Rune Guneriussen
Rune Guneriussen believes that art 'should be questioning and bewildering as opposed to patronising and restricting'. He is a conceptual photographer that works primarily in nature, using a variety of different objects to construct different scenes in the environment. His typical objects are lamps, books, and tables and chairs, although he tends to work with lamps more. Guneriussen's work is more 'random' in the way that it appears - it doesn't seem to have any meaning at first glance as he did not want to communicate a direct message through his work. This is unlike Hobbs' work, where it is clear that there is a message behind her photos which are relatively clear. Guneriussen is demonstrating the evidence of man, the humans' presence in nature.
The photo above, titled 'evolution', shows a trail of lamps through a forest path, along a stream. This photo doesn't have any particular meaning - Guneriussen likes to leave his photos up to interpretation, although he may have had only one reason in mind for taking this photo. One of the possible meanings I thought of was the idea that humans have discovered secret or well hidden parts of nature, and have left behind evidence that they were there, that they had discovered it. The lights represent the humans, in this theory, as they are a man made object, their light destroying the original darkness and peace that nature once had. The idea that the light taints the environment leads to the idea of light pollution, or even just the idea of pollution in general, linking to my project in the fact that negative effects are left behind due to mankind, leaving behind 'evidence'.
In this photo, a wide aperture has been used in a successful attempt to capture as much of the image in focus as possible. It seems that a slower aperture has been used, and therefore a tripod too, due to the appearance of the water. The streaks of water in the stream seem soft, not as if they have been frozen in time with a fast shutter speed. The use of the slow shutter speed makes the picture look graceful due to the soft look in the water. The shutter speed may have actually been used to increase the brightness of the photo - The photo was taken in a fairly dark place, and a wide aperture may simply not have been enough to capture enough light to keep the correct exposure. The long shutter speed would enable a more balanced exposure. He has used many different lamps and placed them along the stream, no two lamps alike. No editing has been done to replicate the lamps along the stream - they are all individual. I like this photo mostly due to the simple appearance of it - I like the setting, the fact that he chose to shoot this photo in a forest. I like the colour range within the setting, and the lamps illuminate some areas, which provides a small range of brighter colours to be shown. I like the idea I found behind the photo, however I think his photos are more of just a 'pretty picture' as the meanings are not clear enough - although subtlety of meanings in photos can sometimes be effective. I like the overall feel of the photo - it feels very calm and quite peaceful, contrasting with my idea of disruption and destruction of peace for the meaning of the photo. Skills/techniques/ideas to reuse? - Slow shutter speeds for effect rather than lighting purposes - Contrast between humans and nature - Subtle meanings - Dark locations with few sources of light |