Prior to the start of this module, we were invited to participate in a voluntary challenge inspired by the work of Ed Ruscha. The aim of the task was to produce a series of images as a small book, inspired by one of Ed Ruscha’s. 

In responding to this challenge, I chose to work with an interpretation of Ruscha’s book: Some Los Angeles Apartments, 1965. I decided to choose a similar subject but one which would be related to a current theme: the impact of Covid-19 reflected in the local pubs that were closed as a result of lockdown measures. I planned a route to walk and took all the photographs on the same day of a selection of closed up pub buildings.

I chose to produce my images in black and white and to format their layout in a very similar style to that used by Ruscha in this particular book. Staying with this style, I used very little description and simply provided a caption in a plain font that stated the pub name and location. I titled the book in the same style font and layout as Ruscha’s and titled my book project: Some Bristol Pubs in Lockdown

I have been fascinated with the work of Ed Ruscha for some time and was also fortunate to view his exhibition at the Tate Modern earlier this year (see previous post), so this challenge was one I really looked forward to doing as I have found a lot of inspiration in his work. In approaching the challenge I opted to print a book that would look very similar and would draw upon Ruscha’s use of typography, layout and simple captions. I usually work in full colour but opted to work with black and white images not only to stretch my creative abilities but to create something similar in feel to those created by Ruscha. Below are some samples from the book that I printed.