré because I think they are amazing depictions of the urban world at night, and I found them reminiscent of images of what the future (now) would be like in 80s film. I was always amazed as a kid at what the future would hold and I've always been a little disappointed that today we don't have hover boards, robots and flying cars. The future was always romanticised with glowing lights, strange clothes and incredible flying technology. The reality is that we have conquered social/communication technologies instead, which seems a little less exciting but without it not even this blog would exist. I think the vision that these 80s artists gave us was merely what the 80s would have look like in the distant future, or perhaps an 80s revival in the distant future. Anyway to me these images are
closer to 80s futuristic references than anything else I've seen, and for that I think they are pretty cool. Check out Jérôme's website for more photographic gems.

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SHERIF ELHAGE: LIGHT ON WATER

Sherif Elhage has taken a series of long exposure shots of boats moving through water. The result is quite amazing, and a little surreal. I refer back to a post a couple of days ago about our everlasting desire to view night time illuminations. Sherif has taken advantage of this but from an interesting perspective – and in doing so has essentially morphed the subject matter into something new and unrecognisable. Depite being a long exposure shot the sense of motion here is so far removed that it feels like we are looking at some unknown, yet beautiful object set against a dark backdrop of black water and a moonless night sky.

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FRIDAY: MOTH

These shots by Friday are a little similar to a series I wrote about in an earlier post. Similar in that they are mainly composed of shadow. I think Friday's shots are much darker, which I think has resulted in some intriguing photography. The viewer is only given a few hints of what they are looking at. The shadow leaves much to the imagination. According to the project information on his behance page one of his conceptual themes is silence, which I think has been captured perfectly.

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JONATHAN THOMPSON: INSPIRATION: MARCH

Jonathon Thompson has posted a series of eclectic shots that he took in March. There is great diversity in this project, most of the shots seem to reflect parts of his life though, which give the piece a nice personal feel. My two favourites are night shots that make great use of foreground on a city lights background. Images of the city at night are so common, in fact I think images of light at night are common. People seem to have this amazing attraction to things that are lit up. Whether it's a Christmas tree, city at night, fireworks or a laser light show, we are attracted to light like it has a divine connection – maybe it does. I like how Jonathon has used the city scape in a lesser degree to typical night photography. In particular I love the way we must peer through the wire fence in the second shot. Nice take on a popular cliche.

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