Compare and contrast

I came across William Gilpin's painting of Tintern Abbey (1782) while looking into the picturesque period of painting during the 1700s. It struck me a simple painting but one that was enjoyable because of this fact. The painting consists of some foliage in the foreground with a dark wooded area to the right of the scene, this then lead on to a field area where the Abbey can be seen along with trees that match the abbey in height. Behind the abbey in the background are some trees that sit upon a large hill that overlooking it. The abbey itself  seems to be structurally sound however on closer inspection it does not have a roof which would indicate it is being replaced or the abbey has fell into disrepair. The dark branches from the tree in the foreground  reach into the scene and frame the abbey  as if arms are being put around the abbey to put emphasis on it. When I first saw the painting I thought that the scene was set at night due to its dark mysterious tones but once I had studied the painting more  I found that it was set in the late afternoon with the sun setting out of frame to the right casting some light onto the field  and bold shadow across the face of the abbey.  The painting gives me a feeling of mystery as the abbey seems to be placed in the middle of some countryside with no outside interference, no people, no paths, nothing. Furthering the feelings of mystery is the fact that the abbey has no roof, it makes me wonder what has happened to this place, so much so that I searched for some recent pictures of the abbey and found that it  truly does sit in a rural countryside area, despite this I think that. From looking at photos I think that some of the background in Gilpin's painting may have been exaggerated to create a mysterious scene which is typical of pairings from this period.
A Photo I found that related to the painting by Gilpin was an untitled photo taken by Edgar Martins  in a set called reluctant monoliths . The photo itself itself is of a white gas container  surrounded by darkness. The gas container is shown directly head on with all of the visible parts of it being sharp although some of the outside edges begin to darken around the top. The way the photo is composed would suggest a lot of time has been spent perfecting the image  however I feel the light mainly coming from the right hand side of the image unsettles the images by unbalancing the distribution of light. The images are very different in terms of composition but I think that they both convey a certain  mysterious feeling by making the viewer unsure as to why certain things aren't included in the image.

fifty key writers on photography.

Bell Hooks writings on photography largely centres around exploring racial issues in photography however they do cover many other issues regarding race, gender and sexuality. Jane Blocker explains the hardships Bell Hook experienced while trying to understand how photography was used by black people and how they were exploited to create images that Hook felt were inappropriate on the other hand Blocker explains by using quotes how some photographers have a positive impact on the black community ,"For Hooks, the photograph is an agile technology that crosses class divisions and that enables African-Americans to define reality (Wilkins 1992: 44-45)". In the text Blockers writes about how Hooks used various different methods of qualitative information.

I believe that this text will help me to frame my research as it gives me a clear indication that other peoples views both good and bad can have a positive effect on my work.