I have finished writing my artist statement for this project and it covers all of the vital points and reasoning for this project and the different things i have done throughout.
Lauren Morris is a British
nature and landscape photographer based in Manchester, England.
Through the use of photography Lauren creates abstract and informative
photographs that explore the natural beauty of the everyday ordinary that is
surrounding her. Lauren's work looks at the everyday things that may otherwise
pass by unnoticed. Her intention is to provide the viewer with an alternate
view of the environment.
One of Lauren's biggest
influences within photography is Ansel Adams. Adams work is very much based on
the environment, he documented the areas within national parks in America
to allow people to see the things they were missing and to keep nature alive. One
series of images that Lauren can relate to is a series based on Yosemite National Park
in the west of America.
This series was Adams way of making the public
aware of the wilderness and as a way of promoting conservation of the National
Park.
Similarly to that of Ansel
Adams, Lauren wishes to enable people to bare witness to the beauty of their
surroundings. Focusing on the elements that need to be kept alive and seen, her
way of showing what should be conserved, the naturally beautiful elements of
the environment.
Lauren has always had an
interest in nature and landscape photography, this is due to the comfort and
peace that is found when being within quiet and natural surroundings. These
personal feelings help her to capture photographs that document the natural
landscape and environment whilst providing the viewer with a sense of what she
is witnessing herself, through the use of the photograph.
Lauren is currently
undertaking a project which is titled 'The Beauty In Life', in which she is
looking for and documenting the natural beauty of the environments that are
surrounding her. Lauren is doing this by
focusing her photographs on the natural areas, forms and structures that are
within different locations around the Manchester
area. She is looking for the little things that to go by unnoticed and the
different things that tend to be missed by people on a daily basis. This
project and the photographs that are being captured are Lauren's way of getting
people to appreciate what nature is providing them with, as well as providing
them with a view of the things they may not notice themselves, showing them the
beauty of their normal surroundings.
The route that Lauren has
taken with this project is basing her photographs on natural forms and showing
the life of these forms. Meaning she is documenting the birth and life of them,
such as plants that are growing in a natural environment. It is a way of
showing how the natural forms are living, providing more of an insight into how
they form and live within the same environment as ourselves.
For this project Lauren has
taken some inspiration from the work of Jessica Backhaus'. This photographers
work is based on her documenting the different things that she finds
interesting and beautiful on the different journeys that she takes on a daily
basis. The idea of documenting the beautiful that can be seen is something that
Lauren has always had an interest in. She has adapted this to her own work by
documenting and showing people the beauty of the natural forms within the
environment in which they are within everyday.
The photographs that are
being produced for 'The Beauty In Life' all have a strong use of depth of
field. It is Lauren's intention to have one very strong and definitive focal
point for each of the photographs that she captures for this series. The focal
point of the image is not always the foreground nor the background, she uses
the scene that is in front of her to decide on the best composition and the
best focal point for the photograph she intends to capture. None of the scenes
within the photographs she captures are set up, they are simply photographed as
they are found, without any intervention showing the natural beauty of the
area.
Lauren does not like to set
up scenes within her photographs, nor do test shoots. To capture her
photographs Lauren simply points and shoots. There are no strict guides to
setting up the scene within the view finder, the use of composition and depth
of field are the two elements that Lauren uses within every photograph that she
captures. This is a way of keeping her photographs very simple whilst providing
the viewer with an alternate view of the natural forms and structures that are
within their surroundings, which is the main point of the project she is
currently undertaking.
As the main intention is to
provide the viewer with a new way of seeing the natural forms by documenting
their birth, growth and life within the environment, Lauren has decided to crop
her photographs into square format of 12 x12. This is due to how she wants the
main focus of the photographs she has taken to be the natural form. She still
has a strong use of depth of field by having on section of the form she has
photographed the main focal point of the photographic composition. This is
unusual for Lauren as she normally avoids any cropping of her photographs as
she always likes to present the viewer with the exact composition that is
framed within the view finder of her camera when the photograph has been
captured. However, with this series of photographs presenting them in square
format allows the photographs content to be more definitive and direct to the
point of showing the natural forms that are surrounding us.
'The Beauty In Life' is a
project that Lauren is very passionate about. It has been the main way for her
to express how she is seeing the environment in which she lives in, and a way
of allowing other people to gain a new view of their surroundings, providing
them with an alternate view point and a way of seeing rather than just their
own viewpoint.
**UPDATED STATEMENT!
Lauren Morris
Project Title: The Beauty in
Life
Blog: www.majorphotoproject-laurenmorris.blogspot.com
Lauren Morris is a British
nature and landscape photographer based in Manchester, England.
Through the use of photography Lauren creates abstract and informative
photographs that explore the natural beauty of the everyday ordinary that is
surrounding her. Lauren's work looks at the everyday things that may otherwise
pass by unnoticed. Her intention is to provide the viewer with an alternate
view of the environment.
One of Lauren's biggest
influences within photography is Ansel Adams. Adams work is very much based on
the environment, he documented the areas within national parks in America
to allow people to see the things they were missing and to keep nature alive. One
series of images that Lauren can relate to is a series based on Yosemite National Park
in the west of America.
This series was Adams way of making the public
aware of the wilderness and as a way of promoting conservation of the National
Park.
Similarly to that of Ansel
Adams, Lauren wishes to enable people to bare witness to the beauty of their
surroundings. Focusing on the elements that need to be kept alive and seen, her
way of showing what should be conserved, the naturally beautiful elements of
the environment.
Lauren has always had an
interest in nature and landscape photography, this is due to the comfort and
peace that is found when being within quiet and natural surroundings. These
personal feelings help her to capture photographs that document the natural
landscape and environment whilst providing the viewer with a sense of what she
is witnessing herself, through the use of the photograph.
In this project which is
titled 'The Beauty in Life', Lauren is
looking for and documenting the natural beauty of the environments that are
surrounding her. Lauren is doing this by
focusing her photographs on the natural areas, forms and structures that are
within different locations around the Manchester
area. She is looking for the little things
that to go by unnoticed and the different things that tend to be missed by
people on a daily basis. This project and the photographs that are being
captured are Lauren's way of getting people to appreciate what nature is
providing them with, as well as providing them with a view of the things they
may not notice themselves, showing them the beauty of their normal
surroundings.
The route that Lauren has
taken with this project is basing her photographs on natural forms and showing
the life of these forms. Meaning she is documenting the birth and life of them,
such as plants that are growing in a natural environment. It is a way of
showing how the natural forms are living, providing more of an insight into how
they form and live within the same environment as ourselves. One thing to be
aware of is that Lauren had no knowledge of the different forms that were
within the locations that she visited to capture the photographs for this
project. She has simply worked with the elements that she has found upon the
routes she has taken and photographed them in her style.
For this project Lauren has
taken some inspiration from the work of Jessica Backhaus'. This photographers
work is based on her documenting the different things that she finds
interesting and beautiful on the different journeys that she takes on a daily
basis. The idea of documenting the beautiful that can be seen is something that
Lauren has always had an interest in. She has adapted this to her own work by
documenting and showing people the beauty of the natural forms within the
environment in which they are within everyday.
The photographs that are
being produced for 'The Beauty in Life' all have a strong use of depth of
field. It is Lauren's intention to have one very strong and definitive focal
point for each of the photographs that she captures for this series. The focal
point of the image is not always the foreground nor the background, she uses
the scene that is in front of her to decide on the best composition and the
best focal point for the photograph she intends to capture. None of the scenes
within the photographs she captures are set up, they are simply photographed as
they are found, without any intervention showing the natural beauty of the
area.
Lauren does not like to set
up scenes within her photographs, nor do test shoots. To capture her
photographs Lauren simply points and shoots. There are no strict guides to
setting up the scene within the view finder, the use of composition and depth
of field are the two elements that Lauren uses within every photograph that she
captures. This is a way of keeping her photographs very simple whilst providing
the viewer with an alternate view of the natural forms and structures that are
within their surroundings, which is the main point of the project she is
currently undertaking.
As the main intention is to
provide the viewer with a new way of seeing the natural forms by documenting
their birth, growth and life within the environment, Lauren has decided to crop
her photographs into square format of 12 x12. This is due to how she wants the
main focus of the photographs she has taken to be the natural form. She still
has a strong use of depth of field by having on section of the form she has
photographed the main focal point of the photographic composition. This is
unusual for Lauren as she normally avoids any cropping of her photographs as
she always likes to present the viewer with the exact composition that is
framed within the view finder of her camera when the photograph has been
captured. However, with this series of photographs presenting them in square
format allows the photographs content to be more definitive and direct to the
point of showing the natural forms that are surrounding us.
'The Beauty in Life' is a
project that Lauren is very passionate about. It has been the main way for her
to express how she is seeing the environment in which she lives in, and a way
of allowing other people to gain a new view of their surroundings, providing
them with an alternate view point and a way of seeing rather than just their
own viewpoint.
