Night Photography
(And Black and White Photography)
By Ellie Race
Kaspar Bossers
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Kaspar Bossers’ is a very versatile photographer, he has a range of series within his portfolio, but the two I am very interested in are ‘Late night Shopping’ and ‘Misty Nights’. Others that fit into my theme of Night Photography include ‘Buitenbed’ and ‘Garbage Strike’ – above are examples of each. One of the things that Kaspar likes to do when taking images is use film, so that he cannot see the immediate outcome of his images and it creates a challenge for him. It forces him to tackle a situation with a new manner. I will not be copying Kaspar in his preferred technique of taking his images. I will however enjoy copying his urban outlook at night photography. His images give a very dark and dangerous atmosphere off to them and I think that the areas they are taken just add to that feel. The streets in most of the images are deserted and I may find this hard to achieve, as I cannot exactly ask people to leave if I am photographing. The composition of each image varies and I like this because of the totally variety and difference his images contain. Most of the images have a subject and this also varies from a human model to a mattress or garbage in the street. I really enjoyed looking at the work that Kaspar has created and the concepts behind them are great, the lighting of the images are totally uncontrollable but none of them seem grainy or blurred.
One of my absolute favourite images that was taken out of the collection, is shown above. I hope to be able to copy the atmosphere and mood that it creates at first glance. The delicate balance of the depressive undertones and the sad mood go together very well, it makes you feel need sympathy for this lonely man who has no where to go and s just looking off into oblivion. The colours are very cold and yet at the same time give off a deep meaning, they are dark and saturated yet they aren’t colourless, the colour plays a big part in setting the mood of this image. Fantasy is the only way to describe the style of this image, but at the same time it offers a deeper look into the sorrowful feelings the subject may be feeling. The image itself is able to make movement totally stop and become non-existent. When taking about the focus of the image you cannot be sure if it was purposeful because the mist forces the focus to be on the man and the tree, it offers no alternative, like a wall blocking the surrounding area. The dark lighting and intense mist have the effect of creating the world surrounding the subject look absent and a figure of your imagination. This image that Kaspar Bossers has created not only has you looking deeper into the mist for the idea behind it, it also has you lost in a sorrowful fantasy world.
The collection of images that Kaspar Bossers has taken, held great great social importance and hold a strong and in-depth concept at the time. Obviously at the time of the images some sort of garbage strike was going on and I cant be sure of where it has happened, however the fact that they are on strike can suggest maybe they aren’t being paid enough. Kaspar was able to capture the battle between government and the public sector and use the rubbish in the streets to infer what a great mess the situation is. The image above has an asymmetrical composition. The rubbish on one side, the streets on the other and we immediately go to look at the piles of trash. Something that I have mentioned before is that Kaspar likes to use film when taking the images. By doing this not only does he need to take on a new approach but also he doesn’t know the outcome. This could be related to the unsure society as all of the bin men went on strike and no one really knew the outcome or what was going to happen next. When looking at the image you really see the colours of the rubbish shine through the darkened streets and it makes you think of the situation the people living with this must have to deal with. Something else I noticed in the image is that Kaspar must have used a slow shutter speed because of the lines from the cars in the background. I will also be using this technique on roads in my future photo-shoots. I will also take on board the idea of creating a deeper concept behind my own images.