Romain Veillon & Matt Emmett

Matt Emmet and Romain Veillon are documentary based photographers. Both of which are specialized in a practice called ‘urbex’ (meaning urban exploration). They travel around the world exploring man-made structures which are abandoned or hidden from the general public. Their work is both eerie and apocalyptic, however there is a few differences between them.

Matt Emmett’s work

Romain Veillon’s work

The first thing I want to compare, and what I believe is a significant difference in their work is the theme. Matt Emmetts work appears very modern, not so much the settings he is photographing as they are all old and abandoned, but the quality of his work. His images are quite under exposed but not to the extent where they are too dark. The colours and tones in his work are very sharp. However, Romain Veillon’s work on the other hand is very light. There is a fairy-tale aura about his work. This photo in particular (below) there appears to be abandoned fair rides. The merry go round may remind the viewer of their childhood, which is now over, it has been left abandoned. This also foreshadows the fact those memories are over.

I think Matt Emmet’s photographs are of seeking the beauty of these abandoned places, showing how he can photograph and edit the images in smart, tactical ways. However, Romain Veillon’s photographs are revealing the story behind these abandoned places.

Matt Emmett includes a lot of symmetry in his work, such as spirals, squares, circles ect. He uses the light to his advantage, creating patterns and repetitive shapes. Below is an example of when he has done this:

Emmett very clearly takes precaution with his images, he carefully choses which angle to take the image from, the lighting and composition are big elements when it comes to his work. Emmett’s photographs become very appealing to a viewers eye as there are regular patterns and motifs, not only just photographing abandoned places within nature, he also uses shape and symmetry to make his images more interesting.

On the other hand, Romain Veillon’s work is less tactical and just shows the scenes as they are. Veillon’s photos show abandoned buildings but sometimes with other objects in the image, objects of which could tell the viewer something about the building or setting. He is photographing to show viewers exactly how it has been left and why.

Both artists use natural lighting in their work as they are based in outdoor environments. However, Emmett’s work is very tonal and eerie, there’s darker colours in his photos, whereas Veillon’s work is softer; the colours and tones within his work are lighter.