Concentration Ideas
Elderly couples/ family portraits from a unique perspective
Hollowed books made into scenes
agrarian life
Juxtaposition of happiness in melancholy scenes
tatoos
Hollowed books made into scenes
agrarian life
Juxtaposition of happiness in melancholy scenes
tatoos
Artist Hero Elliot Erwitt
Elliot Erwitt is a photo journalist known for his ironic and candid photo style. With one click of a button he is able to create stories and scenarios truly fulfilling the saying " a picture is worth a thousand words". Now the work I will be focusing on is the one in the bottom right titled "Pittsburgh (boy with gun to his head) 1950-1950". It is a 12x17.5 inch photograph of a young boy who presumably lives in Pittsburgh holding a gun to his head while also holding a huge smile on his face. I chose to focus mainly on this piece because it's not only technically sound with clear use of the rule of thirds and good usage of texture of the ruffled shirt and the cobblestone road with the smoothness and clarity of the child and the gun to create a good sense of contrast in this black and white photograph. There is also great contrast between the structured pattern of the road in the background and the organic shapes that the focal point creates bringing even more emphasis to the focal point. While all the lines are pointing to the background bringing your eyes from the foreground to the background giving your eyes a place to rest. There is unity throughout the entire cobblestone background creating an emphaisis on the subject of the photo. There is great contrasts in the photo between light and dark, in and out of focus and textures as well which helps to add to the emphasis on the focal point making it the dominant part of the photograph. This piece is very realistic although the situation of the subject isn't which creates another great Irony within a photo which already has many. I love this photo mainly because it's right in your face with its irony, as there is a child smiling and holding a gun to his head, but this irony brings about deeper thought and meaning and questioning to the mind when you start questioning what it's really about. It's perfect blend between the whole story being there and there being a deeper meaning makes this piece a great photo for the common man and the art major alike. As it grapples with complex issues of race and poverty and inner city violence with a simple and ironic photograph.
Museum Visit #1: RISD
Photo Series 1: Fire Works
For this series I decided to take advantage of the Fourth of July celebrations. But instead of taking high speed photos to freeze the fireworks in time or use a tripod to capture just the motion of the firework I decided to take a long exposure shot of the fireworks freehand creating unique designs and patterns in each light trail of each firework. Forming a personality and identity with each different firework. For this work I was inspired by Jimmy Hendrix's National anthem that he played at Woodstock. Because, while still being patriotic, the way it was presented, with feed back and long breaks from the actual song which touched on the political turmoil which was present during that time. I took a usually Patriotic symbol as well and turned it into an ominous and unfamiliar shape by taking a new perspective on the holiday cliché. By doing this I wanted to make a commentary on the current division in America between Conservatives and Liberals and the high tensions in America despite the Patriotic celebrations taking place.
Some Small Concentrations
Starry Night
This series for me was all about capturing a moment. With clear sky's and little to no light pollution, aside from the rising moon, the conditions were absolutely perfect for capturing the Milky Way that night. So me and some friends went to gooseberry island to capture the beautiful nighttime sky. Goosberry island was a naval base during the Second World War and its fortified towers littered with graffiti and surrounded by overgrown brush made for the perfect foreground complimenting the organic and soft starlit background each making each other stand out in their own ways. The leading lines of the tower leads your eye to the stars which then lead your eyes to the surrounding ground leading your eyes back to the tower itself making a cyclical pattern of eye movement, each time you brush over a certain section something new pops out. I truly did love this photo shoot because it was only about capturing what was already there and bringing it to life. Nature made the beauty we just set out to capture and amplify that beauty. It was quite an adventure and left me wanting, not able to keep my gaze from the beautiful night sky before me. In one word it was amazing
Sluggish
Artist Hero 2: Yousuf Karsh
Yousuf Karsh Is another Photographer, who is very well known for his portraits that not only show strong emotion but also capture the personality of the subject. Through changes in scenery, lighting, positioning of the subject, perspective, and Facial expression, Karsh is able to make each photo tell a story and open up a window into each subjects life. Yousuf Karsh documented a wide range of time eras from the forties to the eighties mainly capturing pop Icons from world leaders to comedians and everything in between. Karsh uses dramatic lighting and contrast to emphasize not only the subject but the subjects face and facial expressions in order to better capture the emotion being portrayed. by using these techniques he is able to take seemingly similar pictures, from similar points of view, and make them completely unique in their expression and "mood". Showing that you don't have to sacrifice quality and creativity if you focus on a very streamlined concentration. But the exact opposite can become true if you create a different story with each subject and let they're personality shine through.
Museum visit 2: MFA
Artist hero 3: Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange was a photographer who mainly documented everyday people during the Great Depression. She is most famous for her Photograph "Migrant Mother" (top right photo). But my favorite, and the one I'll be talking about is known as "farmer" (bottom left) it's A 9.5x7.5 Gelatin silver print c. 1930's during the era in which America and the world was suffering from its greatest economic recession the world had known. It's set in rural America, most likely on a sharecrop farm, during the Great Depression. It's a picture of an African American farmer standing infront of a post of a barbed wire fence with rows of crops behind him. There is a good sense of symmetry in this photo with equal amounts of background "noise" on each side of the man who is standing in the middle of the photo with a crooked post in the middle of him. The barbed wire and post act as leading lines and bring the focus to the mans face which is meloncholly yet hopeful for the future. The rows of crops act as leading lines to the horizon which let the eye rest only to be brought back and re-evaluate the face of the farmer. The work is a beautiful realistic piece that tells the simple story of a farmer who is down on his luck due to the uncontrollable circumstance of the Great Depression, but who is also hopeful for the future progression to come. It also grapples with the racial tensions and hardening social constructs and norms which occurred during the Great Depression. By featuring a black man the photograph not only acts as a commentary on the effects of the Great Depression but also on the effects of sharecropping and increased racism during this time, making it a very important historical piece of art. As it grapples with multiple historical issues. This is one of my favorite pieces as it tells a simple story of the life of a farmer while also grappling with larger issues of the time.
Kaliedoscope Eyes
this series gained inspiration from a child's toy I found in Saver's. Looking through this network of mirrors and convex lenses, mundain shelves and aisles turned into beautiful mandalas. Concrete lines and shapes turned into abstractions of color and light each place more beautiful than the last. I wanted to capture that, but not by using software or editing abnormal photo I chose to use an actual teleidoscope. And after many different lenses and rigs to attach the teliedoscope to my camera I decided to use a 55mm-75mm lense and hold the teleidoscope infront of the lens. Taking photos of every day objects to turn them into shapes and patterns that resemble stain glass windows in an old cathedral more than they resemble themselves. Making art of the mundain. Through this process I realized that I'd rather work without editing software, only using my camera and my creativity, and fail than use it and sacrifice authenticity.