Monday, May 17, 2010

Aperture Reviews

Keliy Anderson-Staley's work is called "Off The Grid". The subjects of this series are families and their homes who have chosen to live in the Maine woods. She seems to stick to the lighting that is provided in her setting and she uses a lot of lines, both vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. They are arranged in ways that either create contrasting directions and angles or are arranged uniformly and draw the photo into one specific direction.

Alejandro Cartagena's work is called "Lost River". The subjects of this series are suburbs of the Mexican city of Monterrey. The use of light is absolutely beautiful. The contrasts of light and shadow are beautifully blended with the softer shades of lights. Also the use of color is very similar. Bold and bright colors are spread perfectly through out the soft colors of the rest of the photos.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Spencer

Spencer's work seems to have 2 very distinct styles. 1 is macro in black and white. They often are of plants and organic things, but are also of objects as well. His 2nd style is a kind of fabricated photojournalism. His work often tells a story and often over a series of pictures. He frequently uses himself as his model and it seems to give him the exact thing he is looking for. His photos are usually in black and white and have a very intimate feel to them.

I chose these 2 photos to portray his 2 styles. The first 1 shows off his beautiful macros shots of nature. Portrayed as a diptic shows crisp focus and stunning photography. The 2nd photo shows off his ability to tell a story. This beautiful composition, which includes himself as the model draws you in and you feel very close to the character.



Min Soo

Min Soo's photography plays with the light and yet is also pretty dark. His use of shadows and highlights are constant through our all his work. His work seems to be generally candid and like a street photographer's. However he also has experimented with objects and shot them beautifully. Some examples art locks, wine classes, lamps, candles, and books. Overall his photos tend to have a very organic feel and are over nature and architecture. He also combines them and also use people as well. Min Soo's work is very dark and light and bold.

I chose these 2 photos because they are stunning. The fist photo of the silhouetted man and trees is no short of breath taking. The amazing lines formed by the trees and the perfection of silhouetted draw you to the perfectly silhouetted man. The second photo really portays Min Soo's use of shadow and light and boldness.



Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Griffin

Griffin's work it just stunning. Simple as that. At a first over view you might think he is a street photographer, a food photographer, or a pet photographer. But when you put them all together you realize he is a master of portraits. They are not standard portraits however. They are not of people, they are of dogs, cats, food, cars, and more. He uses great contrasting shadows of dark and light to bring his photos to life. He loves using black and white to rid you of color confusion and bring back to the basics.

I chose these 2 photos to show you both the 'pop' factor he has and the portrait factor. The fisrt photo of ice cream make you mouth water. The bold contrast of light and dark, ice cream and chocolate sauce reach out to you. The composition is simple and centeres, which makes it not too complicated. The second photo of his cat and dog give an intersting juxtaposition. The in focus cat stands out and above the blurry dog in the back ground. The composition has a nice diagonal flow.




Mara

Mara's work has the special gift of being all over the place yet can pull it all off as Mara's work. She works with portraits, still-lifes, street photography, and flowers. One thing that flows through all her work however is her constant use of strong shapes and angles. She generally does not use studio lights and just works with the light around her. She has both profound colors in her photos and Strong black and white photos. Her work is truly sporadic.

I chose these 2 specific pieces of work from Mara because, 1 I truly feel these are very strong photos, but 2 sum up her sporadic style. The first one expresses the still life photography. It demonstrates her use of bold colors and sharp angles. The second photo sums up her portraits. It has beautiful contrating colors. The emotion feels very real and candid though it is fabricated.




Zoe

Zoe's photography has both a distinctive style, but she also experiments frequently. I would say Zoe is both a street photographer and a portrait photographer. She also combines the 2 as well. As an overall style she uses natural light and little to no editing. Her experiments however have significance as well. Her use of costumes, an overhead projecture, and a Holga camera give her a edge and inventiveness.

I picked these 2 photos as 2 of Zoe's strongest images. They are both street photography, but are very different. The first image of 3 homeless people works with both street photography and portraits. The portrait aspect of the photo is posed yet has a candid feel to it. The black and white gives it a old-timey feel to it, which contrasts to the modernism of it. The second photo is very soft and serene. The layers of of distance and lines gives it depth and shape.



Friday, April 30, 2010

Street Photographers

Name: Henri Cartier Bresson
Time Period: 1930's to 2000's, but he is most famous for his work in the 1950's.
Description: Considered the father of photojournalism, he used 35mm format and helped develop street photography and was a master of candid photography.
Examples:



Name: William Klein
Time Period: 1950's to present, but most famous for his work in the 1950's and 60's
Description: He is known for his ironic approaches to photojournalism and fashion photography. He used a lot of wide-angles and telephoto lenses. He used natural lighting and motion blur, often breaking prevailing rules of photography.
Examples:


Thursday, April 29, 2010

Op










Op art stands for optical art. One strives to create optical illusions or basic shapes with basic colors.

Thursday, April 1, 2010