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.
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.
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.
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
these are such great references for the ideas you have. i think edward hopper is someone great to think about, i personally love the distance he places in his paintings. the space is usually semi vast but it becomes so intimate with the subject. thats an idea to roll with, give your subject some space and let the enviroment speak a bit.
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