For Oscar,
I hope this is some help I realise it might be a bit too much information but do with it as you feel is right.
The spaces I choose come from an unfortunate issue I had with agoraphobia in the early 2010’s. Agoraphobia, the response to space and place, for at times quite obscure and difficult reasons, which provokes feelings of overwhelming fear and anxiety. Sometimes with quite strange roots, it is often is seen as a response to trauma of some kind.
As a way to deal with these issues I started walking around the city, tending to stick to areas, spaces and places away from people. Gradually with time walking later and later at night as there would be fewer people around. This lead me to start looking at places that many wouldn’t normally. Some of these spaces created some very strange and quite confusing feelings but thankfully distracted me away from the agoraphobia. This made me want to investigate these places more. What was it that made me respond to a certain place or space? Most of the time I wasn’t sure but yet there was something there. A play of light, a suggestion of mystery, the feeling that something was about to happen and more would make me fascinated. I like that sense of not quite knowing yet there being a ‘tension’ of some kind. Thankfully the phase of agoraphobia ended a long time ago.
I do have some extra writing here that may be of interest -
Words About Andy’s work
https://www.andycropper.art/about
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Over the past few years I stumbled across this word below, ‘Kenopsia’. It’s a word I openly have embraced as I think it chimes nicely with my work.
For more information do see this following blog link written by me that also has videos helping to explain the word in a bit more detail:
John Koenig’s 'Kenopsia', and 'The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows'| https://www.andycropper.art/blog/kenopsia-and-the-dictionary-of-obscure-sorrows
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A group of photography I think you might be interested in with you taking images of urban landscape is the ‘New Topographics’.
(Google image search link)
In the 1970’s several photographers started taking photos of urban landscapes, these were the spaces these photographers worked in, moved in or lived in, rather than the beautiful natural landscape views of the likes of ‘Anselm Adams’ (Google image search link) which had been in favour for much of the 20th century.
At this same time in the late 1960’s early '1970’s, and possibly in connection with the New Topographic photographers, some American painters started painting things that they knew. ‘The photorealists’. They painted the world around them making it obvious that they were directly referencing photography in their painting.
If you click on each of these following three names you will be taken to a Google image search result of their work:
Richard Estes | Robert Bechtle | Ralph Goings
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Some painters of the past I feel my work relates too that may be of interest:
The paintings of Andrew Wyeth (1917 - 2009):(Google image search link)
The strange metaphysical paintings of Giorgio De Chirico, (1888 – 1978): (Google image search link)
The lonely paintings of Edward Hopper, (1882 – 1967):(Google image search link)
The night paintings (nocturnes) of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, (1834–1903): (Google image search link)
The night paintings of John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836 – 1893), (Google image search link)
Some contemporary painters I think may be of use:
George Shaw (UK) -
https://www.google.com/search?q=george+shaw
Also
https://maruanimercier.com/artists/74-george-shaw/
Ana Schmidt (UK) -
https://www.instagram.com/schmidtana___/
Mandy Payne (Sheffield) - https://www.instagram.com/mandypayne_97/
Sean Williams (Sheffield) - https://www.instagram.com/swseanwilliams/
Francis Matthews (Dublin) - https://www.instagram.com/francis.matthews/
Richard Castor Jeffery (Bristol)- https://www.instagram.com/rcastorjeffery_art/
Some contemporary photographers that may provoke some ideas:
Gregory Crewdson (USA) - https://www.instagram.com/crewdsonstudio/
Ronnie Ackling (Birmingham) - https://www.instagram.com/ron.a.photo/
Colin Templeton (UK) - https://www.instagram.com/colintempleton/
Simon Buckley (aka NQL), (Manchester) - https://www.instagram.com/notquitelight/
Dave Jordano (Detroit, USA) - https://www.instagram.com/dave.jordano/
Todd Hido (USA) - https://www.instagram.com/toddhido_/