Inspiration Blog

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Photographer Joey Lawrence

This photograph is taken by a Canadian photographer called Joey Lawrence. Joey Lawrence is a 30 years old commercial photographer who is a self educated. 

The picture I chose is a picture he shot for ZAAF witch is a premium lifestyle brand completely made in Africa. His approach on this mode shoot was that he wanted an atypical photoshoot. Not just focusing on the luxury of the brand but also not falling in the cliches of the “developing nations”. He wanted to mix the culture of the designers homeland together with the brand. It was his creative approach but also the good setting, lighting and placing of the model that made  him win the international photo awards for the section mode. 

I found this photo while looking for inspiration for mode photography. This photo immediately attracted my attention between all the other photo’s because of his uniqueness. At first I thought is was just a documentary photo before noticing it was a mode photo. And that is what I think makes this photo so amazing the fact that it doesn't have the normal mode photography vibe. The fact that he was able to mix the culture with the mode makes it way more interesting. It really captures the vibe the brand has: mode made interily in Africa. The camels in the background also give the photo way more depth and let it feel more genuine. It almost looks like it was just a photo of a person passing by.

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Jimmy Armstrong ‘The Dwarf’ by Bruce Davidson 

Bruce Davidson, a very well known American Magnum photographer, visited the Clyde Beatty Circus in 1958 when he was 24. The photographs he began to take that day would go on to form the first part of one of his most seminal bodies of work: Circus, a black-and-white visual chronicle of mid-century big tops in America as the cultural phenomenon was beginning to die out. He showed parts of the circus almost no one had seen before. He photographed what is supposed to be a place for fun and enjoyment in a more dark themed way. He showed that all the artist where just people like all of us, and wanted to be treated that way.

He photographed a lot of people but the one person that made his photographs become well known international was the dwarf clown: Jimmy Armstrong. The photographs around Jimmy show the side he was known for: the clown act, laughing with the children: the bright side. But it also shows a side most people had not seen before: the dark side. One of those pictures shows him eating a sandwich al by his own. It shows the loneliness that quite a lot of artist went/go trough. In the photographs and the documentary about them you also learn that it isn’t only the loneliness that influences his live quite drastically. What has a big impact on his happiness or the lack of it is the fact that even tough he is the circus clown he doesn’t want to be treated like the society clown. 

Of all picture I took this one because during my series around artists I also saw that a lot of the artist smoked and that when you look carefully you see a feint of sadness in their faces. This photograph is of course the perfect picture to show that their life isn’t always a party.

The cigarette, the clown make-up, the flowers, the circus tent and the pained face it all adds up to give a picture that creates a weird feeling. Even though most elements would normally create for a lively, happy picture the cigarette and his facial expressions changes that feeling completely. Even tough he looks directly in to the camera it almost can’t feel more real. You can almost feel the emotions in the photograph. 

Even though the picture it quite old the theme is still relevant today. Loneliness and having to put a “mask” on is stil something that happens daily. A good example is the movie: Joker a movie that shows the consequences that negativity can have on people. What it does to people who are looked at as clowns.

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Crawling Aerialist. By Norma Quintana

Norma Quintana is a photographer born in Cleveland, Ohio in the year 1954. She photographs with film, using available light. Most of the images she makes are in black and white. She has studied under very famous photographers like: Mary Ellen Mark, Graciela Iturbide and Shelby Lee Adams. Besides photographing she has also lectured at major universities al throughout the United States. She is one of the founding member of the Bay Area PhotoAlliance. A nonprofit organisation that is dedicated to supporting the understanding, appreciation and creation of contemporary photography.

This work was one of the works selected by SF Camerawork. They hosts an open call for entries around a topical and contemporary theme every year. This photo was part of the 2017′s theme: circus. TogetherI an international group of artists present a wide range of photographic interpretations of the word “circus.” Their work portrays the cultural, historical, and metaphorical reach of the circus in our collective imagination. It shows all kind of new parts of the circus you normally don’t see trough the eyes of various artists. 

I choose the following photo because I was looking for inspiration for a photograph serie I am making around the live of circus artists. While looking trough the internet for inspiration I stumbled on the work of Norma Quintana. This picture inspired me for my work to try and take pictures that aren’t “perfect”. Pictures most photographers wouldn’t even take because it isn’t the shot of the artist, circus they want. The fact that it isn’ the typical photo you see makes it very good. And even tough it looks like a fun picture of a child just crawling under neath what most likely is her mother it can also raise some questions. Is this child alone with her mother, and is that why she crawls on a relative unsafe place? Is this a fun picture or does it try to show a more heavily topic in a light way? Because today the day it’s no secret that quite a lot of artists camp with loneliness and have to train hours a day witch may lead to their children not always getting the attention the might need. 

The fact that the picture might or might not try to address a more serious topic makes it way more interesting. It also inspired meet make pictures that are liked by people who just want to see the live of the artists but also by people who want pictures that might have more meaning to them. But where you really have to think about the photograph. 

I used that idea in one of my picture I used. In the picture I show a Italian gymnast and her mother living in a caravan for 4. The picture doesn’t only show how they live but also how they used to live. The caravan that is clearly not for 2 people and the fact that it is only the daughter and mother makes you question what happend to their father/husband.

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Jesco Denzel, Lagos Waterfronts under Threat

Taken in 2017 this photograph was chosen to be the best photograph in the section Contemporary Issues, Singles by World Press Photo. It was taken by the photographer Jesco Denzel, he took it in Lagos Marino in Makoko. Makoko is an ancient fishing village that has grown into an enormous informal settlement on the the shores of Lagos Lagoon in Nigeria. 

The fishers village has a population that is estimated to have around 150 000 people many of those living their for many generations. They have been living there for a couple of centuries living more or less peacefully but the last years that has changed. Due to the rapid growth of Lagas and the increasing ask for ground to build on. And because ground in scarce around the lagoon and the government considers places like Makoko informal settlements they don’t hesitate to demolish those places for real estate for the wealthy. Evicting those people without and provisions are new housing. When criticised about depriving those people from their livelihood they just deny the inhabitation of those villages or even claiming that they are hideouts for criminals. In 2017 court rulings declared the evictions unconstitutional and said that the residents should be compensated and rehoused, but still the issue remains unresolved. Making the amount of people around Lagos Lagoon without a home increase rapidly. 

My first emotions I had when looking at this picture was disbelieve. Disbelieve that the people with wealth in this picture don’t seem to care about all the other people in the picture. Disbelieve that they can just act like there is nothing special. Those emotions where replaces by anger and sadness. Anger because I just can’t believe that people can just ignore those around them, act like there is nothing wrong anger that those people who already lived in poorly circumstances have to see their homes, village that they lived in for generations disappear just to for those who are wealthy. And sadness because I just can’t start ti understand how they have to feel, sadness because as a human being I want to help those people with all my might but now that I can’t help them.

The fact that this photo tells such big story but also that it makes so much and heavy emotion free in me makes it for me a very successful photo. It gives me a lot of respect for the photographer who successfully managed to make a photo that tells a story, a photo that motivates people to make changes, that raises awareness. 

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Lorenzo Tugnoli, Yemen Crisis.

With this photo Lorenzo Tugnoli tried to capture the nearly four years of conflict that Yemen had to endure. Those years of conflict made it that at least 8.4 million people are at risk of starvation and 22 million people; witch is around 3/4 of the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance. 

The conflicts started when in 2014 Houthi Shia Muslim rebels seized northern areas of the country inn order to force the president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, to go into exile. It escalated even more when Saudi Arabia, in coalition with eight other mostly Sunni Arab states, began air strikes against the Houthis; a political and armed movement. In 2018 the UN even stated that the war had led to the worst man made humanitarian disaster. It wasn’t only the shortage of food but the unaffordable prises that the citizen had to pay to obtain it. Those prices had inflated because of the quickly rising transportation costs the collapsing of their currency,.. 

By choosing to place the adults up in front in the picture he makes it so that you can really see the emotions on their face. That and the combination of the kids just behind the adults and after them their terrible living circumstances makes it that when watching you part by part get a clearer view of what the photographer is trying to show. That is also what really intrigues me about this photo, the fact that he works with 3 layers that all tell the same story but in a different way. The first layer tells it in the emotion of the people. The second one makes the story visible in both emotion and appearance. An the final layer shows you the harsh truth of their living circumstances. All three of those layers could make a very interesting photo alone so the combination of those 3 layers makes it in my eyes almost perfect.

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The lake Chad crisis by Marco Gualazzini

This photograph of a patient on an IV laying in a makeshift hospital in the village of Melea, near Bol in Chad is taken by the photographer Marco Gualazzini. This picture is one of 10 images that won the first place of world press photo for the section stories about environment.

The photo shows the results of a humanitarian crisis that is underway in the Chad Basin. A crisis that is caused by a mix of political and environmental factors. Lake Chad was once one of Africa’s largest lakes but is now experiencing massive desertification. In around 60 years the size of the lake has decreased by  approximately 90 percent. As a result traditional livelihoods such as fishing have faded, and water shortages are causing conflict between farmers and cattle herders.

This photograph really speaks to me because the picture was taken to try and show the world the consequences of what might be the 2 biggest causes of problems worldwide. The effects of war on a country and the effects of environmental problems. It might help realise people who are living in better circumstances that environmental change is something that can really effect peoples live a lot, especially those who are living in poverty. 

Even though the the story from the picture is quite heavy the photograph feels rather light. Even though you as viewer feel compassion for the man who clearly isn't in a health situation to say the least it send out a kind of tranquility. The way the man lays makes it almost look peacefully was it not for the health equipment and the worried look of the women. 

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This photograph of the protests in Hong Kong is taken by a Photojournalist based in Hong Kong named Lam Yik Fei. It shows the intensity of the protests that have been going on for weeks. Even though the photographer choses to only show the protester you as viewer can imagine the amount of police there is and the extremes they go to to keep away the portesters. By placing the orange umbrella in the foreground he makes it so that you first see the umbrella witch stand for the the protection against the force from the police. After that you see the protester that is more in the open backed up by people behind him and holding him. For me that is a great way of showing the bond and trust they have in each other. It show that al these people who might not even know each other come to getter and help each other for the same goal.

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Young girl holding a flower, demonstration against the war in Vietnam, Washington., 1967

This photograph was taken by Marc Riboud a French photographer in 1967. The picture shows a 17 year old student who is protesting against the war in Vietnam. This picture perfectly sums up what Marc Riboud tried to doe during his work in Vietnam. Their where some war photographers take picture for income or just pure informational his work had the intention touring peace. With his work he tried to make the world a better place. He did this by showing the war in a way that it still motivated people to try and make a change but also by showing people that there was still hope. By not only showing the horror of the war, not only the soldiers but by showing those who suffered from the war.

Even though this photograph was taken in the Vietnamese war it shows a totally different side than the picture from Don McCullin of the Shellshocked US Marine. Both photographers try to show the war but there where Don McCullin focused on the soldier Marc Riboud payed his focus on the people affected by it. The young student raising up to the war. It is a great example how trough the eyes of 2 different photographers something can look totally different. This also is a good reminder that no matter the intentions the photo’s you see are always the photo’s like the photographer wants you to see them. 

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This picture titled: “Shellshocked US Marine, Hue, Vietnam” might be one of the most iconic war photographs of Do McCullin taken during the Vietnam war in 1968 in Hue. The picture form McCullin of the Shellshocked American soldier quickly became one of the most famous war photographs.

When asked about how he felt that his picture became so well known his answer was: "It kind of gets on my nerves now," he said , "because it has appeared everywhere.” 

For me this picture is very inspiring because he is able to capture so much emotions in to one picture. But also due to the picture taking of in popularity and becoming a picture that almost everybody recognises it keeps people remembering what happend then. It keeps people reminding of the effect that war has on human lives. It is a great example of photography as a medium to bring attention to certain topics. 

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This photo taken by Dorothea Lange, titled: "Migrant Mother” is taken in Nipomo, California. She took the picture while working for the U.S. government’s Farm Security Administration program. It’s taken in 1936 during the Great Depression with the intention to raise awareness for impoverished farmers. 

I love this photo because it is a great example of photography with the intention to help people. In this case the photo even became the symbol for the aid programme to help the farmers. The main reason this photo interests me so much isn’t the usage of the light or even the superb quality. It is the way the emotion is so dominant in the photo and even overwhelms me. 

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Taken by Sebastião Salgado in 1984 this picture of refugees at the Korem camp in Ethiopia is still relevant. Even tough different reasons people worldwide are still walking thousands of kilometers  just to find a place to call their home for them and their family.

What attracts my attention to this photo is the perfect usages of the light and the refugee in the background to give more depth in the picture. The longer you look at the picture the more details you see but also the amount of questions rises. The picture is a perfect way to show the hard circumstances in a way that it isn’t shocking but still harsh.  

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This photograph of James Nachtwey shows a young Hutu man who opposed the genocide in Rwanda, where Hutu’s killed 100 000 Tutsi’s, and was as a result imprisoned in a concentration camp.

This photo is a big inspiration for me because not only is the usage of the light and sharpness incredible, the raw emotion this image shows is just stunning. This image definitely inspired my to use photography as a medium to try to raise awareness and help people.