march 3rd

http://www.sandyskoglund.com/

There are 9 different tabs on the left side of the page for navigation.  Once you click on a tab it takes you to a different page where you have to choose another tab or link to see either photos or whatever information you are looking for. Its a fairly basic setup and dare I say it looks a bit old.  The homepage is on a dark gray and black background as is most of the site.  Some of it does have white, but its mostly for text information and not for displaying photographs.  I would guess that she is an artist who has a lot going on and doesn't have enough time to keep up with her website. Thats not a bad thing necessarily, but it appears a little scattered. I do like how much information she has on her site, but it seems a bit disorganized.

http://www.deanchamberlain.com

His homepage is very simple.  It has a black background with a single photograph. There are four options to choose from and the font matches the color of the photograph.  When you click into the photographs section you have 6 or 7 options to choose from and they are categorized simply.  Once you choose a category, there are several thumbnails on the left and you have to click on the thumbnail to see the image larger.  Also the same four options that are on the homepage show up at the bottom of the thumbnails, so it is possible to navigate the whole site from there as well.  From this website I get the feeling that he is simple and pays attention to detail. I really enjoy the site, and there is nothing that I would change about it.

http://www.graceweston.com

From the homepage it appears you have three options to choose from, but once you scroll over it more options appear. It is well organized.  The background is white and the thumbnails show up on the right.  You have to click on the thumbnail to see it larger and the thumbnails scroll up and down. There is also an option to have it run through a slideshow if you would prefer that.  Just by the website I would guess that she is of the school of thought to let her photos speak for themselves instead of elaborately explaining everything. I liked the organization of this sight, but if I could change on think it would be the logo at the top. I think its a bit too big and kind of distracting.

2-17-10

Margaret Bourke-White
Bread Line during the Louisville flood, Kentucky
1937

I have always loved the irony in this photo.  While in a photo class in high school, one of my teachers told me not to use irony in my photographs. To this day I'm not really sure why, because I think that it can make for a more powerful image.  From what I have studied of Bourke-White's photos, she has an incredible way of showing the truth through her eyes.  Though she worked for Life and was an FSA photographer, she knew how to take what was in front of her and display it in such a way as to not exploit the situation, but rather show as much information as was needed to get her point across.

Ansel Adams
Winter Sunrise, the Sierra Nevada,
from Lone Pine, California
1944

Since I have started my higher education in photography, I have heard a lot of my peers say that they don't like Ansel Adams.  I on the other hand have been greatly influenced by him in my early interest in photography.  I watched a documentary on him probably 10+ years ago, and I still remember watching him in the darkroom printing this image.  It was like watching a beautiful dance.  I think the thing about his work that sticks with me the most, is just to remember how important my final images are.

Jerry Uelsmann
Untitled
1969

Uelsmann's images are not just photographs, but layer upon layer of many photographs.  The way in which he prints is much more like a painting as far as imagery goes.  He creates places and meanings with each object that he includes in his photographs. 

All three of these were taken in an area that had just had the fresh snow disturbed by tire marks. Again I used my cell phone camera to capture these images.  This time I did take them into Photoshop and mess around with them just a bit to see how much manipulation they could handle.  I have mixed feelings as to how much the individual images change.  I took these in relatively the same spot with similar lighting conditions, and I feel like each one has its own unique feel to it.  I guess if I want more control I just need to use a different camera :)

2-10-10

http://www.redcat.org/exhibition/brinkmanship-park-chan-kyong-and-sean-snyder

Both of these artists are doing a collaborative show. The foundation of this project is to "deconstruct the language of media". I feel that this is a very powerful avenue to explore and I really wish I could see all of the work put into context.  I feel like I can't say much about the work without seeing the whole show put together.  I feel it is has a lot of potential to be incredibly influential. 

Manu Luksch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW2ZLGQli00
http://www.manuluksch.com/

Manu Luksch is working with using Britain's CCTV as a medium for creating video works.  The link I posted is for a clip from the video Faceless that she did in 2006.  I think the idea of using images captured from existing government video is a genius idea, and the way she orchestrates her subject is brilliant.

John Perivolaris

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dr_john2005/sets/72157602394301489/ 
http://www.johnperivolaris.com/index.htm

I love the irony of this photo.  He really captured the feeling of being watched, and also conveying the idea of watching back at the same time.  Formally its a beautiful photograph.  I also think that it is an easy to read photograph as well. Check out more on the flickr link I posted. He is also working with social identity so if you're interested in that check out his professional website that I have also linked.

My photos of the week

These are still all taken from my cell phone camera.

I love the mysteriousness of this one.  The silhouette of the person is very subtle.  I am also enjoying the crappy graininess of it too.

I was really surprised at how clear this came out. I'm still figuring out how good the sensor on my phone camera is.  I think this is a good representation on what winter driving in Colorado is like.

I'm adding this one to document how fast I was going in the snow day traffic.  (I probably shouldn't have been taking pictures while I was driving, but oh well :) )

With this one I was interested in how even a crappy cell phone can capture the mood of a setting.  There is not a lot of movement, everyone is just kind of sitting around at the bar.  I am surprisingly happy at how this camera captures silhouettes.

Feb. 3, 2010

Alright, so I didn't do so well at this last semester, so here goes another shot.  Im going to try a different layout that works for me. Im going to post the links of the shows that I am interested first and then talk about the works.  So here goes:

http://ny.voltashow.com

http://www.sitesantafe.org/exhibitions/exhibitfr.html

http://www.stroom.nl/activiteiten/tentoonstelling.php?t_id=259533

I went through and looked at many of the different artists showing at the Volta show, but this was the image that really stood out for me. I have always been a fan of night photography. I would think lighting an iceberg would be a very impressive feat.

I am really interested by the concept of Elahi's work.  According to the curators statement for the show, he was falsely accused of being involved in the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks.  Since then he has been documenting himself and his whereabouts.  Check out this website: http://trackingtransience.net/

I haven't been able to pinpoint what it is I like about Navid Nuur's work.  I think I mostly like what his concepts are based on.  I am still having a hard time matching his concepts to his actual work though.  Here are a few more links to some of his work: http://www.fridericianum-kassel.de/nuur.html?&L=1 and  http://www.dehallenhaarlem.nl/tentoonstellingen/verwacht.


My Photos

I have been toying with the idea of doing a project using only my cell phone camera lately, so here are just a few photos I have taken with it.  They are not the best quality and that's not something I'm used to working with, but I hope that in time I will be able to use it to my advantage.

This one was taken while I was listening to a 3 year old learning how to read.  I was fasciated at how much the pictures help her to understand and contextualize the words she was reading. 

 

This is the same girl reading the same book with her mom.  I just really love how the act of reading (understanding words) she is.  She looks so captivated :)

This photograph was used as a form of evidence that I was actually on time for work.... of course on the day my boss was out sick. 

This first image is from the Photographers Gallery in London.  The title is "When You're a Boy".  I think the most interesting thing about this show is that its main focus is about the fashion designer Simon Foxton, rather than about the photographer, who is Nick Knight.  It is more of a collaborative effort than about the vision of just the photographer.  The image itself is interesting because it portrays a mythological creatures head on top of a mans body, with several muscular arms combined to enhance the girth of the arms.  As far as the lighting goes, it appears to be lit under studio lighting.  If I had to guess how they lit it I would say that the main light is directly in front of the subject slightly higher than him/them.  I would also guess that there were probably two fill lights at about the same height, but on either side of the photographer. Thus way of lighting the subject enhances the muscle tone, but also creates more drama than having even flat lighting. 

This is an image by Nick Brandt titled Baboons in Profile from his show "A Shadow Falls" at the Staley Wise Gallery in New York. What caught my eye with this photo is how calm the scene appears to be.  When I think of baboons, its not usually in this calm of a setting.  I think what really adds to the image is the lighting.  It looks like it was taken outside using available light, but he chose to expose for the shadows.  By doing this he accounted for the streak of light that seems to be showering between some trees.  

And for my contribution...

I decided to post this one, because it's one my favorite photos I took while I was in New Zealand. 

On the subject of New Zealand, I thought I would just post a couple more of my favorites.  What I loved about the houses is that the foliage was allowed to just be. And even in its unkemptness it was beautiful. Nature doesn't take over, but it's like nature and man living together in harmony.  Plus, the cat is cute. 

I wish I could post all of the photos I took for this project, but I think this one shows what's going on pretty well.  The whole project was me taking photos of the photos in young women's rooms.  I think it's interesting how females are using photographs to express who they are.  

And so it begins.....

So to begin, I started by googling fashion photographers and grabbed the first image that caught my eye. I'm not really sure why this caught my eye. Probably because it was just a little bit different than the other 20 images that popped up.  It is an image by David LaChapelle.  I looked at some more of his more recent photos and came across this one:

The name of this one is Deluge by LaChapelle.  What I like about this one is how constructed it is as well as how beautifully crafted it is. I have been interested in constructed images for awhile now, and this one reminds me of Gregory Crewdson's work.

What I love about Crewson's photos is how incredibly layered they are.  Each and every object in the photo is intended to be there.  I can sit there and read one of his images for hours.