HELENE BINET
Helene Binet is one of the leading architectural photographers in the world. She is famous for her work with architects Peter Zumthor, Zaha Hadid and Daniel Libeskind.
‘She responds to buildings with the eye of an artist, her brush a large-format camera, her canvas a hand-crafted black-and-white print’ as Glancey (2002) said in his article ‘The dream life of buildings’ about Helene Binet. I believe this is a true reflection of Helene’s works. I was inspired by the way she creates beautiful compositions by playing with light and shadows of buildings.
Analyzing her work, I noticed one of the most eye-catching characteristics is the application of two contrast colours black and white shown in most of her photographs. I believe by black-and white shots Binet wants to emphasize the importance of of light and the shadows in her work. Some of her photos are made in colour, but even in them the colours are pale and inconspicuous, the focus point is still light and shadows.
Futhermore, Binet has focused on details rather than the building as a whole. She captured surfaces and empty spaces that meet each other and create a delightful shapes by light and shadows. ‘The focus on detail so often leads to formal abstraction in Binet’s compositions that it becomes a distinct theme.’ said Gordon (2013). In the book “A passage through silence and light” Bunschoten (1997) describes work of Helene: the ‘Voids silently meet the surface of the paper by means of the light coming from incisions in the walls, touching the surfaces of the walls and floors.’
In this project I focused on the techniques Helene has applied to her work, such as capturing contemporary buildings with an expressive massing thanks to the use of shadows and light.
VISUAL ANALYSIS
Analyzing Helene Binet photographs, I noticed the extensive use of of straight lines and rectangular shapes. Also, most of her images are in high contrast; they have very few mid-tones.
On the left one can see the pictures made by Helene, indicating the straight lines and rectangular shapes in red, on the right photos taken by me, inspired by Helene's work.
Photos on the left photograph by Hélène Binet Photos on the right photograph by Kseniia Tulbu
Also, in her works, there are often cross directions of light, which I tried to repeat in my photograph:
Photo on the left photograph by Hélène Binet Photo on the right photograph by Kseniia Tulbu
But the most important point for me in her works is framing with darkness (highlighted in black).
Photos on the left photograph by Hélène Binet Photos on the right photograph by Kseniia Tulbu
The next photo especially inspired me with the dim light coming from the lamp in the narrow room. It is particularly noticeable here how important is the role of light and shadow in the photographing, dim light forms the shapes, and the dark shadows emphasis it. I tried to repeat this technique precisely by photographing a lamp in the UTS Library that was slightly illuminating the sofa and the wall.
Photo on hte left photograph by Hélène Binet Photo on the right photograph by Kseniia Tulbu
In the photos below one can see the combination of framing (highlighted in red) and the use of the surface to display patterns of light and shadows (highlighted in yellow);
Photo on the left photograph by Hélène Binet Photo on the right photograph by Kseniia Tulbu
Thumbing through the book with the Binet's photographs "A passage through silence and light" (Bunschoten 1997), I noticed that the open book shows a composition of two photos complementing each other. I decided to follow this strategy in the composition of my images.
On the left are photos of the book Photos on the right photograph by Kseniia Tulbu.
"A passage through silence and light"
(Bunschoten 1997) photograph
by Kseniia Tulbu.
FINAL WORK
The photographs below depict the same part of the building of the University of UTS from an internal and external perspective. In these photos, I wanted to emphasize the importance of light and shadow, so that the same line between the floors has an entirely different colour due to lighting (black and white).
Photographs of surfaces to display movements of light and shadows (in the UTS Library).
Photos of the same building (UTS Business School) are contrasted with each other due to different perspectives and lighting.
Photographs of the UTS building show the framing.
It is interesting how the dark figure of a walking person completely repeats the shape of the arch in the photo on the left. The second photo shows the wall of the same building near, framing parts of the street.
Pictures of the interior in the UTS library show the play of light and shadows using artificial lighting.
Photos of UTS buildings in the night are highlighted by the artificial lighting of their windows.
Photos in color. The first photo shows a white wall in the UTS building. The striking point is the picture is that the lighting forms three different colours on a plane wall: gray, beige, and blue. In the second photo the building UTS showing the contrast of the same shades.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bunschoten R. 1997, A passage through silence and light, PJ Reproductions, London.
Glancey, J. 2002, Dream life of buildings: Hélène Binet’s pictures, viewed 15 Jul. 2019 at:
[https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2002/apr/15/artsfeatures]
Gordon A. 2013, A state of pure knowing, The Architects, Journal, viewed 12 Jul. 2019 at: [https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/docview/1449503077?
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