Modernism: The Perfect Pair

"The Perfect Pair" is an image series complied of 12 black and white photographs.  The images represent a man traveling through his morning routine while interacting with the built environment throughout his flat, building and building complex at University of Stirling.   These are 12 images selected from 235 taken on July 5, 2014.

Lucia Moholy, 1927
Faculty Apartment for
Laszlo Moholy Nagy

This image series was influenced by Modernist photographers Lucia Moholy (1894-1989) and Ilse Bing (1899-1930).  Among Lucia Moholy's photographs are iconic depictions of the interiors of Bauhaus taken while she and her husband at the time (Laszlo Moholy Nagy) lived in Dessau during the 1920s.  Her interior photographs are characterized by stark contrast of black and white in addition to diagonal leading lines.  I used these techniques, but brought my viewing plane down to ground level instead of eye level.  I was also influenced by Ilse Bing, particularly her photograph Shoes for Harpers Bazaar.  This image shows movement and implies the existence of a larger figure by simply looking at the gold shoes.  It also gives a reference to the built environment of the time period, not through architectural structures, but through industrial design.  I used these techniques, but applied them to a series to tell a story rather than to depict a moment in time.

Ilse Bing, 1935
Shoes, for Harpers Bazaar

"The Perfect Pair" depicts a man performing his morning routine from ground level and how he interacts with his environment.  From image to image, the figure of the man leads the viewer to the next picture.  His repeated appearance in each photo adds rhythm and consistency to the series.  I also used the orientation of objects and leading diagonal lines to draw the viewers eyes to the next photograph in the sequence.

I am an Interior Architect and Industrial Designer and through my education I have learned that the built environment does not only contain the envelope of a building.  The built environment is a Human centered construction that consists of built objects ranging from walls and windows to base reveals, stair treads and shoes.  People do not usually take the time to examine and appreciate details at the ground level, but they are as carefully designed and selected as the rest of the constructed world.  My work highlights these hidden features.

The series "The Perfect Pair" accomplishes two things.  First, it tells a story.  The story draws the viewer from one picture to another.  Compositional ques are used to illustrate each portion of the story.  A diagonal line draws the viewer into the first image showing the series beginning and a mirrored diagonal appears in the last image delineating the ending.  The everyday subject and ambiguous figure allow almost any viewer to relate to the subject.  The title of the story also adds interest.  Although the viewer may assume from the first images that "The Perfect Pair" refers to each of the man's feet, they realize in the final image that it refers to both people.  This gives the story a clear conclusion.  The series also uses Modernist photographic techniques (harsh angles, uncommon views and intense contrast) to highlight the built environment from a view not normally seen or appreciated.  Through these images I aspire to show the viewer that beauty can be found in the details of all levels of design.