Black Light
Keld Helmer-Petersen
Helmer-Petersen was a danish photographer, born in Copenhagen in 1920. he began photographing in 1938 when he , at the age of 18, received a camera as his graduation present. he achieved fame and recognition with his abstract colour images in the 1940's/1950's, alongside studying at the 'New Bauhaus' school in Chicago after receiving a grant from the 'Denmark–America Foundation' , after this he began to experiment with black and white photography, publishing a small book of images of the city in 1960.
The book 'Black Noise' was released in 2010 as the first part in a book trilogy detailing experimentation with old negatives.
Looking at Black noise; I find the work to be similar to an ink blot test at times, this to me shows an abstract side to black and white photography, as it features extreme contrast that completely removes mid-tones.
Helmer-Petersen was a danish photographer, born in Copenhagen in 1920. he began photographing in 1938 when he , at the age of 18, received a camera as his graduation present. he achieved fame and recognition with his abstract colour images in the 1940's/1950's, alongside studying at the 'New Bauhaus' school in Chicago after receiving a grant from the 'Denmark–America Foundation' , after this he began to experiment with black and white photography, publishing a small book of images of the city in 1960.
The book 'Black Noise' was released in 2010 as the first part in a book trilogy detailing experimentation with old negatives.
Looking at Black noise; I find the work to be similar to an ink blot test at times, this to me shows an abstract side to black and white photography, as it features extreme contrast that completely removes mid-tones.
My Responses
I took these images in an attempt to produce work inspired by Helmer Petersen. During this photoshoot I tried to photograph objects or structures with a lot of lines, such as trees, air vents, pieces of wood and the external staircase at school. I have done this so that in the editing process I could easily produce work that contains the same level of high contrast with black or white lines. I will be selecting my favourite images and then editing them to appear in a similar style to Helmer Petersen by upping the threshold on the image and changing the exposure alongside this.
I took these images in an attempt to produce work inspired by Helmer Petersen. During this photoshoot I tried to photograph objects or structures with a lot of lines, such as trees, air vents, pieces of wood and the external staircase at school. I have done this so that in the editing process I could easily produce work that contains the same level of high contrast with black or white lines. I will be selecting my favourite images and then editing them to appear in a similar style to Helmer Petersen by upping the threshold on the image and changing the exposure alongside this.
Edited Examples