Photo Critiques -- Part 5

Something that I think is very important to an image is the ability to tell a story.  I don't believe it's necessary for the story to be exactly what the artist intends or had in mind while producing the image(s), the importance is in whether or not the image stays with the viewer and touches them somehow.  That is my main goal in my images. I don't care if the story is ordinary or fantastic. I just want my image to stick around in a person's mind and keep them arrested.

Joel-Peter Witkin - Leda and the Swan

I like that this image is just as much of a photograph as it is a painting.  The elements that Witkin added with his own hand add another dimension to the image, a tension and franticness that is reflected on the model's face.

Eleanor Hardwicke - from the A Secret Place series

http://eleanorhardwick.com/

Admittedly, this image comes off as more of a fashion shot than a fine art piece, but there are still things that I think are worth noting.  I like the delicacy of Hardwicke's image and this image is no less delicate than the one that I posted previous.  I also think that wardrobe is very important in creating a successful image, at least when it comes to constructing the image rather than stumbling upon it.  She looks as though she's just noticed something in the lake and I expect it would be something small and magical.

Nick & Chloe - from the Loewe Strasse 25 series

http://www.nickandchloe.com/

The expression on the face of this woman seems to be a mixture of great relief as well as one of deep thought.  Her features look both serene and intense at the same time, causing a tension in the image that pulls the viewer in.  The haze from the bath house makes the harsh tiles soft, which compliments her vulnerable state.

Ralph Eugene Meatyard - Lucybelle Crater and Her 15 Year Old Son's Friend

There is a strangeness in Meatyard's Lucybelle Crater series that is very appealing to me.  As anyone who is familiar with my work knows, I love masks. I love the way the obscure the features and create an ambiguity between the viewer and the person who they are viewing.  Masks also make an image whimsical and "other" almost by default.

Rebecca Rijsdijk - from the Stiletto Paradoxes series

http://rebeccarijsdijk.com/

The intimacy shown here is palpable and soft, much like the color palette and the florals on the girls' dresses.  There is a tenderness that is expressed by their body language and echoed by the sea and sand as well as the grey sky.  I feel like I'm intruding on a very private moment between two people who love each other very much and have been missing from each other's lives for far too long.

Thomas Macker - Natalie as Ophelia

http://thomasmacker.com/

The concept of an ophelia image has been one of those ideas that I've loved thinking about, but I'm too afraid to attempt it.  Maybe a series of Ophelias would be interesting. Just like in many of the other images that I've posted, the Ophelia is delicate, somber, and beautiful -- all of these are things in an image that I love.  If I were to pursue and Ophelia series, I think I would need to play with the ideas that are associated with an Ophelia in order to make it successful.

Photo Critiques -- Part 4

I've been thinking more and more about the whole bedroom thing and I'm thinking this is the direction I want to go in. I got comments on my first meeting blog from Ashley Selbe and Kerry McDonnell and they did get me thinking.  Kerry brought up a good point that just taking portraits would probably get a little dull for me and everyone else as well.  So I want to add another layer in that I would have people write something about how they feel in their rooms and I would have that framed with the person on their bed.  The picture I have of Michael (and another of Malaika that I have not posted) are both so powerful to me.  I really like the deadpan aesthetic (which I know I'm not supposed to talk about here, but I will address why I like it further below, it's more than just the aesthetics) and I think it will work perfectly.  By doing these portraits, I think that I would get the viewer making their own story out of the image, as well as getting a more pointed direction from the passage written by the sitter. This idea has been floating around with me since I took the pictures of people in their rooms last semester so I'm really thinking this is going to be the avenue I take.

However, Ms. Selbe planted an idea in my head that has been tugging at me since I read her comment.  She said that my fairy tale images from Location Photography (some of which can be found here ) were something that I seemed to excel at (at least that's what I gathered from the comment) and that maybe I should continue in that vein.  The only thing that's keeping me from that is that the tug isn't as strong as the bedroom portraits.  That, and I haven't thought of a good fairy tale that I could adapt. I'm also not feeling heartbroken as much as I was when I made that series, and a lot of that pain of heartache went into that which I think gave the piece a soul of its own.  With that said, as much as I would love to do more fairy tales, I don't think that now is the time.  I'm not morose enough at this point, although I'm sure come winter....

Mehrdad Naraghi - from the Obscured series

http://www.mehrdadnaraghi.com/

In this image from Naraghi's Obscured series, I like the soft focus/fogginess that creates a desolation of the landscape.  It's a very haunting image, which is something I'd like to achieve with my own work.  One thing that I believe should have become obvious by now is that I am really affected by feelings more so than opinions in artwork.  Although I don't want to work with landscapes so much, this mood here definitely sticks with me. I also like the low contrast of the image, it's so dark an hazy and cool (temperature wise, I mean) and I would love to just take a walk though this plain and breath in the still air.

Poppy de Villeneuve

http://www.poppydevilleneuve.com/

This is a great example of snapping the shutter at the perfect moment.  The everything about this image is perfect to me, the framing, the color palette, and the moment. Above all things, the moment. I feel like a hundred stories could be made up for this woman, sitting solemnly on this motel room counter, deep in thought.  She's just so expressive! I think I repeat myself a lot in these descriptions but maybe that was the point of this exercise, so I can really pick out what I like and be able to define it.

Shannon Taggart - Jennifer

http://www.shannontaggart.com/

Deadpan.  Aside from aesthetics, there's a different sort of mood that's set.  It's more confrontational. "Here I am.  This is me. Deal with it."  That's the sort of thing I want in my bedroom portraits -- "Here's my room.  Period.  Any questions?" Even if a person is at ease it dead pan just gives images a certain attitude that I really enjoy.  I also think it would be necessary in the bedroom portraits since it's such a personal topic. I would be coming into people's sanctuaries and photographing them which is pretty invasive, really, so why wouldn't the subject be confrontational toward the invading camera?

Photo Critiques -- Part 3

Before I make these, I try to do some thinking to focus my idea a little further. I did some shooting today so I would have kind of a rough draft of sorts to show for Tuesday. Because I want to do portraits, I thought it would be wise to invest in a good portrait lens for my digital so I'm looking forward to getting that on Friday.  I'm also shooting with my Mamiya if only because I love pretty much all of the portraits I've taken with it.

I've also been thinking about how to narrow down my ideas, and there are two things that I keep coming back to. For one, I like the idea of how people interact with their rooms.  For two years I haven't really been able to decorate my room the way I've wanted to, and that, among other things, made me completely miserable. There's something about waking up to a room that isn't just white walls and cluttered floors but is actually decorated and made the way you like it. It's comforting and really has an impact on how the rest of the day is going to go, at least that's how I feel on it.

The other thing I come back to is how people cope with hardships they've had in their lives. I know how I've dealt with mine but I know that's not the only way to do things, or at least it's not the only positive way to solve a difficult situation.  I'd really like to get to know some of the ways that people have come across milestones in their lives because I don't think that when we see people on the street, in a store or restaurant we consider that they are people with lives and stories. They are just passers by, people who cut us off, people who took the last good looking apple in the pile.

Rebecca Rijsdijk from the Stiletto Paradoxes series

http://rebeccarijsdijk.com/

This picture is obviously staged, but there is a tenderness about it that is breathtaking.  The way that the girl in white reaches out to the girl in the tub is so tentative and gentle.  It's as though the girl in the tub is there incubating or healing and the other girl is checking her progress, making sure she is ok in her vulnerable state.  I also like the surrealism of the image, but the emotion evident in the face of the girl in the white dress is so convincing that I almost believe that this actually happened.

Sarah Faust - Lace Dress and Chaise

http://work.colum.edu/~sfaust/

Here is another example of how you don't need a person's face to really feel emotion.  Just looking at the woman's hands, you can tell she is tense or anxious.  She may even be anxious about getting her photo taken.  I love the framing of this image as well. The lines of her limbs as well as those of the chair keep my eye moving all around the image. The woman's anxiety is also contagious. As I look at the image I find my breathing becoming a little labored the longer I look at it and I'm forced to look away for a moment before I can continue to look at it.  It's this kind of transference of emotion that I'm really looking forward to relaying with my images.

Thomas Macker - Girl Lying on the Grass
http://thomasmacker.com/

I find that the framing of this picture is very engaging as well. I like the voyeuristic feel of peering through the window at this girl in the grass, it's a bit like Nabokov's Lolita in this way.  I'm planning on playing with this kind of framing where obstacles are used as a literal frame for the subject.  There is an interesting contrast in this image as the darkness contrasts the light both literally and figuratively. The foreground is literally dark, but there is also the since of something sinister lurking around in it.  Conversely, the brightness outside the window and the girl laying outside have a light and innocence that is highlighted by the roses growing just outside the window. I like these subtle hints that would push a narrative along.

Photo Critiques -- Part 2

Here is part 2 of my critique series. I don't know that there's much more to say as a preface since I basically said it all in Part 1. Although I will point out something that is pretty evident -- I have a concern for the human condition in a way. My focus here is on the people that inhabit the photographs and the emotion that the emit to the viewer.

Richard Avedon - Marilyn Monroe, actor, New York, May 6, 1957
http://www.richardavedon.com/

Vik Muniz has said that this is "a picture of Norma Jean, not Marilyn." I don't think it's hard to see why he would say that. This is one of those pictures that haunts me. The look on Marilyn's face, she's not on. She's not there. Or, she is there, but only internally. Something is weighing on her mind and Avedon has captured her contemplating it. It is such a stark contrast to the Marilyn that is remembered in posters, on t-shirts, notebooks, stickers, and more. This is the real Marilyn, and her vulnerability in this photo shows that she was a real person and not just something lovely to look at.

Larry Sultan - Mom Posing for Me

Here is another picture that I find myself thinking of often. There is a gentle sadness that resounds throughout the image and comes to an apex on the face of Sultan's mother. It's almost like one is taking a peek into their daily life, even though the image is clearly posed. The husband watching TV, his back to his wife and son (although I'm aware that at this point Sultan was no longer living with his parents), the wife standing strong behind him trying her best to act unaffected as the son watches on from a distance.

Eolo Perfido - Fallen Angel
http://www.eoloperfido.com/

In this image, the face of the man pictured is hidden, but that doesn't mean that he is being any less expressive. His face is turned away from the camera and his arms are propped up against the wall a bit awkwardly (I'm not using awkward in a bad way here). I imagine that he is so overcome with some great grief that he can not bear to hold himself up anymore and it is only a matter of moments before he slides down the wall. There is a posed kind of quality about this one that throws me off a little bit. I know that both Avedon and Sultan's images are posed as well, but only to an extent. This has more farce in it but what might be throwing me off is having it shown with the previous images where the focus is so direct and authentic.

Photo Critiques -- Part 1

When I had my meeting with Tom and Jeff, I had brought in a folder of images that had a mood/look that I have been aiming for in my work. In order to help me be able to talk about the work of others better as well as my own work, and to figure out why I like the things I like in these images, he suggested that I sit down and analyze them. So, here is part 1 of that. There are some images that were not originally there, but I wanted to add a little more variety in what I'm looking for.

Joel-Peter Witkin "La Giovanissima"

Like in many of Witkin's photographs, there is an underlying religious reference that contrasts with the darkness that exists within his vision/subject matter. Here, the grasping of the breast is similar to that of the Virgin Mary when shown during either the occurrence of the lactation miracle or the breast feeding of the Christ child. I've been interested in these subtle religious gestures, but I haven't figured out a way to really incorporate them into my work without seeming trite. I also like her gaze, which is soft and distant. She doesn't seem as though she's focusing on anything tangible or at present but something far off, something that isn't of this world. Her gestures are even gentle. They remind me of something an art history teacher had mentioned in class about how women often had to refer to guides about the most feminine way to hold their hands.

Cyrus Karimipour from the "Invented Memory" series
http://www.cyruskarimipour.com/

One thing that really resonates with me about this image is the way the focus is placed on the eyes (or lack there of) belonging to the figures on the right. It's as if the girl is seeing for him. There is a tentativeness in her gaze and a sadness on the face of the man she leads. I get the feeling that he knows that he's missing something but can't place exactly what. All of them seem to be staring at the viewer, despite their varying states of vision (eyes, eye holes, no indication of eyes at all) which makes me feel like I am as transparent as a pane of glass which is an eerie feeling.

Eleanor Hardwick, from the "A Secret Place" series
http://eleanorhardwick.com/

This image gives me the feeling that this young girl is running both toward something and away from something and that at the moment the photo was taken she was in a place of ambiguity -- stuck between retreat and release. I enjoy that the viewer is unable to see her face and must instead read her body language and surroundings to interpret what's going on. It also seems as though she could just be realizing that her paradise has been destroyed and all that remains are tawdry reminders of what once was which can be related to a loss of innocence/youth that I know I have come face to face with.