More Brutalism

This is a view from the Barbican Housing Estate, in London.
Brutalism, was a style of architecture usin' pure concrete with a rough stone texture, started by Le Corbusier in France. The french word, beton brut literally means raw concrete.

Brutalist Living

[IMG]http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j159/paulyrichard/brutalistliving1of1--.jpg[/IMG]

Hi Pauly,
I want to like it, but......what niggles me a bit is the pitch black triangle top left corner. It has no detail (at least on my calibrated screen) Was this intentional ? If I compare it to the bottom right corner, which has just enough detail visible in seems a bit to brutal to me.
I have the feeling the picture would be a bit more balanced if there was a hint of detail visible. Now it seems a....well, cut off corner instead of a vital part of the picture.

Martin.

That is the underside of the ramp walkway above my head, it is quite dark under there without any detail.
I seem to remember that some flat faceless board runs underneath it which houses the lightin' fixtures.

Getting back to the photo...I'm not a fan of 1960s concrete brutalism in architecture but I like the way you have framed this shot Paul. Unlike Martin, whose opinions I respect, I don't have a problem with the pure black areas. The bottom triangle balances the top one. For me these triangles are not cut off corners of the picture as Martin suggests but part of the geometery of the image. It may be a photograph of concrete housing blocks but for me it's an exercise in shape and form.
I happen to like some pure blacks in mono photos.
david

Well I for one quite like it, if you would like to see raw concrete come to Spain it was built with it.

Interesting shot, Paul. I like the geomatric nature of it and your post processing B&W work.

Your imaged for me have a unique style about them and so far including the dead mouse, I have not seen one I dislike. I agree with Martin on this one, the strong black edges are too strong for me. Although I do like the varying surface textures. All said it is still better than anything I have taken.

For myself, one of the biggest crimes of the sixties was brutalism. I have grown up around functional prefabricated architecture that jars against it's surrounding. Having said that it does make a great B n W study, picking out those sharp lines, shadows and crumbling bits of concrete.

Thanks.

Yeah techno', also Brutalism did get a bad name for itself in this country, 'cos it ended bein' associated with a lot of our social housin'.

Beynard House on Cheapside, opposite the Tate Modern is another example.

I appreciate that comment, man.

Excellent shot, love the texture, lines, shapes and angle! You’ve got it all this mornin’

Cheers, Goggalee.

I had it all day yeaterday, mate.

Jackie, thanks for your comment, I appreciate it.
When you say your depressed over my images, I take it those are the 'homeless' ones, no?
There are a lot of other different photographs, besides them.

Yes Paul, the homeless and this shot make me sad and depressed, not because of the image you have taken but because what it reminds me of, it's personal and not your fault. I believe it is people like you who make the record that history relies on, me I like flowers but I lived through the 60's when there were the homeless, the upright citizens and those that believed, however naive, in flower power, guess where my sympathy lay.

Sure not all your work is of the disavantaged but that is a powful message and the one that I think of when I think of your work, must remember to look deeper.

I'll keep this simple!
I think the dark diagonals add to the shot, enhancing the brutal feel to the subject. A powerful shot.

Not all the world is pretty and the man who can only spell a word one way lacks imagination!

I really appreciate so much your comment here, Jackie. It is hard to record events and places that maybe looked upon in the future as you say.

When I look at and study Atget's work, I wonder about, and regard his work so highly, and what his mind must have been thinkin' when he took the picture.

Kind regards.

Cheers mate, I appreciate too, your second comment in your post. Cheers.