Full essay

Taking a photo of something everyday and making that beautiful is what I strive to achieve. Landscape has so many options to go into, whether it be scenery, building and architecture, poverty or even everyday activities, there is so much to capture. I like the fact there are no limitations, no right or wrong answers. Some images can be personal, whether they're of the area you live in, or even your very own back garden, expanding all the way to somewhere else on the other side of the country. When taking my own landscape my aim for them to intrigue people, I don't just want a pretty picture but something or somewhere that will get people thinking and questioning behind it. Three artists whose work I’m highly inspired by is Marchand and Meffre, as their work is everything I expect landscape photography to be about. Even thought their images consist of run down abandoned buildings, their work is very much alive. In this essay I will explore into the meaning behind whether landscape photography has to be the typical, stereotypical "beautiful", to be seen as a beautiful place. I want to photograph my local area, and places I travel to regularly to express my everyday life and it's own unique beauty behind the dereliction and abandoned areas. 

James Griffioen

Born February 4^th 1977, James Griffioen is an American writer and photographer who reside in Detroit, Michigan. His work has featured in magazines such as Vice magazine, Architecture magazine and the New York magazine.

Detroit is popular with many contemporary landscape and architectural photographers as the location is renowned for its striking deterioration. Detroit is still the 11^th most popular cities in America, however it has as many as 10,000 abandoned structures and highest crime rates.

Griffioens pictures of the abandoned structures highlight modern issues such as society and the economy. These are apparent through the buildings shown actually being left to deteriorate, instead of fixing them up to become something modern. Griffioens work also highlights the environment through his use of colour. There is an awful lot of vegetation in his images, these greens give the viewer the impression that he is trying to show that the environment is taking over. The subject matter is of course the building in the photograph, but also the environment around it. The landscape around it acts almost as a border to highlight the main object even more. The subject matter is immediately obvious, as the use of his straightforward composition allows the viewers attention to go straight to the building. It's as though decay has been reborn and making nature take over from where mankind has failed. 

His work has been framed with a straight on, centred view with leading lines around the images. Some tend to be zoomed in, partly because the landscape around some of these buildings has more content. In some ways, his work is quite basic, just a straight on picture of a derelict building, however this builds up a rhythm in his work, as people know what to expect and this allows it to become more recognizable. The saying "less is more" tends to spring to mind when I see his work, as he doesn't over do it, or take the purpose away from the image. The simplicity allows the viewers attention to be direct, and think into more of what they're seeing, as opposed to being sidetracked by something irrelevant. I do think the overall arrangement of the piece is pleasing to the eye, however I think it could be more exaggerated e.g. more use of different camera angles, or close up parts of the building.


The images have been planned because Griffioen obviously had intentions of what he wanted to photograph, however there is an element and a feel of spontaneity because it is the environment, it can never be predicted. To add more depth to his images he could have photographed on different times of days, capturing the sunrise and sunset. Whether the whole place looks different at night? The images do remind me of a storybook, especially of a witch’s house. Furthermore, they make me want to travel, and experience seeing other cultures and opening my eyes to other people’s surroundings. 

Overall this photographer is based among Detroit, capturing the essence of beauty amongst the continuous deterioration. His lack of professionalism allows his images to become more relatable and down to earth. 

Marchand and Meffree



This approach is different to Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, who are known for their photographs of a once thriving Detroit, however Marchand explained it as though "Detroit has been left to die". However, Marchand managed to make Detroit come back to life as he took the chance and opportunity to photograph the ruins. Marchand showed his passions by explaining it as though "You have entered a lost world and was almost overwhelming". There is a sense of vulnerability that seeps through their photos of movie houses, ballrooms and baroque theatres, that I feel is what makes the picture come alive. Marchand and Meffre have always taken pictures together since they met in 2002. 



Their photographs have been framed with many different angles. Some images are straight on or focused on one particular item. Some just contain an empty room that allows the deteriation to stand out, whereas some have objects places around the room. The majority of their work is based around dereliction, which involves objects in some rooms, which look distorted and ruined, however they look part of the picture. I believe this is how they stumbled upon the areas, however I wouldn't be surprised if they had placed the objects themselves as the composition allows each object to stand out and tell a story. Their images create strong bold shapes which control the direction of the viewers eyes. They have a long depth of field in their images which lead peoples eyes into the picture using the rules of photography. 

The buildings they take photo's off are old theatres and ballrooms that were once thriving, busy places. This is what creates this sad atmosphere, because how could such beautifully designed buildings just be abandoned and left to deteriorate. This by itself is what saddens me because for society to think they have the time and money to just abandon a community, shows that they have the time and money to abandon anywhere they see fit. The lack of passion and love behind the community to fight to keep these places alive is also shocking to me, because even though my local area isn't anything compared to the glorious buildings in Detroit, they still hold an importance to me because it's where I have grown up.

Even though the background has the same qualities as the objects, the objects tend to stand out more, as they are places closer in the more, and this allows the viewer to think deeper about what they're seeing e.g. who's objects were they? How old are they? How much are they worth?


The content of the image is very obvious, which is this passing time of dereliction. Nature being nature. I do think this highlights some life issues, because if people stumbled across their pictures they may not know these are photos of abandoned places in Detroit. Not knowing this knowledge could lead them to think that it's someone current home, that people are not getting access to some of the opportunities that others may get.


I get a feel of sadness from the photos, as it's a shame something so nice has been left to fade away, however there is an element of excitement there as this allows them to show the beauty of dereliction, that not everything that is brand new and in tact is the most beautiful thing, that actually something a lot older and more real is the honest beauty.

Overall Marchand and Meffre capture the inner beauty of these once busy and thriving buildings that are now wasting away. They manage to capture and influence the viewers eyes by the use of guide lines in the picture.

Lin Osborn

To create her original and professional artwork, Lin Osborn presents small, detailed photographs and arranges them in a strong box shape layout. The subject matter amongst her photos, are typical ordinary objects taken from either everyday life or the natural world. Osborn graduated in Fine Art in 2001, before specializing in photography at the Winchester School of Arts. The subject matter tends to be digitally manipulated, as some images tend to be cropped to increase the focal point, or zoomed in to highlight the subject matter. This allows her work to be visually clearer for people to understand the purpose of the image, and what it is the artist wants to get across.

With all the images perfectly in line, it gives a sense of professionalism, allowing them to look more mature and sophisticated. The equal placing and sizing of the photo doesn't create any particular focal points, which results in each image to have a sense of secure structure.

The use of themes in her work are apparent with each different photo, whether some focus on a variety of different doors, or close up images of someone smoking, they all hold they're own themes, and give out they're purpose. Her images of doors could be a personal subject to her, whether they're the houses to people she associates with, or buildings in her local area. The images of smoking could link to a habit that she has, or someone she's close to has, and this is her way of getting it across. However her smoking images conflict with society's way of seeing smoking, and this could cause controversy.

The images as a whole, has been planed and posed. First she plans the pictures she wishes to take, arranged a photo shoot to get them and then digitally manipulates them to create the box layout. Some images, such as the doors, seem more spontaneous and free as not all the camera angles are the same, however this creates a sense of freedom and experimentation. Also, these images that are more spontaneous contrast with the overall professional look, however the freedom in the photo's give that firm structure more of a challenge.

I appreciate her work and ideas, because instead of having a hundred different images of the same subject, she arranges them into one image and allows them all to work together. Her bright use of colours creates a happy atmosphere, which gives a feeling of freedom. Even though some of her images are basic and simple (the doors) they give off a sense of society and shows travel. I feel her work can be changed and edited to personally suit a range of people, as personal hobbies or environments could be replaced instead.

Even though Lin Osborn isn't based around deterioration, some of her images unintentionally 

 do contain some. This allows them to stand out more against the more precise, clean cut photo's. Her professionalism to her work allows them to be easily adjustable and manipulated to become your own.

 From looking at these three artists, I have gained the knowledge that less can be more when it comes to expressing your focal point within a photograph. Before I looked at these three, my initial thought was that the best way to express the focal point was to make it the biggest part of the picture. James Griffieon really taught me that you don't need your pictures to be super technical, or over the top. The beauty of the buildings he takes pictures off do not get distracted by any unnecessary contents in the picture. Marchand and Meffre however, taught me that to get the best quality photo's, you do sometimes need to structure the scenery before, or plan out the angles to determine the direction the viewers eyes travel around the image. Lin Osborn made me give a sense of freedom to my work, and also a sense of myself. I want my images to be relateable and seen as down to earth, however I do want them to have a professional feel to them so they can be taken seriously. Overall I want my images to look simple, but effective. With a strong composition in my images, and a well thought out, final pice ida I believe this is achievable.