Artist Research - Ellie Davies

Artist Research Task
Ellie Davies

For this task we were asked to research into ONE artist and create a blog post that contains at least 3 images from our chosen artist before analysing each image. 
All of the following images have been taken by the young British photographer Ellie Davies and are highly artistic in approach, mainly due to her previous studies as an art student.  I enjoyed her visual approach to landscape photography enormously and found her use of light and additional media gave her photos unique interest. Ellie Davies spent 7 years photographing British forests and her resulting photographs are unique in her portrayal of the British countryside.  She uses Photoshop to enhance her images which I found highly effective and her use of light within her photographs made them very appealing to me. 

Ellie states "Over thousands of years, Britain’s forests have been shaped by human processes and represent the confluence of nature and culture, of natural landscape and human activity." 

This perspective fits perfectly within my theme of Man & Nature and I found exploring her images gave me a new direction for my Topic of study.

Artist Images

Ellie's first image above, taken from her exhibition named "Into The Woods", is a beautiful shot full of enchantment.  The photograph is taken within a natural woodland setting but is enhanced greatly by the winding path of painted leaves that snake through the whole frame. This technique takes us on a journey through the photograph and gives the shot a surreal feel which I really liked.  The use of colour here is so deliberate by the artist but I think the use of a completely foreign colour to this setting enables a dramatic edge to be given to the photograph and takes us away from reality for an instance. All other colour within the photograph is as we would expect, the browns of the tree trunks and fallen leaves together with the vivid green of the ferns, however, this dark, majestic blue does not belong which gives us the impression of mystery and myth. I really enjoyed this photograph and can see it's appeal to all generations as portrays the landscape in a very simple, yet intriguing way.

Once again the photograph above by Ellie Davies concentrates on a simple woodland setting.  However, for this image she has used light rather than colour to attract our attention to a certain area of her photo. Ellie's deliberate use of a pool of light immediately draws the viewers eye to this central illuminated area and again almost creates an enchanted feel to the image.  The mossy tree roots are highlighted and the shaded areas almost become more mystical due to this central area becoming lit.  The photograph would be at home in any fairytale and I think Ellie creates a lovely soft feel to the photograph with a very simple technique.

 In the above third image, again taken from "Into The Woods", Ellie once again uses a bold colour to engage with the viewer.  In this instance the focus is given to the central, golden tree which takes prime position shimmering within the darkness of the frame. Light again is used to create a dramatic effect within this photo and I loved the overall atmosphere that Ellie creates with this image.
Once again, although the tree obviously belongs in the woodland setting, it is painted a colour which is alien to this environment.  This immediately draws all our attention to this object and provides a very clear focal point for the shot.
The golden tree is deliberately much smaller than the tree trunks which surround it creating a good perception of scale within the photograph.  Again, I really liked Ellie's technique and found myself thinking about the landscape that surrounds me and how I could perhaps portray my local woodland in an unusual, fascinating way.

A further image which I enjoyed was the above photograph which had a fantastic composition.  The tree's trunk is almost directly central to the whole photograph and we are left with no doubt as to where are focus should be aimed.  Ellie's clever use of positioning of the tree is further enhanced by the smoke which shrouds the lower branches.  This again fits with her theme of enchantment, however, this time a more gloomy and almost threatening mood overrides the photograph.  Isolation becomes apparent and gives the forest an air of mystery which is not altogether comfortable.

My final photograph which I particularly admired was the above shot, which is taken from Ellie's more recent exhibition "Stars".  This time Ellie combines the landscape of the forest and overlays her own image with a photograph of a constellation of stars taken by the Hubble Telescope.  This technique creates a wondrously magical feel to the photograph.  I admired once again, Ellie's dramatic use of light as the lit trunks of the trees frame the shot perfectly and do not impose on the circle of stars in the background.  Fantasy is a rhetorical theme in Ellie's work and this photograph certainly fits with this idea.  The lit forest floor is almost balancing the dark circle of stars, defying gravity, whilst the trees encircle it from each side.  I really liked this composition and found the effect eye catching and memorable.

Inspired by Ellie's work, I decided to try and replicate her technique of light pools and composition by photographing landscape using torchlight.  I was impressed by some of the results which were both exciting and sometimes highly dramatic.  The light picked up the shape of the branches perfectly, however, it was difficult to get a sharp image.  Above is my favourite image which I took using a white beam from a head torch.  This I felt leaned more towards Ellie's theme of fantasy and I liked the effect of shadows which were highlighted when using such a narrow beam of light.

Again using torchlight, but this time on a much wider beam, I took the above image of foliage.  I liked the way within this image, that the bead of dew is highlighted and is sharp within the centre of the shot.  The torchlight almost creates a tunnel effect and frames the shot with a lovely dark ring which I again found very appealing. The clean lines of the blades of grass also contrast nicely with the curved edges of the oak leaves giving the image further interest.

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