Visual Journal

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Photo 71, 72 73, 74, and 75

Artist: Martin Parr

Medium: Photography

Source: http://www.martinparr.com/

What initially attracted me to Martin Parr’s photos was how his images were often straightforward, candid, kind of awkward, and a little bit funny. I thought he did a really nice job at capturing the unglamorous, but familiar, moments in the everyday lives of human beings. 

In photo 71, I loved how unapologetic the kids looked while eating their ice cream even though they had made a mess on themselves. In photo 72, I thought it was really funny how the parent was in the arcade game with his daughter while his younger child was outside arcade game. To me, it looked like the younger child was supervising the two inside the arcade game. The man in photo 73 probably put sunblock on his lips for extra protection, but to me, I just thought of a clown reading the Sunday funnies at the beach. What I liked about photo 74 was how it was just a really nicely composed image. This image wasn’t as funny as the other photos but I thought it did do a really nice job at capturing part of the life of these two working class men. I really liked photo 75 because it made me think. That fact that the model isn’t in focus in this image forces us to look at the women on both sides of the model and compare them. On one side you have two frantic women working for the runway show and on the other side you have to seemingly upper class women sitting back comfortably to enjoy the show.

If there’s one thing I’m hoping to add to my creative sensibility from Martin Parr, it’s his eye and appreciation for capturing the humorous and unglamorous moments in everyday life.

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Photo 66, 67, 68, 69, and 70

Artist: Simone Lueck

Medium: Photography

Source: http://www.simonelueck.com/Cuba-TV

The images I’ve selected to add to my visual journal come from Simone Lueck’s project titled, “Cuba TV.” What initially attracted me to these images is that each TV seemed to have its own personality.

What I like about photo 66 is that Lueck included actual people in this image. This makes for more of an interesting photo (in a collection of images which all focus on the same thing) while not taking away from the central theme of her project too much. Photo 67 and 68 weren’t as interesting to me compositionally but the thing that I was attracted to in these images were the TV screens themselves. Each TV screen seemed like a picture within a picture that represented another art piece. The fact that the TV screens were often oversaturated with color, grainy, and distorted actually gave it somewhat of an artistic aesthetic for me. I liked photo 69 both because of the items on top of the TV, which create an ethereal ambiance, and because of the TV itself, which looked like someone had just passed a magnet through it. Photo 70 was one of my favorites because I thought it was kind of creepy. It seemed like the baby doll was used as a form of decoration to make for a prettier living room, but to me, it just added an eerie vibe.

What I hope to add to my creative sensibility is something that I will actually be doing for my final project. The kind of images that we see on each TV is the kind of images I’m hoping to create through a process called pixel sorting and data moshing/bending. These methods fall under a more recent art form called glitch art, which seems to be gaining popularity.

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Photo 61, 62, 63, 64, and 65

Artist: Jean Baudrillard

Medium: Photography

Source: Science Library

I got Jean Baudrillard’s images from a book called, “Photographies 1985 - 1998.” What attracted me to Baudrillard’s photos was that I thought his photographic style was very similar to mine.

What I liked about photo 61 was how the soft light made, what could have been, a dark picture look more innocent. I associate very black and harsh shadows with a gloomy aesthetic and soft lights with more of a youthful and innocent aesthetic, so it was interesting to see these two styles side by side. I was attracted to photo 62 because of the way the graininess of this image made this photograph look like a painting (it doesn’t show up as well on the computer). Photo 62 was probably my favorite image. At first I thought it was a double exposure, but then I realized it was probably shot while Baudrillard was in a car. Either way, the blurred out highway sign added a really nice abstract element to the photo. Photo 64 was a fun image to look at because of the symmetry and all the geometric shapes in it. Photo 65 was probably my least favorite because although it was nicely framed, well exposed, and followed the rule of thirds, it seemed a lot like the kind of images I take when I’m walking around and can’t find anything interesting to shoot.

Overall, however, I really enjoyed looking at Baudrillard’s images. I’m not quite sure what I would like to add to my creative sensibility since I think we have such a similar “photographic eye” but these images have definitely gotten me excited to play with colors as I move from black and white film to color film!

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Photo 56, 57, 58, 59, and 60

Artist: Bruce Davidson

Medium: Photography

Source: 

http://www.magnumphotos.com/Catalogue/Bruce-Davidson/1959/USA-NYC-Brooklyn-Gang-NN146957.html

http://unofficial-dean.tumblr.com/post/82373075301/a-series-of-photographs-taken-by-bruce-davidson

What initially attracted me to Bruce Davidson’s work was his statement for this photographic project. The name of this project is titled, “Brooklyn Gang” because Davidson followed a group of teenagers who claimed part of the Brooklyn streets as their won. In a statement about his project, Davidson says, “I found myself involved with a group of unpredictable youths who were mostly indifferent to me. In time, they allowed me to witness their fear, depression, and anger. I soon realized that I, too, was feeling some of their pain. In staying close to them, I uncovered my own feelings of failure, frustration, and rage.”

After reading Davidson’s quote, I realized how emotion his photos were. Emotional in the sense that each image of he captured seemed to display a particular emotion. In photo 56 we see a moment of amusement, in photo 58 we see the kind of overconfidence boys in the Brooklyn gang had to carry themselves with, in photo 59 we see the kind of angst these same overconfident boys have to deal with, and in photo 57 and 60, we get a glimpse of teenage love.

If there’s on thing I hope to emulate after seeing Davidson’s images it’s his bravery in asking a random group of individuals (gang members, in this case) to follow and take pictures of them. His photoset inspired me to try to capture the essence of of a particular theme that interests me.

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Photo 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55

Artist: Michael Kenna

Medium: Photography

Source: Science Library

What I liked about Michael Kenna’s photos was that all his images looked very dramatic and that they had intense shadows/highlights. The book these images come from is titled, “Night Work” and I also admired the fact that Kenna did a whole black and white film photography project at night.

I liked Photo 51 and 53 because they seemed like scenes straight out of a scary movie, Photo 52 was interesting to me because the light bouncing off the houses created strong geometric shapes, Photo 54 provided a unique bird like perspective which was really fun to see through, and in Photo 55, I liked how the unique shapes and high concentration of shadows make you take a really good look at this photograph to be understand what you’re looking at (I thought it was either a patio or a courtyard).

As far as what I wish to borrow from Kenna’s creative sensibility, it’d probably be his willingness to take difficult photos. I think taking black and white film photos at night is something that takes a lot of patience and some trial and error. I’ve tried doing this at the beginning of my photo 1 class last semester and it might be something I’d be willing to try now since I know a little bit more of the technical/mechanical aspects of my camera and understand how to push process film.

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Photo 46, 47, 48, 49, and 50

Artist: John Pfahl

Medium: Photography

Source: Science Library

What first caught my attention of Pfahl’s work was that I could barely open up the book that his photos were in. That’s because his book, titled, “Waterfalls”, actually came in a slim, grey case that you had to open up first. After I pulled the book out of its case, I also like that Pfahl’s photos weren’t printed on a regular book that flips from one page to another but instead came in an accordion like fashion where each page folded over one another.

The thing that I liked about Photo 46 was that it kind of reminded me of a modern day photo of Ansel Adams’ “The Tetron and the Snake River.” The clearness of that image along with the curves of the water down below is what made me think of Adam’s photo. In Photo 47, I liked how Pfahl uses the house as a prop to make the waterfall an interesting object to look at. In Photo 48 and 49, I like how Pfahl was able to juxtapose urban environments with natural (or somewhat natural) environments (which contained the waterfalls). What I liked about Photo 50 was how nice the long exposure of that particular waterfall looked like. Long exposures of waterfalls have always been something I’ve wanted to do.

As far as what I wish to add to my creative sensibility from Pfahl’s images, it’d probably his unique cropping style. By narrowing his images into more of a landscape format, it helps squeeze more information into a single photograph, which I think gives people a greater sense of depth when looking at these kind of images.

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Photo 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45

Artist: Harry Callahan

Medium: Photography

Source: Science Library

What initially attracted me to Harry Callahan’s images is that it kind of reminded me of my photographic style. A lot of Callahan’s photos have a lot of darks and shadows which I think is similar to the photos I tend to take.

What I liked about Photo 41 is that not much light was needed in order to create a meaningful image. I picked Photo 42 because I thought there was something contradictory/funny about it. The woman in that image most likely put on her fur coat, pearl earrings, and a veiled hat to look nice in public, but Callahan captured her in a very unflattering moment. I picked Photo 43 because I thought it was a really great double exposure. Also, my interpretation may be wrong but, to me, the tired look on the woman’s face could be a representation of all the other individuals going about their own day on the street. From Photo 44, I liked the lines and angles that were used in this photo because it helps create a greater sense of depth. I’m still not sure exactly what it is that I like about Photo 45, but I think the use of signs, highlights/shadows, and shapes all come together to create a very bold image.

I’ve experimented with taking double exposures a little bit before but not as much as I have hoped. That’s probably the number one thing I’m hoping to start incorporating in my own photos after seeing Harry Callahan’s images. 

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Photo 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40

Artist: Toby Harvard

Medium: Photography

Source: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tobyharvard/

http://tobyharvard.tumblr.com/

In Photo 36, I like how although the blurred out subject almost takes up half of the image, it seems like his hat is pointing where I should be focusing my attention on. I also can’t help but think how difficult this image would have been with a camera that auto focuses. What I like about Photo 37 was how anticlimactic it was. You have something something that looks like champagne completely out of focus, and then you have a fire work in the background which is in focus but completely depreciated by the amount of space it occupies on the photograph in comparison to the towering bottle of champagne. What I liked about Photo 38 was it’s unique and unexpected perspective. The fact that it’s rotated on its side leaves me a little disoriented at first and makes me look at this image a little longer to “figure it out.” The thing that captured my attention from Photo 39 was the fact that the red balloon on the side and the white space in this picture made it look like a painting by Burgoyne Diller, who was a part of the geometric abstraction and neoclassicism art movements. In Photo 40 I liked subtle contrast between the orange fireworks and the off blue fade that can be seen throughout the image.

There are 2 things I’m hoping to add to my creative sensibility from Toby Harvard. I would like to experiment more with blurring out the subject in the foreground (while focusing on something in the background) to add depth to my images. And I’d also like to present future images in unique perspective like Harvard did in Photo 38.

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Photo 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35

Artist: Fazal Sheikh

Medium: Photography

Source: Science Library

The collection of photo that I’m writing about is from Fazal Sheikh’s book titled, “Moksha.” In his book there are images of a photographic project where he photographed dispossessed widows. Cast out by their families and the government, they worship and live in temples and survive on charitable hand-outs/begging. What  I like about Photo 31 is that although it was a picture of a real moment in time, it looked like a pattern you might find on a shirt. Photo 32 is visually interesting to look at but the reason I ultimately picked it is because I thought it was kind of funny. I thought that the photographer either put the animal that close to the wall for his shot, or the animal chose to stay that close to the wall for its own purpose. Either scenarios were humorous to me. I like Photo 33 because I felt the motion Sheikh captured in it made  me better understand what that experience may have felt like for him in real life. I liked Photo 34 because of its strong contrast. Though on a more symbolic level, I like how all of Sheikh’s still images provoked a relationship with the widowed women. “Suniti Chatterjee (’Good rule’)” was my favorite image of the widowed women. I really like the gleaming light that you can see in the subject’s eyes and I like how detailed her face looked.

If there’s one thing I wish to add to my creative sensibility from Sheikh’s images is his use of patterns and symmetry. All the still that I was drawn to have some kind of pattern or symmetry which I think has helped make those images more visually captivating.

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Photo 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30

Artist: Miguel Rio Branco

Title: Unknown

Medium: Photography

Source: Science Library

What initially attracted me to Branco’s photos was the simple fact that he was Brazilian and that he took his images in Brazil (which means a lot to me since I was born in Brazil).

As far as to why attracted me to each individual photo I chose to include in my visual journal, I will start with Photo 26. In this photo, I really like the ominous looking shadows that look like they’re about to take over the small and humble chairs on the lower left part of this photograph. In Photo 27, I liked the abstractness of this image. Although it’s a very grainy picture, has high contrast, and we can’t really see the fact of the model, I like that we’re still able to pick up on the model posture. In Photo 28, I was drawn to the contrast between the red and blue colors in such a dark looking scene. I picked Photo 29 out because I really liked the fact that we can see someone or something distracting people from the subject in this picture. I was attracted to Photo 20 because it looks like a scene out of a scary movie, when in reality, I know that photos Branco took in his book, “Aperture,” were taken candidly.

The thing I wish to add to my creative sensibility from Branco’s images is really the technique or photographic style that he used in Photo 29. Although I described it as distracting, there’s something that, at the same time, helps people focus more on a particular subject in the image, I think this might have to do with the fact that the subject appears to be sharper than the blurred out person or object in the way.

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Photo 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25

Artist: Stefan Banz

Title: Unknown

Medium: Photography

Source: Science Library

The reason I like Photo 21 (the image of the grown woman licking the bald spot on the old man’s head) is because it’s one of those images that lures you into looking at the rest of a collection of images that a photographer has taken. It grabs your attention. I was looking at Photo 22 with a friend in the library and my friend mentioned how she didn’t like Photo 22 because it was slightly blurry. I told her that the photographer most likely purposely took this image a little out of focus and that that was the exact reason as to why I liked it. One theme that I often saw while looking at Banz’s images was somewhat of a dark/twisted scene in association with an actual child, or a children’s toy.This juxtaposition between something innocent and sinister can also be seen in Photo 23. In this image, it looks like the toy giraffe is being hanged from the door knob. What I like about Photo 24 is the monotony and the dreariness of it. Photo 25 reminded me a lot of Photo 17 by Olivia Bee. Just like I had mentioned for Bee’s image, I like how you can create a story of where this image was taken and of what the story of this image might be (even though you have very little contextual cues).

The one thing I would like to add to my creative sensibility after looking through Banz’s photos is the idea of getting back in the habit of experimenting with a flash. I normally prefer to crank my ISO up instead of using my flash, but Banz has shown me the kind of dramatic images that  a flash may help create.

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Photo: 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20

Artist: Olivia Bee

Medium: Photography

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/-oliviabee-/

What I liked about, “snowday” was Bee’s ablity to create a very nostalgic atmosphere. Although, I don’t know any of her friends in this image, I could relate to it. Photo 17 is one of my favorite images by Bee because at first you think you’re looking at just a blue image, but then you realize that you’re actually looking at two boys getting ready to jump off a diving board. I think it’s really cool that I was able to put a story like that together (even if my interpretation of what’s going on isn’t right) with such limited information. What I like about “Dessert Roadtrip for Vans” is the fact that I can also relate to this image. The orange glare that is reflected off the truck from a setting (or rising) sun is something that is really beautiful to see in real life but it’s not something I’ve ever stopped to think about trying to capture in a photograph. What I like about “Valentino” is its simplicity in both how it was composed and of what colors were used in the framing of this image. In “Sunrise Train”, I like how features that may make another image look bad are exactly the features that make this image stand out (such as the fact that this image has a lot of grain and it underexposed).

When I look at Olivia Bee’s photos, I think they’re all really colorful and vibrant images. If there’s one thing I hope I can do more of it’s to take advantage of color more often when comping an image instead of taking photos with the mindset that filing a frame makes for an interesting photo.

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Photo 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15

Artist: Margaret Morton

Medium: Photography

Source: Science Library

The thing that attracted me to Morton’s images was her portraits. I really liked how her portraits weren’t regular, straightforward, simplistic portraits. Each person that she took a portrait of in her book, “Fragile Dwelling” were either in an interesting scene or had some kind of interesting prop to go along with them, or both. The prop that caught my attention in, “Mizan, East River” was the smoke. I liked that I didn’t know where the smoke was coming from or what it was. What initially caught my attention in “Louie was kitten, the Hill” was the wide tones of gray that I saw in this photo. After reading the title, though, I was more interested in the fact that I never even noticed there was a cat in Louie’s room. “Mizan, Doug, and Jimmy, Easy River” was my favorite photo because of the strong contrast this photo had and because of how something as trivial as smoke became such a powerful force in this image. From, “Emilio, the Rail Yard, Upper West Side,” the composition of this image is what caught my attention. I liked how it told a story although it was a still image. In, “Clay, Southbound ramp, FDR Drive,” I really liked how the plate with a spoon and fork became such powerful props, There’s something about Clay’s nonchalant posture that is also really captivating.

The thing that I wish to add to my creative sensibility is Morton’s bravery. There are times I’m afraid to ask strangers for a photo and Morton is walking into the places that homeless individuals have created to take portraits of them.

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Photo 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10

Artist: Jeff Wall

Medium: Photography

Source: Science Library

The things that attracted me to Jeff Wall’s images were the simplicity and minimalism behind each photo. In “Milk”, I like how Wall is able to turn something as boring as milk as the thing that is considered the “life” of that particular image. In “Blind window no. 2″, my eyes are drawn to the shapless, stray rag in the corner of a picture that is monotonous and rigid, for the most part. In “Cuttings”, I’m not sure how he does it, but I like how Wall is able to transform a mundane, everyday moment into an artistic photograph. In “A wall in a former bakery”. I like how Wall is able to trust his curiosity to snap a photo that he think is interesting and that others may find interesting as well. What I like about “Sunken area” was that I was lured into this image to look at weeds growing out of part of a sidewalk. The captivating white and black stripes ultimately led me to stare at something I probably wouldn’t have really paid any attention to in real life.

Something that I wish to add to my creative sensibility is Wall’s willingness to stop and capture the small moments that are personally interesting, and turn those moments into artistic photographs. There have been times when certain things that I’ve seen have stuck out to me but that I’ve decided not to capture because I thought I would be taking a cliché image. Wall inspires me to struggle with those kinds of moments/images a little longer in order to end up creating the image that I have pictured in my mind.

[vast23101]

Photo 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

Artist: Lee Friedlander

Title: Unknown

Medium: Photography

Source: Science Library

There were a couple of things that attracted me to these images. In photo 1, I liked how familiar Friedlander’s wrinkled v-neck t-shirt looked like. In photo 2, I liked the contrast between Friedlander’s somber face and photographs of men smiling right behind him. In photo 3, I liked how we’re shown that although these selfies are made to seem like they’re candid and effortless, there is some planning that goes behind every image. Image 4 was really amusing because of how comfortable Friedlander is with shooting ungraceful selfies (we see his stomach show through his boxes, his hat looks like it’s falling off his head, and we see some serious double chin action). In image 5, I believe the image is of Friedlander and his granddaughter. What I like about this image is that although all his selfies are somewhat comical and staged, this was probably one of the more serious images that he took.  

As far as to what I would want to relate to my creative sensibility from all these images, it’s Friedlander’s comfort with looking foolish while taking photos. There are times when I shy away from photo opportunities because I don’t want to stand out or be seen as the “guy with the camera”. Though, Friedlander has kind of showed me that you can take some really interesting photos when you let go of that mindset.