Richard Hammerton (@thehammerton on Instagram) is an amateur photographer from Shrewsbury who posts his work on his Instagram page. I came across his page while looking for photography inspiration and feel that I would love to try a technique like this to experiment. His work inspires me because it is original yet a cleverly simple concept and due to my interest in interior design and architecture, I feel this would work to my advantage. Hammerton takes photographs of everyday sightings indoor and outdoor however he takes the photo at an angle and so close up that all you see within the photography are the shapes within the picture, not the actual subject of the images. He captures lines and shapes by getting up close to signs, road markings, windows etc to create an interesting aesthetic.
Richard hammerton uses his iPhone camera only within his photography, this gives a grainy, detailed effect to the phtotography. Due to it only being a phone camera which he uses, it gives a more 2D effect to his photography, the pictures appear more flat compared to photos taken on a high quality camera; however I love this effect in his work because the photos appear more raw and natural. I love the effect of his Instagram feed in the grid and feel this would be an interesting way to present my own final piece due to the shapes and patterns within the pictures creating an interesting aesthetic.
Within the picture on the right, it is evident that Hammerton has used either road markings or a sports court markings to create shapes such as triangles and parallel lines. Therefore his work consists of mainly trhe formal element of shape and line. He additionally uses the formal element of composition through these shapes being slightly off centre. Hammerton tends to only use a restricted amount of colours within his work due to them being so up close. Here there are three colours; yellow, white and grey. This picture stands out to me because I feel the yellow stands out within the feed containing mostly neutral colours. Looking at this photograph I feel that Hammerton’s historical influence is within the fact that his style of photography is a “new wave” of modern art. Seeing art within markings on the street is something that typically wouldn’t be considered real photography however I like how Hammerton breaks through this barrier. Moreover within his photography, texture is shown due to the photos being so up close.
Here on the left I like how Hammerton has used the formal element of composition by capturing a window frame to create almost a border for the plant shown in the photo. This is something iu would love to experiment with as I love the grungy effect it gives. Texture is seen in the photo through the old paint on the window frame. Contrast is moreover shown in the background of the plants which suggests the shop/house was dark inside compared to the natural lighting shown on the window pane. The lighting seems to be coming from upwards due to the slight shadow shown. The use of colour is used subtly within the leaves of the plant.
Overall I feel Hammerton’s photography gives feelings such as happiness due to how he sees the art and beauty in everyday sightings. it could be argued that his work is even inspirational and everyone should look around for art in everyday life, this is why I would like to experiment further with his work.
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