Abtractions: Studies of the National Theatre
Amelia Lancaster
Special Mentions
I have been photographing the Southbank since 2003. My training in architecture and set design, combined with my love of early twentieth century art, have influenced my work.
I search for geometries on the facades that are revealed as the light moves around the different angled planes of concrete.
Mainly shot on 35mm film, these pieces are later transformed through Spatial Abstraction. Contrast and colours are manipulated to accentuate shapes and structure, creating new concrete compositions. Colour is introduced in some pieces to flatten the image and reduce it to colour and shapes only. Negative space is also explored to locate latent configurations beyond the human eye.
My appreciation of Denys Lasdun and love of the National Theatre architecture comes from the simplicity of the trio of concrete, sunlight and shadows. There are no interruptions. This creates infinite possibilities.
Within the series are three subsets: Beautiful Brutalism, Reduction, and Negatives. Each subset uses colour and contrast to take the already-angular National Theatre and create new abstract compositions and is accompanied by animations of the moving shadows.