Children and young people encounter the world with a fresh eye during creative photography. In familiar surroundings, mysterious or even surreal landscapes are tracked down - in the spirit of Helmut Hahn's photographs. Step-by-step instructions support them as they experiment with cameras or smartphones.
What do you need for this?
Camera or device with camera function (smartphone), scissors, glue, a printer and black or gray photo cardboard.
Helmut Hahn, Rindenzeichnugen, 1965, Silbergelatineabzug, 22,6 x 16,9 cm, Fotografischer Nachweis Helmut Hahn, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Fotografie: Jens Nober
Photographer Helmut Hahn found his motifs primarily in his surroundings. In doing so, he shows a similar urge to explore and discover as his friend and fellow artist Max Ernst.
Look, in this shot you can see Helmut Hahn `s eye for detail. On a brittle and weathered house wall, you can still see the image of a campanile on a remnant of a poster, as if you were looking through a hole in the wall at the landscape behind it.
Wait for a sunny day and face the experiment with light and shadow. Shadows can be magical and become an object themselves. They can alienate your motif through their effect in such a way that something completely new emerges from it.
Go in search of a wall or a building and observe well how light and shadow are applied to it. Maybe you will be lucky and discover exciting details on the wall itself. Remember, the sun must be behind you when you take your pictures. To photograph shadows you need patience. You can also return to the same place at different times and take a series. Then it is a kind of documentary shadow observation. Your search for shadows is especially successful in the early morning and evening.
Maybe you will succeed in taking a very special shot here. Then print it out and present it on black photo cardboard.
In Helmut Hahn's photographs, themes such as nature and landscape occupy a large space. He went in search of special stone, soil, and tree bark structures. The cropping of the photo creates an all-over covering the whole area. An all-over is like a pattern that seems to stretch out endlessly in all directions.
Grab your camera or smartphone and go in search of exciting surfaces in nature yourself. A tree bark is of course a totally interesting motif. You look for a section that seems particularly interesting to you and then get as close as possible with your camera. Maybe your camera even has an extra setting that allows you to zoom in as close as possible to your subject. Try to find a tree bark that has as even a pattern as possible. Do you discover more trees with different bark? Then make a series of them! Create a series of three to five shots! In the next step, print out two of your photos on paper. Then take a ruler and scissors and cut your photos into very narrow strips. Now take a larger sheet of paper as a background and reassemble the strips. Leave a little space between the strips. Make a new picture with a continuous pattern. Then glue your new picture on a larger format.
Helmut Hahn, Gitterstruktur, 1957, Silbergelatineabzug, 22,8 x 28,2 cm, Max Ernst Museum Brühl des LVR, Stiftung Max Ernst
Helmut Hahn, Steinmarken für Dorothea Tanning und Max Ernst, 1957, Silbergelatineabzug, 22,8 x 16,7 cm, Max Ernst Museum Brühl des LVR, Stiftung Max Ernst
Examine the floor. Look for a place on the floor where two different patterns meet. This can be a stone floor composed of square slabs and a metal grid over them. You can also choose a surface, for example cobblestones as a motif and look for a suitable shadow. This can be the shadow of a branch falling on the cobblestone. Create a mini-series of 3 to 5 shots of this as well. If you like your series, print the photos on paper!
These can be individual stones that break out of order. For example, stones in which flowers or weeds grow. In this way you train your eye for detail. Make a small series of markers on your path! You can also print them out and present them on black photo cardboard.
Have fun experimenting!