VAP 100

[kathleenquinn-blog1]

Examples of Assignment #5

#VAP20002

[irandall1-blog]

exposuretest

[untrustyou]

Bärbel Praun

[staged-photography]

Set in the Street

An ongoing art project by Justin Bettman and Gözde Eker

Photographer Justin Bettman and prop stylist Gözde Eker found a genius, economical solution to their conundrum of building sets and getting studio space in New York that was engendered by the city itself. Standing on Eker’s rooftop, it occurred to Bettman that “a studio shot is just a back wall and a floor and that’s what the side of a building and a sidewalk is.” They decided to shoot outside, scouting locations on morning jogs or via Google Street View. And, as any New Yorker knows, there is plenty of furniture and all sorts of things left out on the streets, so their props were found or foraged. The models – volunteers found through a casting agency – were also styled in discarded clothing, with the overall result being a fun, Wes Anderson-inspired kitsch aesthetic.

Set construction began around 3am Fridays and the shoot – which often took no longer than 20 minutes – happened just after sunup. Bettman and Eker dismantled their first set after the shoot, but then in another New York moment, decided to leave them thereafter with a sign inviting passersby to post their photos to Instagram with the hashtag #SetInTheStreet. Watching the scene change over time as people contribute items or cart off props is part of the project, which is also a commentary on waste. In addition, Bettman states the goal of the work is to make people question perspective, since “There are times when you look at a smaller piece of a larger picture, that you’re not getting the whole picture.”

This project works on a lot of levels, from interactive installation art channeling our voyeuristic/exhibitionistic social media hashtag selfie culture, to being a sociodocumentation of sorts of urban life and, most importantly, producing a series of fine, staged imagery. While fun, the other pics go to show that everyone can snap a picture on their phone, but not all of it is fine art photography.

Happy holidays from Team Staged Photography!

[irandall1-blog]

The sky stuff.

[mybadbabyonmyheavenlyside]

[katiewallace4-blog]

I really like how clean the picture is. The glare on the black nail polish and the position of the hands.

[giuseppemiranda]

Two Fiat 500’s by Richard Kalvar (1978). The fiat 500 was the people’s car of Italy from its creation in 1957. The car needed to be small enough to navigate through the winding roads and alleys of Italy and large enough to hold a family. This perfect family car was a revolutionary creation. In this picture, you see two older “cinquecentos” parked nearly touching each other. I chose this image because of how much I feel it represents small town Italy. Not only does this remind me of how tight the traffic can be, but the background of a semi-brick wall is just a quintessential image of my grandmother’s town of Frosolone. Also, I love the sense of age in the cars: from the dents on the left car to the paint chipped off on the right, it feels very rustic.