Inclinations
(2019)Mini short films
I live on top of a hill in north London so bike rides always end in an uphill climb home. The steepest approach (one of London’s steepest hills) is Swain’s Lane, which peaks at 14%.
I am interested in how we perceive a hill in a photograph. If the image faces up or down the hill, angles can sometimes be deceptive, diminishing the hill’s steepness. But looking sideways while still on the hill can reveal angles produced by buildings, structures and trees that all need to be perpendicular to a level base.
I am interested in how we perceive a hill in a photograph. If the image faces up or down the hill, angles can sometimes be deceptive, diminishing the hill’s steepness. But looking sideways while still on the hill can reveal angles produced by buildings, structures and trees that all need to be perpendicular to a level base.
One of my early drawing exercises at art school involved that of the view several floors down from the top of a stairwell. I thought it would be easy, but the angles of the stairs and banisters, when recorded flatly, were completely opposite to what my brain was telling me I was seeing.
This experience stayed with me and inspired this later visual inquiry: to film hills by ‘levelling’ them and revealing the angles in our built environment. I was interested too in the angles that people walk at to compensate for the hill, and any changes they make to their walking style.
This short film comprises three such inclination studies in Winchester, Lisbon, and London. More will follow.
This experience stayed with me and inspired this later visual inquiry: to film hills by ‘levelling’ them and revealing the angles in our built environment. I was interested too in the angles that people walk at to compensate for the hill, and any changes they make to their walking style.
This short film comprises three such inclination studies in Winchester, Lisbon, and London. More will follow.