Glass Architecture as a Site for Encountering the Surface Aesthetics of Urban Photography

Abstract

This article brings glass architecture and geophilosophy into a relationship with one another with the further aim of studying surface aesthetics of urban photography. First I present a selected history of glass architecture and its previous methodological applications. Then, I focus on the characteristics of glass architecture—its permeability/reflectivity and capacity to act with light—in relation to the geophilosophies of Nietzsche and Deleuze. I aim to formulate surface aesthetics through which I contemplate the materialities and the fabulative landscape of urban photography. Urban photography is valued for its characteristic of combining the practices of art and research. In this article, urban photography is also understood as an affectual encounter. However, for urban photography to be seen as a creative medium, it has to be acknowledged as not merely making aesthetic representations of the world but also opening a landscape in order to see it differently and ask new questions.

Photography, composition, and the ephemeral city

“…This paper explores these artistic shifts in framing and suggests that they are part of the analytical process. This paper contributes to new writings on urban photography (see Hawkins, 2010; Hunt, 2014, 2016; Nordström, 2017), more broadly to discussions on doing and making art in human geography (see Hawkins, 2011) and methods of studying urban art (see Andron, 2016, 2018; Arnold, 2019a; Bloch, 2018; Hansen & Flynn, 2015; Honig & MacDowall, 2017; MacDowall & de Souza, 2017), and to work on the politics of graffiti and street art (see Arnold, 2019b; Iveson, 2009; Young, 2010). This paper builds on my prior research using aesthetic practices – understood to be both artistic and sensory – for studying urban aesthetic politics (Arnold, 2019a).…”

“…Street photography remains one of the most prominent genres of urban photography, with an easily recognisable aesthetic and feel. Street photography celebrates life and movement, often through images of people in the city (Hunt, 2014; Nordström, 2017; Tormey, 2012). This genre of photography captures the interaction between people and urban space, foregrounding human experience and emphasising emotion in the city.…”