Matt Crabtree is a British photographer from Yorkshire.
I have decided to look into his work because he is an artist who takes images of modern subjects in a classic style in terms of pose and colour, clearly taking influence from painting, much as I am doing, just with a different technique and subject matter. I think that his work is relevant to my own as the way that he looks at everyday scenarios and sees them as paintings is really interesting, but also the way that he understands painting and the connotations with it is important to both our projects.
On his website, he claims that "In my photography, I look for the quietly observed, minimal story.". His series '16th Century Tube Passengers' is proof of this.
This series is shot on Crabtree's phone while he's on a tube journey in London. They're then edited and posted while still on this journey.
The resulting images are ones of sincerity, peace, stillness, and nostalgic for a time we never even lived in. They seem to tell the viewer that there is still beauty in the little things, such as Vermeer painted, but only our view of these things have changed. This sense of serenity is actually the opposite of the atmosphere in the tube most of the time - a hot, packed tight and loud journey, and yet there is peace to be found in each person when looked at individually.
With this series, Crabtree creates an intertwining of modern and historical.
This is the first image that Crabtree took for the series. He noticed her hood and that her pose echoed that of a Renaissance painting. The colours and the tones echo this, while of course emphasised through his use of editing.
The pose gives the subject a look of intelligence, thoughtfulness and peace, as she sits focussed on whatever it is that she is reading and blocking out the rest of the world. It's interesting to note that Crabtree has not erased all signs of modernity - he has left in the priority seating sticker on the tube to allow an audience , particularly British, to recognise this and make the connection of location via this. She is given context in two forms, the new and the old, especially when taking into account the title of the series. '16th Century Tube Passengers' in itself is a mix of times that could never actually be together. We are permitted to recognise both aspects through the use of retaining modernity.
The range of textures offers the image more depth, more variety of things for the eye to become interested in. This also reflects the way that these Dutch painters showed off their skill in painting by using a variety of textures, and stopped the image from merging into one bland painting.
The lighting hits her perfectly, creating a scene where the subject is lit in a way that the light falls at different intensities that give the image depth, but still remains delicate and soft. If we look at even just a few paintings from the 16th Century, particularly dutch portraits, we can see a similarity.
The darkness around the subject, whether added within the editing process or not, allows for the subject to be the centre of attention and draws the eye to the middle of the image, therefore the darkness acts as a frame for the subject - again, a technique used within Dutch Renaissance painting.
This image is my personal favourite of the series. The contrast from the lighting makes the subject seem to glow in the center, she is very clearly beautiful, and has been positioned to be the only thing the audience looks at, and yet she is oblivious. Her face shows contentment and is even peaceful to look at, and my having it angled upwards, it gives an open and airy feel to the image, and created a shadow around her jawline that frames her face. The folds in the dress, and the positioning and starkness of the necklace gives the image that evergrowing feeling of a Dutch Renaissance period painting. Even her hands are placed elegantly on her bag, as if she has been positioned that way by a painter. The green dress and the warm tones skin accompanied by the filter that Crabtree opted to use makes the photograph fit right in with the colour tones of these paintings, but also gives the image a very natural and fresh feeling. Her relaxed posture only emphasises this feeling.
The phone quality, or maybe just a filter, makes the image look even more so painterly by removing some of the strong and clear details of the image, mimicking brushstrokes. I think that this is key to their appearance and comparability to 16th century Dutch renaissance painting.
Overall, I think that this ties modernity with a historical presence perfectly. With my images, I am doing similar, only more so recreating aspects of paintings and making them clearly photographic rather than using an era of painting as inspiration and then aiming to make them appear photographic. However, the two do have the intertwining of past and present in common, only the technique and visuals are different. This has, however, made me realise even more so how important the use of correct colour and postures are in using painting as a form of inspiration for photographs. I will be paying much closer attention to this as I progress with my project.
I have decided to look into his work because he is an artist who takes images of modern subjects in a classic style in terms of pose and colour, clearly taking influence from painting, much as I am doing, just with a different technique and subject matter. I think that his work is relevant to my own as the way that he looks at everyday scenarios and sees them as paintings is really interesting, but also the way that he understands painting and the connotations with it is important to both our projects.
On his website, he claims that "In my photography, I look for the quietly observed, minimal story.". His series '16th Century Tube Passengers' is proof of this.
This series is shot on Crabtree's phone while he's on a tube journey in London. They're then edited and posted while still on this journey.
The resulting images are ones of sincerity, peace, stillness, and nostalgic for a time we never even lived in. They seem to tell the viewer that there is still beauty in the little things, such as Vermeer painted, but only our view of these things have changed. This sense of serenity is actually the opposite of the atmosphere in the tube most of the time - a hot, packed tight and loud journey, and yet there is peace to be found in each person when looked at individually.
With this series, Crabtree creates an intertwining of modern and historical.
This is the first image that Crabtree took for the series. He noticed her hood and that her pose echoed that of a Renaissance painting. The colours and the tones echo this, while of course emphasised through his use of editing.
The pose gives the subject a look of intelligence, thoughtfulness and peace, as she sits focussed on whatever it is that she is reading and blocking out the rest of the world. It's interesting to note that Crabtree has not erased all signs of modernity - he has left in the priority seating sticker on the tube to allow an audience , particularly British, to recognise this and make the connection of location via this. She is given context in two forms, the new and the old, especially when taking into account the title of the series. '16th Century Tube Passengers' in itself is a mix of times that could never actually be together. We are permitted to recognise both aspects through the use of retaining modernity.
The range of textures offers the image more depth, more variety of things for the eye to become interested in. This also reflects the way that these Dutch painters showed off their skill in painting by using a variety of textures, and stopped the image from merging into one bland painting.
The lighting hits her perfectly, creating a scene where the subject is lit in a way that the light falls at different intensities that give the image depth, but still remains delicate and soft. If we look at even just a few paintings from the 16th Century, particularly dutch portraits, we can see a similarity.
The darkness around the subject, whether added within the editing process or not, allows for the subject to be the centre of attention and draws the eye to the middle of the image, therefore the darkness acts as a frame for the subject - again, a technique used within Dutch Renaissance painting.
Portrait of an Officer, Wybrand de Geest, c. 1625 - c. 1635
Portrait of a Lady Holding a Cat, Ambrosius Benson (1518-1550)
Portrait of Anna Codde, Maarten van Heemskerck (1529)
This image is my personal favourite of the series. The contrast from the lighting makes the subject seem to glow in the center, she is very clearly beautiful, and has been positioned to be the only thing the audience looks at, and yet she is oblivious. Her face shows contentment and is even peaceful to look at, and my having it angled upwards, it gives an open and airy feel to the image, and created a shadow around her jawline that frames her face. The folds in the dress, and the positioning and starkness of the necklace gives the image that evergrowing feeling of a Dutch Renaissance period painting. Even her hands are placed elegantly on her bag, as if she has been positioned that way by a painter. The green dress and the warm tones skin accompanied by the filter that Crabtree opted to use makes the photograph fit right in with the colour tones of these paintings, but also gives the image a very natural and fresh feeling. Her relaxed posture only emphasises this feeling.
The phone quality, or maybe just a filter, makes the image look even more so painterly by removing some of the strong and clear details of the image, mimicking brushstrokes. I think that this is key to their appearance and comparability to 16th century Dutch renaissance painting.
Overall, I think that this ties modernity with a historical presence perfectly. With my images, I am doing similar, only more so recreating aspects of paintings and making them clearly photographic rather than using an era of painting as inspiration and then aiming to make them appear photographic. However, the two do have the intertwining of past and present in common, only the technique and visuals are different. This has, however, made me realise even more so how important the use of correct colour and postures are in using painting as a form of inspiration for photographs. I will be paying much closer attention to this as I progress with my project.
Matt Crabtree - 16th Century Tube Passengers
Reviewed by BethCorbett
on
May 21, 2020
Rating:
Reviewed by BethCorbett
on
May 21, 2020
Rating:
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