Line

Definition & Theory 
A line is a path between two different points.
Lines imply motion and suggest direction or orientation.
There are different forms on lines.

• Horizontal
• Vertical
• Diagonal
• Curved
• Converge

Horizontal

These lines can create a sense of tranquillity within a photo.

The framing from the horizontal bars of the sea creates a calming and controlled atmosphere. The lines represent stability which is instinctively tranquil and comforting to viewers. 

Vertical

These lines can create a dominance of power within a photo.

The columns holding up the ceiling and blocking an essence of light portray their power over their environment. This can be unsettling to some viewers but the pure dominance of the lines is admirable. 

Diagonal

These create senses of movement.

The angle of the track suggests direction, something many viewers will find admirable. The fact that the lines are literal train tracks for a train moving, the sense of movement is valid.

Curved

These have many different emotions, typically creates a sense of sensuality.

The curve on these steps are perfectly even, creating a satisfactory feeling for viewers. The curvature is creating delicacy that is oddly appealing to a viewer, this can suggest a small sense of sensuality.

Converge

These create an illusion of depth.

These fence lines create a frame around the subject, gradually becoming smaller the more in the centre of the photo, this creates depth in the framing.

Research

Walker Evans (1903 - 1975)

Evans is an American photographer/photojournalist best known for his work for the 'Farm Security Administration' documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Some of his other work was of the streets and signs of America, typically leading line photography.

The photos below were captured using black and white film, representing the 'urban' streets of America. The photos own a deliberate high contrast and exposure to define all the streets details. The two road photos imply motion/movement, especially the arrow painted on the road indicating direction, which can be admirable instinctually for some people. The two power line photos present a cluster of wires, which can imply in that time period the high obsession with technology evolution. The third photo owns connotations of religion dying since the power line seems to overpower and contrast the church behind it; Evans's documentation on depression can link to the religious representation.

Image Bank
These photos are from photographers/artists that add to my visual research.

These photos captured from photographers that posted their work online are representations of the work I wish to recreate in my college area. The style of these are street themed and very humane, all are in monochrome which creates an even and dramatic focus on all the details captured. Street photos tend to own a lot of detail since they aren't typically tampered by the photographer which is something I personally admire.

Selected Photos

Contact Sheet

These are the raw photos that I captured on my DSLR camera.

Best Photos

These are my best-captured photos (untouched).

Photos that require improvement

These photos were selected because they are unbalanced and the centre isn't clear. For the staircase photo, my intention was to make the railing a leading line to the end of the stairs, the side I placed the railing (left) did not create my intention and the focus is off balance. If I were to retake this photo, I would put my camera on the other side (right) of the railing so the stairs are more visible; I would also take the camera off auto-focus and manually make sure the focus was at a shallow setting on aperture to create a focus on the foreground and the background out of focus. 

For the barred glass ceiling, the centre is not actually in the centre, this removes the satisfactory sense that could be created for a viewer and can cause annoyance. If I were to retake this photo, I would make sure the grid was visible on my camera, or use a tripod to keep everything in place and make sure the point where all the bars lead is perfectly in the centre.

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My Ideas

My idea for recording line was to photograph the urban landscape exploring different lines present such as curves, horizontal, vertical lines, and leading lines. 

My photo inspiration was based on the photographer Walker Evans, his street photos captured so much detail and kept to the theme of lines. They were typically straight (horizontal, vertical, diagonal) leading lines which I believe captured the essence of the streets of America, nothing abstract really, more traditional.

My photos came out as wanted, however, my use of focus and positioning was not to the best of my ability, so next time I will be sure to use a tripod and manual focus.

Reference to best photos

The photo of the scaffold bars is an inspired photo by Evans since his work presented the streets of America, I wanted to present something typical in the streets of London.

The photo of the arrow on the road is a recreation of Evans photo of an arrow on the road; I decided to make the arrow the point of reference instead since the suggestion of direction appears more clear that way.

The photo of the edge of a lake was captured to create an image I had in my head of leading lines, the image in my head is edited though so the photo currently does not present what I intend it to.

With regards to the photos that did not fully come as intended, I am unfamiliar with exposure and aperture techniques professionally in a sense, so some photos weren't captured the way I wished, I will fix this with editing, but in the future I plan to become more familiar with the camera techniques so I won't have to edit photos as intensely.

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

Use of Camera

I used a Nikon D3400 DSLR camera for every photo taken. The photos were taken on auto-focus and the aperture at F3.5. For some of the photos, the positioning was uneven and the focus was not where I intended. I will work on this for my future photos.

Final Pieces

Since my inspirations (Walker Evans and my Image Bank) were all monochrome, sharper, and more exposed. I put the photos into Photoshop and edited them to make them match my inspirations.

I firstly pressed CTRL+SHIFT+U to remove all saturation from the photo. Then pressing CTRL+L to open up 'Levels...' and dragging the dark tones lower to add more depth into the photos and make them sharper.

Then pressing CTRL+M to open 'Curves...' dragging the centre of the line down only slightly to darken everything making details look more dramatic. 

Finally, opening 'Exposure..' from 'Image', 'Adjustments..', and increasing the exposure only slightly so the photos don't look over edited.

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

The artist research helped me make a final decision on how I'd compose my line photographs, teaching that street photography with leading lines is a perfect way to present lines in a photograph, the fact that everything for those type of photos is man-made can create evolution symbolism which will intrigue a wider audience. Walker Evans truly helped my ideas for my photos since his line work was very detailed and admirable. His focus on modern but simple man-made work showed a representation of the significance of the world with simply lines. Emotion and people didn't seem to match well with line representation, but an original thought for line photographs was the human anatomy at certain angles, but the urban street photos fit better into the subject.

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

I believe my final photos represent my intentions inspired by my research and Walker Evans's work since they present the streets of the college area (similar to how Evans presented the American streets), with the definition of lines and detailing in monochrome. These are my final photos.