Technical developments have generated countless graphic and plastic treasures through time. The logic of so-called scientific design rises a formal lexicon far from our everyday life. Through his work, photographer Benedict Redgrove takes us behind the scenes of the world's space agencies, and delivers to us his vision of technological aesthetics.
I was born in Reading UK, attended the Berkshire College of Art and Design and grew up influenced by sci fi movies and a love of anything that has to do with space and exploration. I had a very visually led up bringing which guided my way of seeing the world. My earliest memory is seeing a film of a man walking on the moon and I think this has been a guide throughout my life. The sense of exploration combined with technology and space exploration are incredibly exciting for me.
Technology is a wonderful thing in general. When I start to look into the specifics, from Robot surgeons or avionics, micro electronics, particle accelerators and oscillating mirrors on deep space telescopes, I can't help but find myself utterly captivated and blown away by what is possible. What we as humans are capable of building to help further our knowledge and understanding of the universe and our place in it, is limited only by our understanding in the current moment. We develop at quite an astonishing rate and this is all through our inquisitive minds and the ability to design and build on technology that will move us into the next stages.
Each of these projects (robotics, aerospace, celestial imaging) have different reasons for their creation, but they do all share a theme which is a deeper exploration, discovery and appreciation of their subject. Some are purely an aesthetic, but that aesthetic comes down to the beautification of the simple purity of the object, especially in the case of the aircraft engines. They are the epitome of functional design. Nothing is there because it looks good, but because it serves a purpose and it looks that way because that is the optimal shape and material to make that particular part function to the highest level possible. Because of this it looks so incredibly beautiful. For me it is just as much of a voyage of discovery when I enter these worlds, as is it for the viewer.
With the NASA project there is a very strong theme here. The objects have been shot and shown in a way that allows the viewer to see them in detail. They allow you to take your time, unimpeded by other objects or surroundings that will distract you. I want the viewer to focus on the object and really admire the design, the material, and realise just how incredible each of these objects are. I compare my first experience of the Space Shuttle Atlantis as something approaching a disciple entering a cathedral for the first time and meeting their idol. That feeling of awe and overwhelming admiration was so great for me, I was almost shaking. I want the viewers to have the same experience when they see these images up close in the exhibition I have planned. I have designed it so you get to have these moments in different rooms, individual moments and sensations that open your mind and allow yourself to be taken out to a more unusual, emotional and visual environment and then you are delivered back to a reality that still overwhelms but in a more manageable and accepted way. The same way that the church and religion appeals to people, this is my religion, this science is what I believe in, these objects are my chalices or artefacts.
The telescopes are huge objects that scan the universe looking back in time and using incredible technology in order to make this happen. Delaying the time between telescope images by 100s of seconds allows them to focus the images together as one, and form much higher resolution images. These giants that live in the driest region of the planet, in their own small town. It is filled with engineers, physicists, technicians and scientists from across the globe. Eating, sleeping and working in a controlled environment that is focused solely on their experiments and projects for that day/night with the occasional sudden change in mission. All of the subjects have a common thread that they are a specialty, that the machines along with a lot of the people are focused solely on some incredibly macro studies and the parts of the machines or the complete machines are built especially for that place to carry out very specific tasks. I find that fascinating. That level of focus and concentration, sometimes with the end result being a negative and the have to start again or disprove a theory that they had been working on for years, sometimes decades. I think it is these micro details in the systems, in the machines, in the places, in the textures, in the mechanics of them, in everything I shoot, that appeals to me. It is everything combined - from the simplest to the most complex part of it. They all resonate with me.
I see things in sets, in groups. I have always seen things that way, in plan view. It really appeals to my mind and makes sense. The order, the explanation of how it works. Why wouldn’t you want to if from all angles and details? If I had more time in the making of these projects the images could and would have more than quadrupled.
We are living in a golden era of development with space exploration, robotics, AI and the birth of quantum computing. Our understanding of the universe and our place in it is growing just as we are starting to develop new intelligent technologies that will think for themselves. I don’t think any one of us truly knows how quantum computers will be able to help us or what the implications of their abilities are. I was speaking to a leading Theoretical Physicist at ESA recently about that and dark matter and we concluded that whilst we know where we are and what we know, what we don’t know and what we are about to learn could lead to a number of possible scenarios such as understanding how we can travel through space and time better, whether that is using a mechanical object or finding ways to use the universe to enable it to happen. What we don’t know is just as exciting or more so, than what we do. My work is definitely moving into an area that links humankind’s search for knowledge of both universe and itself, and the future technologies that are leading us there along with past technologies and understanding that have helped us get to here.
How will technology influence my work? I am unsure. I see myself in the role of voyeur, admirer, student carrying on. It will be interesting to see how my work will adapt and grow to match the media and techniques that will become available. I am very much looking forward to holography and 3 dimensional exhibits being something that can be made and shown with haptic and emotive transmission abilities. This would be a way of really connecting my feelings and wishes to the viewer.
I have used various cameras. As time has gone by, the digital backs have got better, I have acquired a more appropriate kit. For the NASA project I wanted to make the files as large as possible so that I could make extremely large scale prints - the astronaut will be 6.11 in size on a nine foot print. The idea being that they are god-like, the suits represent this iconic status and by printing them slightly over life size and mounting them off the ground, you are forced to look up in reverence at them. The space suit is the perfect example of technicity in that it takes a human for it to function and the human can not function without it in the environment it is designed for. They become symbiotic and this, to me, is the most exciting object that I have shot. The two things are one and the same and yet entirely different at the same time. They are the spaceman, they are the astronaut, yet they are human and they are a technological suit. When you think of an astronaut you think of spacesuit and the man in it.
In most cases, especially the larger objects when I am photographing them I plan out the shot beforehand. I know what I want to show, how I want it to look and feel in the end. That process can be quite involved. From a technical point of view I use an Alpa or Phase camera. The Alpa is a technical camera and fully manual operation. You have to cock the shutter and manually focus the various points and distances that I make to make up one image. The digital back on the camera moves in an X/Y axis and then I move my focus through the distance of the image. In order to make the images of the Space Shuttle Atlantis images, I shot over 60 exposures to form the one image. This ensures the level of detail is there for the final image to be printed at its maximum size of approx 10ft x 8ft or maybe larger.
At times I love technology and at times I want to escape it, like most people probably. Taking a break from it is freeing and allows me to breathe, stop and enjoy nature. Then I can go back to the technology and embrace it once again. It has a huge bearing on my work, how I work, and what I produce. It essentially is a massive part of my practice.
I have loved technology and engineering since my childhood. I appreciate and love good design and utilitarian design. Technology and engineering speak to me, they resonate with me in a way that brings me an enormous satisfaction, almost calming as much as it is exciting. For me it has taken me to areas, people, opportunities I wouldn’t have experienced. It is a major part of my life and what I do and with that, brings happiness and joy and excitement and wonder. The flip side being that it also brings stress and anxiety too, but I am willing to put up with that for all the positivity it brings to me and to the world as a whole. As my work progresses so do new technologies open up and I feel that as much as I look into the future with these, it makes me appreciate where we have come from, what we have learned not only about the universe but also about us as human beings.
