Matthew Merrett
Mathew Merrett started photographing the world around him, more than 15 years ago. His approach to a subject has always been that of creating art through the lens, by finding a unique angle or approach to things that we see everyday. He purchased his first digital camera in the year 2000. This resulted in more successful images and a greater passion to shoot. That passion erupted from the moment he stepped into his first abandoned warehouse. He knew he was in a special place. A place so still, yet full of life, and a place that could be subject to change at any moment. Mathew has spent several years exploring, photographing and exposing this “urban decay”. Now frozen in time, subject to the elements and neglect, he captures what was once abundant, before the redevelopment cycle erases them, forever. He researches and documents many abandoned sites, from institutions and industrial sites, to commercial abandonments. Many of these places have since been demolished or redeveloped, yet new locations open up, offering a constantly evolving subject matter.
This particular photograph by Matthew Merrett is very interesting because it focuses on the decay of the full area which has been photographed. As well as this, I like the way that the entire room looks dark and dull because it gives quite an eerie and sinister effect. Also, I like that there is not much natural lighting in this photograph which makes it more dull but more interesting at the same time because it is not too underexposed.
When looking at this photograph by Matthew Merrett, it is unusual because there is not much in the foreground, the majority of the interesting aspects of the image is in the background which makes it harder to focus on. The entire image is in focus but the main point of focus which draws your attention is the staircase in the background because of the peeling paint and the decaying walls. I quite like how this image is similar to the first one with lighting and that they both feel quite sinister. They seem as though the area would be quiet and would echo.
This image is different to the other two because it has been edited so that it is black and white. This image is unusual because the foreground is dark but the background is light; it looks as though the piano is the main point of focus. Although, when looking at the background, due to the horizontal lines, it looks as though there is movement when you focus your eyes onto the decaying piano. This is very effective because I do not believe it was intentional but it is intriguing. I particularly like the high contrast of the piano in comparison to the bright background.