3 Photographers.

Erin Mushalla-
Was recommended by a friend and apparently graduated from AIB. I enjoy that her work feels very simple however you can tell a lot of thought and work went into it. I also really like her color pallet. Two is my favorite of the series posted on her site.
http://web.mac.com/mushalla/iWeb/Erin%20Mushalla/collection.html

Laura Letinsky-
Betsy recommended her to me during one of our crits and I absolutely love her stuff. Her color pallet is also something I find intriguing. Very neutral, bland colors with flashes of vibrancy and boldness. I am not sure what her work is really about but I can see some similiarities in what I am trying to express and what she has expressed, or atleast the way I interpret it.
http://www.houkgallery.com/letinsky03/letinsky1.html

Simon Hogberg-
A photographer I found stumbling the internet. I think for me some of his ideas are more interesting then the actual photographs. Faces of New York for example, is a series of street photography. They are photographs of people he found unique and interesting and then interviewed them all by asking them the same few questions. The Thought Project is probably my favorite of his. He once again, photographs strangers on the streets, and asks them to tell him what they were thinking right before he appraoched them. I think its interesting to see the faces and what random things they have to say.
http://www.simonhoegsberg.com/

hey guuuuuys

make lots of awesome photographs and videos(yay julia!) this week!
if you need anything shoot me or laz an email!

3 Artists - Julia Barlow

Now that I've switched formats from photography to video -- I want to look up video artists in addition to photographers. So this assignment is on hold for me right now, but I will be looking into documentary videographers.

Photographers I'm looking at

1) David Hilliard

~Each panorama being, three-four photos with moderately thin borders, separately contain a composition that could be used as a singular photo. I see that he puts more thought into each as a singular to create a collective panorama. His few vertical pano's are far more interesting with the perspective. Instead of just shooting three or four up and down in a basic area, he stays within the vertical, but moves around more.

2) Jesse Goff

~Also a pano photographer, he takes urban and landscape. He fill's the seamless frames with seductive lighting and a sense of place, being submersed in the view.

3) Daniel Hellerman

~Shoots HDR images with tweaked color saturation. HDR-High Dynamic Range/Multiple Exposures. Some of his composition involve oddly exposed lights and darks. I feel this works some of the time, but also detracts from the meaning.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielhellerman/sets/72157600928041783/

~D Holecheck

Three artists: Jessica Barsom

Three artists whom I feel a connection with and am inspired by are:

Nan Goldin--

What I admire about her work is how she was said to compulsively photograph her friends and her encounters. This is something I greatly admire. Her photographs are "the diary I let people read."

Minor White--

His beautiful black and white aesthetic.

Susan Meiselas--

her very interesting documentary work with strippers.

3 Photographers: by Kyle Mullane

David La Chapelle:

La Chapelle is one photographer I love looking at. The color in his photographs is always over the top and pops out at you like his subject matter. The quirky way in which he photographs people for example the last supper with Jesus being surrounded by rappers or Courtney Love holding a dead Kurt Cobain made to look like Jesus. He captures how we look at pop culture in a bizarre way.

Larry Clark:

The way Larry Clark photographed 'Tulsa' was great. He was with his friends in his hometown shooting his drugs and just photographed it. The pictures are sad yet no one in the pictures looks miserable, everyone just seems to be stuck in their hometown lost in their habits. Larry Clark is a photographer I do not always look at to inspire my work but I'm always looking at either way.

Gregory Crewdson:

I am a big fan of staged dramatic lighting and Crewdson is a master at this. He creates photographs of surreal American homes and neighborhoods. I really like creating lighting in my pictures and look at his work for inspiration when photographing.

Three artists I am looking at

The three artists I am looking at:

by Heather Saide

1) Gregory Crewdson

Crewdson's work really touches upon the little details and moments, which makes the narrative in his photographs. This is what I am trying to focus on in my work and it really inspires me to look at his photographs. Yes, a lot of work and thought go into just one photograph of his, but just that one facial expression, one motion, object, lighting; makes the one photograph a whole story. I also really like the way he uses lighting to signify different aspects of the environment of the photograph. I really want to try this but by using natural lighting.

2) David Hilliard

I just started to look at Hilliard's work and I became a huge fan. I love the way he uses color and the way he places his images. The panoramic are really beautiful. They bring up a question of narrative and time. I like how he puts spaces between the images that are supposed to go together. The gap becomes part of the story and makes it less obvious. It leaves the viewer more interested.

3) David LaChapelle

Lastly, I have always loved LaChapelle's work. I love how he makes stories and such strong, controversial statements. His colors are so vibrant. I always look at his work for inspiration because he is one of the first photographers I ever looked at.

Three Photographers

Don Shreve

shreveimaging.com

I was checking out Shreve for his exteriors when i was looking at architectural photography and I didn't like his subject matter at all. So I started looking at his interiors and I find the framing very interesting and I love his use of light (both subjects I need to work on). 

Andrew Doran

andrewdoran.com

I was looking at Doran's interiors and found them pretty boring and repetitive with all of the interiors I have been looking at. So, I looked at his detail work and although I don't like the selective focus or most of the subject matter, it gave me an idea of what I would photograph details of and what I should stay away from.

Nicole K.

photonicolek.com

I'm not sure of her full last name but I found her while looking for different framing of interiors. I don't enjoy her use of light but there are a few images on her website that helped me think of new ways to frame my subject matter. 

three influencial photographers

David Hilliard: Just recently I was struck by Davids work....His images pull you into a narrative and place you in environments that are very personal to him as they deal with relationships and actual recordings of life that he tweaks to make ordinary events seem chaotic. I am influenced by the quality of light he captures and although I am not making multiple frames to create one piece I am very interested in that process and through shooting my project I am now looking at the environment I am photographing my subject in as sections where I eliminate the pieces that show part of the subjects identity and find the pieces that encapsulate the subjects identity as a whole. Davids work is not only influencing my work for projects but also for my Large Format project I am working on.

Sally Mann: I have always been influenced by Sally Mann's work....Although her subjects are family and she already has a strong connection with them I am still amazed with the way she portrays that connection through her photographs. capturing this connection between subject and photographer is my main goal while creating this body of work, I feel to make the portrait more intersting that connection must exist. With my subjects I am not only thinking on a compositional level but also on a personal and conversational level which I feel creates more dynamic in the images I am making.

Aaron Ruell: I just stumbled upon this photographer, he has a ton of commercial images but his portaits and stong attention to color has tweaked the way I think as a I enter my subjects space. There are a handfull of his image where the space is so simplified but in a way still shows his subjects identity and on top of that he creates a narrative. The idea of simplifying the space in my photographs has caused me to focus more on my subject and the color of the environment surrounding them which in return creates a greater connection between the subject and myself.

Other influences:
Andrea Foti
Joel Sternfeld
Alec Soth
Laura Mcphee(portaits of girl)

Three Photographers (and a painter)

Francesca Woodman*

I look at Wooman's work a lot.  She is where I draw a lot of my ideas from.  Her images are very sad yet contain an unquestionable beauty and timelessness about them.  She uses both herself and models in her images which I think is interesting because in the images where she is posing she blends in with the other woman, that is to say that her being the subject in the images doesn't make it so much about her, as about the emotion eminating from the photograph, unlike with other photographers (for example Lee Friedlander, whos self portrait work differs from his other bodies, the work is about him)   In her images there is an isolation of the woman in them which I like, a feeling of blending into the background, or woodwork, her images where she has blurred the subject make the woman appear ghost like as if they're not even there and give a sense of desperation.  

Hannah Wilke

Wilke's work I look at less for the images and more for the feminist ideas with in them.  While I do not think the style of feminist photography used in the 1970's could necessarily be created today and hold the same meaning I find what she was working on very interesting and important to the progression of feminist art, particularly in photography (although Wilke was not limited to the medium).  I also enjoy the way she pushes the audience to question how they think about woman in photography (photographs), particularly with her series of photographs of "Snatch Shots" with ray Guns.  

Anne Arden McDonald

I feel that McDonald and Woodman were working with very similar ideas with in their photographs, and I like McDonald for many of the same reasons I like Woodman when it comes to the emotions within their images.  McDonald, however, I look at because of the more complex locations she is placing her subject (herself) in.  Even without a person in the image the photograph would still be great, which is a problem I often find myself struggling with, making the background and location of the person as visually important and appealing as the subject.  

Edward Hopper*

Although Edward Hopper is not a photographer I thought I should include him in this as he is the main person I have been looking at for this project, and with other bodies of work I have been working on.  His images contain a loneliness to them that I am drawn to, particularly with his melancholy images of woman.  

*I was unable to find an official website

just a reminder

bringing in NEW WORK every week to class is essential to making a great body of work. there isnt really an excuse not to have new work every week. i know for me, it is a struggle to make the time to go home every weekend and shoot but i make it happen. you should all be striving to have a body of work at the end of the semester you love and want to hold on to. for some of you junior is next semester and it could be a rude awakening to your "process".

remember the assignment laz gave you at the end of last weeks class, its important to be looking at artists, photographers or not, and know where you can relate your work back to and get inspiration from. i try to look at photo blogs every day and find new artists to look at and love.

new work next week and also if you are thinking or feel like you are in the place to start an edit, bring in everything you have shot. good luck and make awesome pictures!

to Buck

Buck- 

I spoke with my grandmother earlier and she gave me Rev. Cheryl's email: RevCMinor@aol.com. Just let her know you are in a class with Bill and Jackie Mawhinney's granddaughter. They are really good friends. Good luck shooting!

Oh and the church is All Saints Church, 17 Clark St. Belmont. 

post spring break!

i hope everyones spring break was relaxing, fun, and of course productive. im looking foward to seeing some beautiful and exciting work from you all. 

just as a heads up: the color processor at school was down today, and should be up and running by tomorrow "mid day". annoying and sad but if it isnt fixed try to scan negatives and get something on the walls.

enjoy the last few hours of spring break and see you all bright and early wednesday!

week 6 approaches

i hope everyone had an awesome creating weekend. just to remind everyone 6 prints are due every class, ATLEAST. the walls should be overflowing with new work and new ideas every week.

work on your artist statements and come to class prepared to talk in every single one of your peers crits.

-betsy

Buck-

There was a guy that graduated from AIB named Este Aladro.. I don't know if you've already looked at his work but he did a lot of portraits having to do with occupations.. his website is estephotography.com 

Drew-

Instead of using the macro lens to abstract objects you can use colors, shadows, and textures. If it is something you are going to stick with i would experiment with the way light hits different fabrics with wrinkles or folds or just any light/shadow casts. 

Julia-

I really enjoyed this weeks photos. I think talking with her and letting her open up was a really great idea.. She looked more comfortable in front of the camera. I can definitely tell you have been following everyones advice and I'm really excited about your project.

Kyle-

Again I really liked the improvement I saw in your work this week! The way you used the shadow of the railing on the wall with photographs really helped display the tension. I know we said it in class but just to reiterate- rephotographing existing portraits of you and your brother experimenting with different lighting/shadows will work better than scanning the images in.. If you want to experiment with the scanned images it would be worth trying the diptychs that Laz was suggesting.

Everyone else if I think of something to say I will but that's all that's on my mind right now.

to jess

this is an article from the new york times, today actually! which is awesome. but these are some questions being asked about the landscape and how it functions in todays photographic world. they are questions that will be asked if you are making this kind of work. maybe not in our class but totally in junior. they are ideas to think about, as well as ideas that you might want to challenge. can you make a landscape without these ideas being in the work? can a landscape function like it did before the rise of post modernist and the post post modernist world?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEEDE1E38F930A25754C0A966958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

week 5

so i hope todays class was inspiring, thought provoking, and helpful. all of you have A LOT to think about this week, but the most important thing is to shoot. shoot a ton. dont stop. work through whatever is bothering you. you are all in exciting places and should have tons and tons of prints next week.

just as a reminder this was week 5 (AAAAAH SCARY).

remember to submit to TAKING IN! today-friday (25th, 26th, 27th). its a great opportunity for exposure. you not only get your work put in a book, but also online, and in a gallery. how exciting! remember final print quality and up to 5 images!

also is anyone needs anything you can contact me through my email elizabethbetsy@gmail.com or through facebook or in the halls or color lab. whatever you want to do!

-betsy

first post

hey guys so here is the blog. i really hope you all use it. this could be a really great opportunity to suggest artists, ideas, and general thoughts that we didnt talk about in class or you thought about later. this can be used to even just tell the class you made an image you love, how shooting went, or something exciting you read or watched. 

work hard this weekend and bring awesome stuff to class. i have faith in all of you! and i will try to be on time this class. shoot shoot shoot! if you have any questions for me, im always around or you can shoot me an email.

-betsy 

ps. a few people are missing from the email list, i think jared and drew, can someone link them or tell me their email?