Photographer Research Three: Frank Gohlke

Photographer Research Three: Frank Gohlke:
Frank Gohlke is an American Landscape photographer born on April 3, 1942. He has taken photographs of grain elevators in the American Mid-West and the aftermath of a 1979 Tornado in his hometown (Wichita Falls, Texas), and St. Helens during the decade after it's eruption, agriculture in central France and the wild apple forests of Kazakhstan.

I chose to research his as he uses visual contradictions beautifully, such as empty parking lots that have been built for tens of cars. My favourite style of photography is Landscapes as they document such a wide area and can be extremely emotive.

Image Bank:

This is a shot of a long open road that stretches out into the distance. This may symbolise that at this point in Gohlke's life he felt like he couldn't get anywhere as the more he walks the further the road.

This empty parking lot is only for tours, which suggests that the town's economy is failing as it isn't attracting enough tourists, pair this with the total lack of inhabitants in the image it may suggest that the economy is failing and so people are beginning to leave in search of work.

This image is of a large gothic themed architectural building that has been left in the middle of a large junction. This consequently implies that the building is old and is falling slowly behind the times as modern age builds up around it. 

This image shows a house that's been built in the middle of a desert. Some connotations of this are the person living in the house doesn't like people and so moved away from them, however, they still have to travel to buy the necessities and so they leave their car parked outside the garage. 

This image shows a small rural village that lives on top of a mountain range. The sheer lack of houses suggests that this is a small community that knows each other well. Furthermore, this could mean that this is where Gohlke lived and so he's showing us a small insight into his life. 

Influence and Summary:

I have used my research into Frank Gohlke to develop how I approach shoots. Instead of only shooting at a location I'm beginning to look at the different places that I pass through to get to the location where I'll be shooting. I think on my next shoot I will document the time I start shooting and the time I've finished, this will allow me to document where and when I'm shooting. This will also allow me to notice time passing and so remind me of my goals that I'll set for the next shoot. 

Next time I shoot I would like to integrate Frank Gohlke's work into my recurring Bokeh theme and use his style of Landscape photography to set the Bokeh style against a more serious background. To do this I may use a low F-stop to bring focus to the foreground and yet keep the background within the viewers attention. 

My work: