Sunday, October 11, 2015

Digital I Assignment: Artist Critiques

Greetings Photography Lovers!

 
In accordance with my Digital Photography I class assignment requirements, I have created this blog entry to critique a total of ten well-established "Fine Art" photographers.
 
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Gjon Mili

(November 28, 1904 – February 14, 1984)

"Light Drawings"
with
Pablo Picasso
 [LIFE magazine]
 
 
 
     Here we have one of many photographs in a series called "Light Drawings" taken in 1949 by photojournalist, Gjon Mili (a photographer for LIFE Magazine), which was later showcased at New York's Museum of Modern Art a year later.

The photograph depicts famous artist, Pablo Picasso, using a pen light to draw in the air via a technique involving a delayed shutter speed setting and the use of stroboscopic instruments of some kind to capture a sequence of actions in a single photograph.
 
The composition takes on a pyramidal design via the appearance of Picasso himself in three separate positions as he draws an image of a figure through the air around him.
 
Techniques such as these fascinate me because of their unique qualities and the time involved to accomplish them. which brings me to the reason I chose this photograph. I tend to gravitate towards the less conventional uses of photography these days as I prefer to challenge myself by taking the more difficult path with my own work.
 
 
references:
 
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Erwin Olaf

(Born June 2nd, 1959 - Presently Living)
 
"Nature Morte Vanite Avec Coeur De Sieur Lamoral D'Egmont"
2012 
 

     Erwin Olaf is a studio-based photographer best known for his take on controversial and taboo subjects and themes. However, I chose this particular composition over his more common subjects because of it's homage to traditional paintings of the past where a collection of objects are placed on a table covered with a cloth to be painted. All his photographs, in my opinion, resemble such classical painting styles. For this reason, Erwin Olaf has quickly become one of my favorite photographers as I am a traditionally trained artist myself and his work reminds me of my first passion before I discovered photography. His works are available for digital download as well as print and can be viewed in museums around the world.

References:
LINK: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/erwin-olaf-nature-morte-vanite-avec-coeur-de-sieur-lamoral-degmont
LINK: http://www.hamiltonsgallery.com/artists/28-erwin-olaf/biography/
 

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Jerry Uelsmann

(Born June 11th, 1934 - Presently Living)

"Untitled"
1969
 

     A pioneer in the art of composite photography and "the master of photomontage" long before the dawn of computers and photoshop, Jerry Uelsmann broke boundaries and set the standard for future fine art photographers with  his seamless photographs of surreal images like the one above. I chose this composition for it's resemblance to a favorite Hayao Miyazaki animated film, "Castle in the Sky" because of the floating tree over land with roots exposed. His work is breathtaking and well worth a look.

References:
LINK: http://www.uelsmann.net/works.php
LINK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Uelsmann
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Tokihiro Sato

(September 14th, 1957 - Presently Living)

"#330 Taiji"
1998
 


     Another of my personal favorites, Tokihiro Sato has captivated my creative attention to the point where I attempted to create compositions using this series technique he calls "Photo Respiration"; a name he coined as a result of the tediously exhausting efforts required to produce these sort of images. I have discovered in my trials to reproduce this affect that one must set their camera shutter speed to no less than one hour while flashing a light on and off towards the camera hundreds of times without streaking the flash out of position as Sato did here. The end result is well worth the effort when done correctly. I particularly like this photo for the mist.

References:
LINK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokihiro_Sat%C5%8D

* I wasn't so lucky to find a beach location as free of human presence as Sato had in the image above, but I did find a glade as seen in my photograph below...



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Gregory Crewdson

(Born September 26th, 1962 - Presently Living)

"Brief Encounters"
2012
 


     Gregory Crewdson's style reminds me of a cross between Erwin Olaf and Annie Leibowitz with a small town suburban Satire twist. Here he has placed a subject in a flooded living room where I assume Crewdson is implying the woman had drown. I had some difficulty choosing just one composition to represent this photographer as I like so many of his works. This one however seems to require a significant  amount of prep and staging since a large amount of water is on set. I admire the detail Crewdson puts into this photograph as it gives the composition depth... pun intended.

References:
LINK: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2281267/
LINK: https://www.artsy.net/artist/gregory-crewdson
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Philippe Halsman

(1906 - 1979)

"Dalí Atomicus"
1948
with
 


     Although he was most notably known for his obsession with the human face as he had photographed countless celebrities for magazines such as LIFE and Vogue, it is his 37 year collaboration with famous Surrealist artist,  Salvador Dalí (a personal favorite artist of mine) that caught my eye.

     In this photograph, you can see Dali suspended in the air in sink with all the other suspended objects which include cats and a bucket of water being tossed in as well, all so surreal. Just like Salvador Dali's own compositions, this photograph makes no real kind of cense to me which is most likely why I like Dali's work so much.

References:
LINK: https://www.artsy.net/artist/philippe-halsman
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Elliott Erwitt

(Born 1928 - Presently Living)

"Santa Monica, California"
1955
[Edwynn Houk Gallery]
 



     Elliott Erwitt is one of those photographers with a great cense of humor in his work which leads to very unique and funny photographs such as the one above. Normally, a subject is directly in the view of the camera but here they are not. However, the focal point (mirror) is still following the traditional rules of the golden ratio. Both the subjects and the camera are in a clever playful position that can only be thought up by someone who sees the world differently as Erwitt does. I love thinking outside the box when taking my photographs for those images tend to be the most interesting and rewarding compositions.

References:
LINK: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/elliott-erwitt-santa-monica-california

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Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibowitz

(Born October 2nd, 1949)

"Natalia Vodianova as Alice in Wonderland"
December, 2003
[VOGUE]
 


     Annie Leibowitz is a high-end photographer to the stars and everyone from John Lennon to Presedent Obama has had their photoghraph taken by this studio photography master. She specializes in themed portraits done on elaborate movie set like studios like the one above which mimics Alice In Wonderland, so it's no wonder she has such a rep. I have always wanted to orchestrate complicated theme shoots like these. This idea in particular interests me the most out of all the themes I have researched on Leibowitz because I find scale sets so fascinating. Natalia Vodianova is strategically placed so perfectly for such a cramped space that you can almost feel sympathy for her as she poses uncomfortably without losing artistic quality.

References:
LINK: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/296111744221404303/
LINK: http://www.biography.com/people/annie-leibovitz-9542372
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Brassaï

(pseudonym of Gyula Halász)




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Henri Cartier Bresson