image/object analysis

Simon Norfolk’s work is all about “attempting to understand how war and the need to fight war, has formed our world: how so many of the spaces we occupy; the technologies we use; and the ways we understand ourselves, are created by military conflict.” His book “for most of it I have no words” is the basis of my analysis. I was really taken in by this artist not just by the beautiful landscape work but the reasons behind the imagery.

This is the image I have chosen to analyse. At first glance I see a snowy landscape, some dead grass coming through in the foreground and this big red pool running its way through the centre of the image. To me it’s quite an interesting image to look at and I would think even before reading up about the image that something bad had happened here, as the pool looks like blood. The composition of this image is well thought out, showing just a little bit of sky.  I also like the way he had used the trees in the background to break up the image, otherwise, with it being snow it would all blend into one white mass.   You can see how the hills form which adds depth to the image.

To me this image really stood out from the rest. Maybe it was because of the snow and the striking red stream which runs upon it. I looked more in-depth into the image and my feeling about the image changed. “Aluminium waste pond at Petkovici, part of an aluminium factory complex. In the afternoon and evening of 14th July 1995, hundreds of Bosnian men and boys were taken to the embankment of the dam that holds back the massive waste pond of the aluminium plant and were executed. Some of their bodies are believed to have been thrown into the lake, others piled into mass graves.”  I don’t know whether it was the fact that people had died there, or just the coldness I get from the image any way.

It’s so interesting but it seems like a place I wouldn’t really like to go, maybe that’s why Simon Norfolk has photographed this scene.  It’s such a striking image and to be honest rather beautiful, it seems photographers have a way of making a truly beautiful landscape photograph to try and say something through it; the beauty and the beast.

 From this I can understand why he may have shot this in snow; Snow is cold and it’s a cold history this place has lurking underneath, snow has a way of covering over the real detail underneath but some still shows through, just like the dead grass. It has a similar meaning to the story of what happened in this photography.

The sky also adds that little bit of mood as it isn’t a sunny blue sky like we normally would see, it darkens the image re-enforcing my thoughts about the image.

The first time I saw Simon Norfolk’s work of this series I was drawn in by the look of mystery in his images. To think that these certain things happened and you can see traces of it in his photographs amazed me. As humans we seem to have a certain weakness when it comes to looking into something that has been kept under wraps and then exposed. His work suggests that theory.

 Here is some of his other work which still applies the same concept. The reason I like these photographs is there is a sense of presence. E.g. from the bowed star case, we know someone has been there to make that sort of grove but the way it has been taken we just see the after math of the wearing stair case. I also think Simon Norfolk has chosen to shoot this photograph in black and white as it sets of the mood and the pure reality of what has happened in this photograph.

This image pretty much says it all just from looking at it, I would say it’s the most blunt one out of the series as you can see the body underneath the water. I love how the image has been taken, with a slow shutter speed so the water moving on top gives the water some texture and how that drives u to the body itself.

Overall Simon Norfolk’s work has inspired me for a long time and the type of work he does stands out for me.

And the image I chose to analyse is a true representation of him as a photographer.