Nicholas Goodden

Nicholas Goodden is an award winning London based photographer. His work is entirely focused on London through the mediums of London street photography, urban landscape photography and graffiti/ street art photography. I decided to look further at Nicholas' work, one of the reasons being I am a fan of urban and street photography. I also like his use of colour and low shutter speed to capture movement. I also admire his portraits of a large variety of Londoners and how they show individuality.

This image shows movement in a unique way. The long beams of light are the result of long exposure, which I think really adds to the image and makes it more interesting. These bright lights contrast against the dull surroundings which really makes them stand out. I really like the way you can see them far in the distance which creates depth, and they bend as the road bends which works effectively. Another way depth is shown is through the roads, which get smaller the further into the distance they get. Different tones are apparent in these lights, such as reds, pinks and yellows. As well as these lights we can also see the bright coloured traffic lights which also catch the eye due to their vivid colours. The colours of the surroundings are quite dull which helps to bring out the lights even more. Graffiti dotted around, and the way there are not cars of people in sight create an isolated, urban atmosphere. I really like this image and would like to possibly try to take images similar to this. 

This image is from Nicholas' portrait work. I really like the way the background is blurred while the person is in focus to show depth, and also so that we focus on the person rather than the surroundings. As well as creating contrast, the black and white effect allows tone and form to be shown in the man's face. The highlights and shadows on the man's jacket establishes texture. I like the way the man is off centre so that we can see the urban background which relates to the man's style. The way that this image has been taken as a landscape allows us to see these urban surroundings. I also like how in the background almost all of the frame is full of buildings so that there is no empty space. The man's dark neck tattoo contrasts against his pale skin so that it stands out and his individuality is emphasised. The position and expression of the man implies that this is an action shot, and makes the scene feel more natural than if he were to look directly at the camera. There are many shapes and lines apparent in the background in the form of windows, as well as some reflection.

This image creates a sense of mystery. We are unable to see where this graffiti has been done as the surface fills up the whole frame, which is something I like about it. I also like the significant contrast between the black and vivid orange against the dull grey, which allows us to clearly see shape. We can see that selective colour has been used in this image as the grass at the bottom of the image is grey. This technique has been used in order to make the writing on the wall stand out. The different tones visible in the wall establish a rough texture, especially at the top of the image. 

This image clearly shows depth as the path gets thinner the further into the distance it gets. The highlights and shadows on the persons face and jacket allows form to be shown, but also the texture in the jacket is visible. Also the variety of tones in the tree allows form to be seen here. The image has been edited black and white which makes the tone and form in the photo even more significant. Something I had noticed about this image is that is has been split into light and dark, and these two sections are separated by the edge of the stone wall. The left side consists of a lot of shadows, while the right side is very bright. These two sections contrast against each other which comes across very effectively in the image. A lot of lines are visible in the photograph for example the edges of the stone wall, the stone pillars on the left, and in the background the rows of flats we can briefly see. 

Looking at Nicholas Goodden's photography, I feel that it has influenced me to experiment more with depth in my photography. I've noticed that in Nicholas' pictures, the background are significantly blurry in order to make sure that the depth is very obvious, especially in his portraiture. I really like the look of  this effect and how it makes the person in the foreground stand out and shown in more detail. To achieve this effects that this photographer uses I could either change the settings on my camera, or blur the background on Photoshop. Another way I feel influenced by Nicholas' photography is that I want to take more black and white images. looking at Nicholas' work has made me realise how much black and white can effect the lighting in an image, in order to create a certain feel. The image becomes more contrasting and the different tones in the image become more visible, so that elements like texture and form can be seen a lot clearer. 

After looking at more of Nicholas' work, I have realised that his photography is more varied than I thought. I have found that the photographer has created some interesting and abstract collages and has taken a lot of minimalistic photographs. I have also found some of his photography that uses long exposure to show movement. This variation of images keeps me interested and I still very much enjoy Nicholas Goodden's photography.