Part 4:3 – Elevated Viewpoints

I have made some notes on the images below:

Derek Trillo, The Cheshire Plain from Beeston Castle and OCA Student, Peter Mansell

These images are taken from an elevated viewpoint such as a building and or a hill for example. Being at this height when taking a photo allows you to see certain things that you wouldn’t see at ground level because of the elements in the foreground would obstruct the view. For example, in the first image you wouldn’t see the form of trees in the circle shape from ground level, you would just see a line. Some in the foreground and some in the back. It’s a similar thing with the skyscrapers, you will see the ones in the foreground but you will struggle to see the ones in the back. From an elevated viewpoint, it allows you to see the 3D aspects of the objects and it shows the scale of the elements.

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John Davies, Agecroft Power Station

The effect of taking this photograph from the elevated viewpoint and from a far distance allows you to see the vast scale of the landscape and how much the power plant takes up, especially in comparison to the football players. If you took the photograph from the ground level, you couldn’t see how far the landscape goes. Even though the ground is relatively flat, other elements would obstruct the view.

In the foreground of this photograph, there is what looks like scrap vehicles, rubbish scattered over the floor and a treeline. Further up, there is a football match taking place in the shadow of the towers. This emphasizes the scale of the power station towers but it does not effect everyday life. The landscape continues all the way up to the horizon so there are very many focus points within this photograph, however, this could only be seen at this elevated viewpoint.

Bernd & Hilla Becher, Water Towers

Bernd and Hilla Becher are known for repetition of subject matter, often in grids. They are usually all the same but slightly different. This encourages the viewer to look more carefully at the differences between the 9 images emphasising the detail.