Jess Dowson

m.arch | photographer | lecturer

A day off, and a saunter through London

November 5, 2022

I booked a day off from work on Friday (short-term contract, ends in a couple of weeks, hence no fanfair about finding a position post-graduation yet), and decided to make the most of the beautiful weather, especially since as of Friday morning, the RMT had yet to call off the planned rail strikes.

M.Arch Project 03 - Troubleshooting

December 23, 2021

I may as well be upfront and say that what follows is fundamentally a rant. I just needed to type it down and let it all out.

New project - focused on drawing. Specifically, drawing our section of Canterbury Cathedral as accurately as possible: plan(s), section, elevation(s). We’ve been divided into 10 sites, ours is on the north facing side. Certain facets of this particu… — New project - focused on drawing. Specifically, drawing our section of Canterbury Cathedral as accurately as possible: plan(s), section, elevation(s). We’ve been divided into 10 sites, ours is on the north facing side. Certain facets of this particular site have induced an “I hate life” response. Namely, well, everything. …
I also have a case study due which I’m really struggling with. 47 words out of 2000 so far. And it is due in 2 weeks.
So, the only thing vaguely working for me right now is the poster for the Communications Media module. Here, have a W.I.P snapshot of it.
*headdesk*

Project 01 - Posters

November 5, 2016

Bruges [3/3]

I decided to have a walk around after dinner on a couple of the nights I was there, and was rewarded with some beautifully haunting medieval scenes. However, two of my favourite moments were finding a spotlight and having some fun with

Bruges [2/3]

The old historic (UNESCO) centre was undeniably picturesque, and despite being quite busy, so long as you were content with exploring and wandering, you could easily find moments of peace.

I think it is also worth pointing out (even i

Bruges [1/3]

Whilst the weather was mainly dull, I had some fun at various points looking at the details of things, or using a gate keyhole as an impromptu pinhole viewer. There was also a type of green metal chair that was ubiquitous... evidently t

A selection of trials and experiments, especially in high contrast photos, taken along the South Bank in London at the end of September.

#bnwphotography #architecturephotography #streetphotography #londonphotography #southbank #southbankcentre #nati

A selection of photos taken during the tour of the Cockpit Deptford, organised by the @londonsociety1912 and shepherded by Oliver Cooke of @cookefawcett and Jonathan Burton @cockpitstudios.

As you can probably tell, I rather enjoy the dramatic high

Switched from bnw to colour processing for most of these shots, as I preferred the vivid "classic negative" fujifilm filter for these in the end. However, I felt the acros+ filter works better for the crowd shot as the clothes were just too

Open House Round #1:

Last weekend I endeavoured to make the most of the Open House programme run by @opencity_uk, signing up to a tour of Bradbury Works by @ynstudioarchitects. It was lovely seeing it completed in the flesh after first being introdu

Going through a "don't quite know what I'm doing phase". I'm putting these down to scratching a path/grid itch related to architectural design. I think I want to start overlaying similar photos and these to see what happens, although I'm eq

Some more photographs in a slightly imposing/menacing style of the skyscrapers around the City of London.

The first of the set I particularly like.

There may well be a lull in posts again whilst I decide on where to focus my photographic subsequen

This final shot from my few days in Prague was taken in a courtyard off of, somewhere. All I can say is that I enjoy the detail and framing. Nothing particularly special about the courtyard, or the structure, I just enjoy the detail and framing.

#ar

The so called 'New Stage of the National Theatre' offers some impressive translucent cladding, and I decided to take some skyward detail shots for reference. I especially enjoy the diagonal ripple/wave pattern on the corner. These were also taken wit

I'll admit, I probably did not take the most pleasant route to the Žižkov Television Tower that I could have possibly done. However, I did stumble upon a decent coffee shop along the way that did a great ham & cheese sandwich (it was much needed

This photo of a curved glass rooflight was taken looking straight up within one of the older (art-deco?) arcades dotted around Prague. Why? I find it kinda mesmerising.

#rooflight #architecturephotography #architecturalphotography #bnwphotography #f

This particular building was designed by @zahahadidarchitects working with @jakub_cigler_architekti and I thoroughly enjoyed playing with various approaches to contrast in digitally developing the first two images. The lighting on those couple of day

I took the opportunity to visit Prague at the beginning of June, and despite the temperature being rather toastie (around 29C for the entire week), I am glad that I did as Prague is a truly beautiful city.

As is normal for a city break, I ended up d

Third of a set of studies of the City of London a.k.a Square Mile, taken between late April + mid May 2024. [3/3]

Continuing from the earlier mention of shifting perspective and ground planes; I feel that this first photo of the side of The Leadenha

Second of a set of studies of the City of London a.k.a Square Mile, taken between late April + mid May 2024. [2/3]

This set focuses on the Lloyd's Building, designed by the Chris Wilkinson, Graham Stirk, Ivan Harbour, John McAslan, Peter St. John, R

First of a set of studies of the City of London a.k.a Square Mile, taken between late April + mid May 2024. [1/3]

I first started investigating perspective shots looking straight up during my trips to the Barbican last year, and later with some init

A slightly damp day in London in March, with parts of the City obscured behind cloud. That low cloud effect in London always reminds me of Hong Kong. (3/3)

#bnwphotography #londonphotography #fujifilm #fujifilmxseries #fujifilmxt5 #reflections #urba

A slightly damp day in London in March. (2/3)

#bnwphotography #londonphotography #fujifilm #fujifilmxseries #fujifilmxt5 #reflections #urbanphotography #lowkeyphotography #silhouette #streetphotography