One of my first sub-project is collecting bees and photograph them in typology style. I will first explain what that is and then show you what I am working on.
Typology
One of the eleven techniques we learned in our course is typology. Typology is a way to show the “similarity in diversity”. A famous example of this is the series of photos of industrial buildings and structures in Germany, made by Bernd and Hilla Becher. By photographing all the subjects in the same way and collecting a large number of photos, they start to communicate a story.
Bees in Manchester
I am using this same technique to capture an animal that is the symbol of Manchester: the bee. In 2018 there has been an art trail, where more than 100 bees of 1.5 metre high were placed all over the city. After this event, the bees have been auctioned off and if I am correct about 77 bees have found a new home. I am trying to captures as may bees as I can and expand the typology series as I go.
As you can see the light conditions are different in each of the photos. Some photos have to be taken again to balance the ligt a bit more.
I’m on a quest to photograph 49 bees. So far I have located 18 and photographed 10. So I’m not there yet… Do you know any bees in and around Manchester that you haven’t seen in this post? Let me know!