Lauren Oakley proposes a photography project titled "The Touch of Nature" to document various aspects of nature. She will show nature in an abstract, decomposing, and human-impacted ways. The project will include photographs of plants/flowers, changes in trees over seasons, macro photography, and black and white conversions. Oakley takes inspiration from photographers Patrick Zephyr, Immogen Cunningham, Ansel Adams, and Floris Van Breugel who portray nature beautifully in different styles. She aims to appreciate nature and encourage viewers to value their surroundings through creative and detailed photographs.

1. Lauren Oakley
Project Proposal
The Touch of Nature
My Personal Investigation – For my A2 Component 1 photography project I have
decided to explore various aspects of Nature. My photo investigation will allow me to
document a side of nature that not many people acknowledge on an everyday basis.
This will be shown through some abstract shoots, decomposition of food and plants,
nature within people and human impact on our environment.
Background – I have decided to focus my photography project on nature as we are
constantly surrounded by it but our environment is often overlooked. Therefore by
titling my project ‘The Touch of Nature’ I hope to show our environment in a beautiful
but true way so that the viewer may have an appreciation for their surroundings. This
investigation will allow me to record nature in many different ways, from an abstract
approach to photographing it exactly the way it is. I have various ideas for the shoots I
will carry out, all very different but sticking to the documentation of our environment.
To add depth to my project I will photographing in different places such as, North Weald
– my local area, Epping Forest, Harlow town, London and a few photographs in Florida
to show green spaces in Urban places.
To start the project I would like to shoot ‘The Natural form of Plants & Flowers’. By
starting with a simple but effective shoot like this one, I will be setting up the basis of
my project. By focusing on the shape, depth, detail and colours of different plants and
flowers it will determine how I approach the rest of the project. I am hoping that during
this shoot I will discover the way I want to portray nature and what techniques work
well for me. I believe for this shoot I will be sticking to my local area due to not needing
a specific location.
Photographers Research – For my A2 Photo Component 1 I have researched various
photographers that have influenced me to title my project ‘A Touch of Nature’. These
well-known photographers have all photographed the natural world but in different
ways, all of which I take inspiration from for my own work. These people are Patrick
Zephyr, Immogen Cunningham, Ansel Adams and Floris Van Breugel, they all have
outstanding portfolios on Nature photography that I think are amazingly beautiful and
portray our environment the way I want too.

2. Lauren Oakley
Patrick Zephyr – there are two portfolios of his that inspire me, ‘A closer look’ and
‘Horizontal Panoramas’. I find the ‘A Closer Look’ portfolio very interesting as it reflects
my idea of trying macro photography within my project. The way the image have been
composed is intriguing as they show a range of neutral colours within a detailed patter
or layout. The second portfolio ‘Horizontal Panoramas’ is just that, panoramas of
beautiful horizons. Although I wasn’t originally going to do this as a shoot I think now it
would really give my work a creative edge if I did.
Immogen Cunningham – The section of Cunningham’s work that inspires me the most is
her ‘Plant’ portfolio. It shows isolated plants that have been taken in different lights to
highlight their form, this is a beautiful portrayal of our environments natural form. I
believe that the first shoot I am doing ‘The Natural Form Of Plants & Flowers’ will have a
hint of Immogen’s work within it, showing only the flower and the intricate way it is
formed. However, I think I will try to include more texture than what she does in her
images.
Ansel Adams – One of my biggest inspirations for this project is Ansel Adams, who in
one of his speeches about his work said it’s about ‘appreciating your surroundings’
which I spoke about during the background section of my proposal. The way Ansel
captures our environment is to get people to look and be amazed, something I hope to
bring to my own work. Ansel’s black and white photographs really intrigue me as he
manages to keep the beauty and elegance of the scene without the colour. This is
something I am going to experiment with in my project on photoshop.
Floris Van Breugel – Floris’ website is titled ‘Art in Nature’ and aims to show an artistic
side to even the simple things that surround us. There are two portfolios of hers that
interest me ‘Abstract’ and ‘Tree’s & Flower’s’, the first ‘Abstract’ shows nature in a very
original and creative way, something that I previously mentioned doing during macro
photography. The second portfolio was ‘Tree’s & Flowers’ that had a very interesting
perspective that I hadn’t thought of before, I hope to carry some of her style into my
own work to give it an edge and beautiful appeal.

3. Lauren Oakley
Illustrations
‘Earth Colours’ – Patrick Zephyr
I really like this photograph from Patrick Zephyr’s ‘A Closer Look’ collection. I think the
colours in the image are very appealing to the eye despite them being neutral and
slightly muted. This colour scheme along with the intricate detail and shine on the
pebbles shows the beauty amongst something so simple. This inspires me in my work to
look for naturally formed patterns that show an array on colours.
‘Datura Flower’ – Imogen Cunningham
This image first appealed to me due to its simple nature. The photographs focus is very
much on the curves and structure of the flower rather than any texture or colour. I
believe that the very contrasted black and white effect of the photo makes the plants
natural form stand out and look even more beautiful. This level of quality is something I
would like to achieve in my first shoot.

4. Lauren Oakley
‘Canyon De Chelly’ – Ansel Adams
Although for me to achieve this image it would be impossible due to not having access
to canyons or similar areas there are still aspects of the photograph that I would like to
replicate. Mainly, the abundance of texture that can be seen on the rock faces and in the
sky. For Ansel Adams to have captured this much of the detail he must have waited for
the perfect time of day so the shadows could be seen. This is an idea that I would like
the incorporate into my own work, especially when picking up the texture of plants and
flowers in an outdoor setting.
‘Once In A Lifetime’ – Floris Van Breugel
This photograph immediately caught my eye when looking through Floris’ work. The
perspective, colour and pattern of it make it one of the best nature images I have seen,
personally. I love this style because it makes the photo fun and original, almost a little
bit surreal with how blue the sky looks and how perfectly the branches wind around
each other to create an intricate pattern. I hope that I can find some beauty like this
when I am conducting my own shoots.

5. Lauren Oakley
Svetlana Belyaeva
I think this is a beautiful image that reflects one of my shoot ideas ‘Humans In Nature’.
By using the rich green against the ladies pale skin it has created a highly contrasted
image that shows the beauty of both nature and people. I think by using natural tones it
has created a seamless photo that is very appealing to the eye.
This image really appealed to me. In one of
my shoots I would like to demonstrate the
change of a tree from summer to Autumn
and maybe Winter depending on the
amount of time I have. I love the isolation
of this tree in the image as it means it can
be easily centred and will be the only focus
of the image. Another aspect of the image I
really like is the shadow which shows a
very harsh line and reflects the bare
branches of the tree according to its
season.

6. Lauren Oakley
Techniques
There are a few techniques that I would like to use in my work that I have thought about
thus far. I am hoping that these will enhance my work and make it stand out amongst
other images.
The first of these techniques being Sequencing. As I have mentioned previously, one
shoot that I would like to carry out is the change of tree’s from Summer to
Autumn/Winter. To display these images and to show my Photoshop skills I would like
to create a sequence edit so that the changes can be easily identified.
The second technique I want to include is Macro Photography. When researching some
of the photographers that I want to include in my work I have come across some
amazing Macro photographs. This has inspired me to capture some of the intricate
texture nature has to offer for myself. I think this will enhance my work and act as a
‘break’ between larger shoots.
Lastly, I would like to experiment with Black and White. I will do this through
Photoshop, which will be some of my computer experiments. I have been inspired to do
this from photographers such as Imogen Cunningham and Ansel Adams who both create
amazing photos in Black and White that still show texture and interesting structures of
nature.