Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Landscape

Landscape:
Jeremy Turner, Landscape Panorama

Jeremy Turner, Landscape Panorama

The genre of landscape photography pertains to the representation of nature and capturing the essence of nature through a photograph. Landscape photography serves to show different spaces throughout the world. Within these spaces, strongly defined landforms, weather, and light serve to make up a landscape photograph. Not only do landscape photographs expose wilderness and nature to the public eye, they convey a strong appreciation of the world to the public.

In landscape photography, nature and scenery is the only subject of the picture. This type of photograph represents little to no human activity, and sometimes even animals can not be considered a subject in landscape photography. Usually within the photo, scenery is photographed from only one viewpoint. There are three different styles of landscape photography that are representational, impressionistic, and abstract. Landscape photography captures the beauty of nature.



Jeremy Turner, Landscape Panorama

Jeremy Turner, Landscape Panorama

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Alexander Gardner:
Alexander Gardner, 1980
Alexander Gardner is a Scottish photographer who was recognized for his photographs of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, as well as the exploration of the assignation of Lincoln. In 1860, following Lincoln's election into presidency, sparked a great war. Gardner began his photography career by photographing soldier's in their uniforms as they were leaving for the war. Gardner's popularity sparked from his self-portraits of these uniform soldiers. 
Gettysburg, 1863
 In Gardner's photography, he often depicts soldier's that are dead or wounded from battle. He puts the soldiers in the foreground of the picture and emphasizes the landscape in the background of the war grounds. Due to the fact that the pictures are black and white, it gives them an antique look. Also, the landscape is rocky which sets the tone of the picture being dark, arid, and unsettling. How he focuses on the rocks and the way he photographs the landscape sets the mood and evokes emotion from the viewer.

Gardner became heavily influenced by the works of Matthew Bradey after he visited the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. After this, he began working for Matthew Bradey and he traveled throughout the country and documented the war. Gardner became an expert in portraiture photography, as well as specialized in making Imperial photographs which can be described as large prints. The outbreak of the Civil War increased the demand in Gardner's pictures and he shot battles such as Antiedem and Gettysburg. 

In 1886, Garder published a two volume work that is titled Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War. After the Civil War he focused on photographing Native Americans, following that he gave up photography in 1871. Some art critiques criticize his work and claim that he manipulated his photographs by moving bodies and weapons to get the photographic effect that he wanted. Also, Gardner was recognized for training his young apprentice Timothy O'Sullivan. 

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Timothy O' Sullivan:
Timothy O'Sullivan, 1871
Timothy O' Sullivan is an American photographer who is recognized for his photographs on the Civil War as well as Western United States. O' Sullivan like Gardner was also employed by Matthew Bradey. When photographing, O'Sullivan's picutures represented nature as a tame and industrialized land. Through his photography, he combined both science and art to capture beauty within the photograph. His photography served to attract settlers to the west. 
South Side of Inscription Rock, 1873

In O' Sullivan's work South Side of Inscription Rock, his central focus is on a rock formation in New Mexico. With this rock formation, he also includes the desert to give a dry and arid effect on the landscape. Through this landscape photograph, he captures nature and its beauty. This photograph is very sublime in that the rock formation is on a grander scale and it is awe-inspiring. He does an excellent job at capturing the strong formation of land. 

O' Sullivan created his most famous pieces of art in 1863 called "The Harvest of Death." These photographs depicted wounded and dead soldiers in the battle of Gettysburg. From this he became recognized in 1867 as the primary photographer of the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel by Clarence King. O' Sullivan died at age 42 from tuberculosis. 
Ancient ruins in the Canyon de Chelle,1873
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Todd Hido:

"Hido's photographs reveal isolation and anonymity in contemporary suburbia. Eerily lit rooms and suddenly abandoned homes increase the effect of loneliness and loss." Tom E. Hinson (Cleveland Museum of Art)

Todd Hido is an American based contemporary photographer who is noted for taking photographs of urban and suburban houses. There is little to practically no information on Hido's life and career. In his photography, Hido emphasizes on light as well as high detail. Hido attended Rhode Island School of Design for college and went on to get his masters at Tufts University. He has been recognized for several solo exhibitions as well as group exhibitions. In several of his photographs, he focuses on subjecting nudes such in his exhibition titled Househunting Nudes in Germany.

Untitled

Untitled
In these landscape photographs, Hido does an excellent job at producing these images to be eerie and mysterious. His sense of mystery allows you to take part in the landscape he is trying to portray, but the spookiness of the photographs yield you from this decision. Also, through his photographs the viewer is able to detect loneliness as well as emptiness. He does an excellent job at capturing the beauty of the scene of suburban homes during the night time and capitalizes on the desolation detected in the photograph. The composition is created by the dramatic lighting and the negative space that darkness unveils.




Hido now resides in Northern California.


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Edward Burtynsky:
Edward Burtynsky
Edward Burtynsky is an artist as well as a photographer that is highly recognized and respected in Canada. He is known as one of Canada's most respected photographers and is praised for his photographs of industrialization landscapes that are displayed in several museums throughout the world. Growing up, Burtynsky attended college at Niagara College in Canada where he studied photography as well as graphic arts. Through his photography, Burtynsky tries to depict the relationship between industry and nature. Burtynsky does an excellent job at capturing the concept of consumption.
Silver Lake Operations #3, 2007
Burtynsky's photography explores subjects such as mining, quarrying, oil production, recycling, and many more industrialized concepts. His photographs are taken on a large formatted field camera that is developed in high resolution. When photographing, he tends to get an ariel view, which unveils more landscape space. In the above picture, Burtynsky focuses on the subject of a mining area and emphasizes his shot through ariel perspective. He emphasizes industrial sublime through his photography. 
Silver Lake Operations #1, 2007
Burtynsky continues to use an ariel perspective while taking landscape photographs of land mines. This perspective expands the space and strongly represents defined landforms. These landscapes appear enormous and represent distinct colors which make the composition beautiful. 

Burtynsky is recognized for many accomplishments including: the TED prize, the Outreach award at the Rencontres d’Arles, The Flying Elephant Fellowship, Applied Arts Magazine book award(s), and the Roloff Beny Book award. In 2006 he was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Canada and given an honorary degree; Doctor of Laws, from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.



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Florian Maier- Aichen:
Self- Portrait 
Florian Maier- Aichen is a German landscape photographer who uses computer editing and traditional photographic techniques. Maier- Alchen edits his photographs on the computer to make them more realistic as opposed to documentation. These computer techniques allow his photographs to manipulate imperfections and fictional elements. His painterly landscapes are often shot from an ariel perspective and they can be compared to a post card. Maier- Alchen attended both the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Essen in Germany.
Untitled, 2005
In his landscape photography such as his picture above, the ariel view expands the space in the photograph and creates a vanishing point. Nature is exposed and is represented as sublime because it is so vast and the scale is so grand. Nature is almost overwhelming, which makes the beauty overwhelming. The photograph represents a sense of perfection to the viewer, and it in fact appears to be as perfect as a postcard. The colors that are represented in the photograph such as the red forest almost seem fictional to the viewer. He rejects purity and tradition and experiments with edited and infrared.

Untitled, 2002
As you can tell, Maier-Aichen continues to experiment with color throughout his landscape photography. In his picture above, his colors give a sense of mystery to the viewer. The different hues of blue give an eerie emotion. The foreground is so defined that your eyes want to wander and see beyond the one tree in the foreground. Maier-Alchen's photograph appeals to the viewers senses and you can almost feel the coldness that is represented through the photograph.


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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Conceptual Photography

Conceptual Photography
Untitled

Conceptual Photography is a genre of photography that emphasizes on a specific concept or an idea. Artists tend to take a picture, edit it thoroughly on the computer, and place different objects where they think they should go in the photograph. The artists placement of the images build the concept or general idea that is represented through the photograph. Ideas can often be generated through symbols in conceptual photography.There is no reality to conceptual photography because it is heavily computer edited. The use of the computer allows to change placement of different objects as well as emphasize the abstraction of the photograph. 

There are two types of conceptual photography which include minimalist, and those who distinguish business within their photographs. Minimal conceptual photography focuses on a single object or concept within the picture whereas pictures who distinguish business within their photographs emphasize dozens of concepts within the photograph.


TIPSandTRICKSforCONCEPTUALPHOTOGRAPHY:
  1. create the concept
  2. symbols and props
  3. composition
  4. aesthetics: the pretty factor
  5. technical requirements

Conceptual Photography Example: Artist Ronen Goldmen photographer
Ronen Goldmen Video

Ivan Minic, Untitled.



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Conceptual Art
        "In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work . . . all planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes the machine that makes the art."
Sol LeWitt (American, 1928-2007), in "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art," in Artforum, summer issue, 1967.

  Conceptual art and conceptual photography are similar to one another because they both aim to represent and concept or an idea. This concept or idea become superior to materialism and material concerns. Marcel Duchamp, a Dada artist, pushed the boundaries of traditional art and showed the conceptualists a new way of looking at art. Duchamp, famous for his readymade titled Fountain, was recognized for taking found objects and claiming them as his own work of art. Conceptualists saw this break from tradition, and followed in his lead. The term "concept art" was coined in 1961 by artist Henry Flynt.
Marcel Duchamp, The Fountain, 1950
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Joseph Kosuth
Self-Portrait
Joseph Kosuth is an American conceptual artist who is significant for exploring the nature and theory behind art. Kosuth studied art and photography at the School of the Visual Arts in New York City and he focuses on the idea of the "fringe of art" rather than "art per se." He viewed art as a means of self- referential. Kosuth, along with artist Marcel Duchamp, questioned traditional art. He stated, "the 'value' of particular artists after Duchamp can be weighted according to how much they questioned the nature of art." 
Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs, 1965

 In Kosuth's most famous work, One and Three Chairs, which depicts an actual chair, a chair, and the definition of the word chair. This piece of art digresses the concept of what a chair really is and what is represented through the text. This work is conceptual because it emphasizes on the concept of a chair and the meaning behind it. The text represents what is, and the chair represents what is in the physical form.


In addition to Kosuth's artwork, he has written several books focusing on the theme of nature and art, and he argued that art is the continuation of photography. Kosuth put on his first solo exhibition in 1969 in New York, and he also became the American editor of the Art and Language journal. Kosuth was recognized for many awards including: Frederick Weisman Award, Brandeis Award, the Menzione d'Onore at the Venice Biennale, along with other various rewards. 

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Sophie Calle
Self Portrait
Sophie Calle is not only a French conceptualist photographer but also an installation artist, conceptual artist, as well as a writer. She often places herself in photographs with fictional characters, and she creates a personal narrative through her photographs. When photographing, she tends to capture human vulnerability as well as intimacy and she tends to work with handwritten text within her photographs. When she is photographing, she has been known to follow around strangers and investigate and capture their lifestyles. She began observing strangers abroad and focused on their identity. Adding to her stalking madness, she has been known to stalk a man in Venice as well as invite random strangers into her bed to photograph. This lady was truly mad! Through her photographs the viewer can recognize the theme of fact versus fiction.
Sophie Calle, Take Care of Yourself, date unknown
In Calle's work Take Care of Yourself, Calle photographs a random stranger in her bed full of various animals. This conceptual photograph touches on the idea that Calle seems to most represent which is identity. Beyond identity, due to the fact that the woman represented is in seductive clothing in a bed, we can also explore the idea of intimacy. Calle uses the computer to edit and enhance the photograph, placing various animals around the bed as to where she thinks the concept will be grasped the most. The woman represents a purity due to the animals around her, but also gives off a scandalous vibe due to her facial expression as well as her attire. 

Calle has been teaching since 2005 as a professor of film and photography at the European Graduate School in Switzerland.
Sophie Calle, Les Dormeurs, 1979



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Sherrie Levine

Sherrie Levine is an American born photographer as well as an appropriation artist. When photographing, Levine was recognized for focusing on re-photography as well as collage. She began her photography venture by taking pictures of magazines and books and glueing them onto masks. From this, she moved onto copying artists work and using various artists ideas to create her own art. The purpose of her re-photography was to initiate personal interpretation. She has made copies of artists paintings such as : William de Kooning, Walker Evans, and Edward Weston. Through photography, Levine introduced representational imagery into her work. Not much information is broadcasted about Sherrie Levin because she does not want to take part in the false myths that come with art production.
Sherrie Levine, Fountain, 
In Sherrie Levine's Fountain, she borrows Marcel Duchamp's idea of his urinal readymade called Fountain. Here, Levine like Duchamp strays away from the traditional artistic values and focus on borrowed art made with readymades. She tries to conceptualize the fact that an already found and made object can be represented as her own. She pushes the boundaries straying away from the traditional.

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Cindy Sherman
Self-Portrait 
Cindy Sherman is an American conceptual photographer as well as a film director who is recognized for her conceptual photographs representing women in society as well as the nature of the creation of art. Sherman's interest in photography sparked while she was studying at Buffalo State College; from here she became highly interested in conceptual art. In the earlier years of Sherman's career, she began photographing herself playing dress-up in costume attire. For example, in 2003 a photographic series featured Sherman dressed as a clown. These photographs that Sherman took of herself were part of a film series which is one of her most well recognized works titled Untitled Film Stills. Through these photo's, Sherman represents herself as a B-movie actress role dressed in playful clothes, wigs, and hats playing the role of different characters. 
Cindy Sherman, Cinderella, date not announced 
In Sherman's photograph titled Cinderella, Sherman portrays individual emotional identity through her subjects gaze. Sherman depersonalizes the subject, and from her facial expression the viewer the subject seems mysterious. Sherman finds beauty in the revolting. Through this post-modernist photograph, Sherman touches on the idea and concept of Feminism. She centralizes her subject and relies on digital editing to explore the idea and concept behind feminism. The subject appears very unrealistic and computer edited. Critics view her photographs as both funny and disturbing. The subjected model almost looks plastic and fictional.


Sherman has created a number of different photographic series including one significant series titled "Sex Pictures," and this was the first time that Sherman did not use herself as a subject in her photographs. Through these sex pictures, Sherman experimented with the use of dolls as her subjects. Sherman was successful in that she achieved international success at a young age, and her artwork went onto sell for about 50,000 dollars. She has experience in the fashion industry for photographing for world-known designers such as Marc Jacobs. In 1995, Sherman received the famouns MacArthur Fellowship award. 


Sherman currently lives and works in New York City.





Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #14, 1978

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Barbara Kruger


Self-Portrait
Barbara Kruger is an American conceptual photographer whose work consists of experimenting with black and white. Her works are highly influenced by text and she often focuses on representing pronouns within her work. Kruger studied art at Syracuse University where she then went onto work for famous fashion magazine Conde Nast. 

When Kruger photographs, she experiments with hybrid composition. She focuses heavily on collage and borrowing text and found photographs and combining them to make up one composition. When using text, she tends to work with bold text to signify power and aggression to the viewer. Through her text she brings out themes such as feminism, consumerism, desire, and classicism. 

Barbara Kruger, Your body is a battleground, date anonymous.
In Kruger's photograph, Your body is a battleground, Kruger experiments with mass media to conceptualize the concept of feminism through her photograph. She uses a hybrid of mediums such as text, magazine clippings, and photograph to convey her idea of feminism to the viewer. She places text where she feels it will stand out against a picture of a women who is frontal and she represents an aggressive powerful gaze. The subject is centralized and frontal. 
Barbara Kruger, I shop therefore I am, date anonymous. 
Again in Kruger's photograph I shop therefore I am, Kruger uses text to emphasize the concept of consumption. She conceptualizes the photograph by digitally placing in the center of the black and white photograph. She emphasizes the text by making it stand out in color against a black and white background.


Kruger has exhibited her artwork in many museums such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A, the Whitney Museum, the Tate Museum, and other international museums. Along with her artwork, Kruger has written and produced many books including: Remaking History, Barbara Kruger, and Thinking of You.

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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Edward Burtynsky

Edward Burtynsky
Edward Burtynsky is an artist as well as a photographer that is highly recognized and respected in Canada. He is known as one of Canada's most respected photographers and is praised for his photographs of industrialization landscapes that are displayed in several museums throughout the world. Growing up, Burtynsky attended college at Niagara College in Canada where he studied photography as well as graphic arts. Through his photography, Burtynsky tries to depict the relationship between industry and nature. Burtynsky does an excellent job at capturing the concept of consumption.
Densified Oil Filters, 2005
Burtynsky's photography explores subjects such as mining, quarrying, oil production, recycling, and many more industrialized concepts. His photographs are taken on a large formatted field camera that is developed in high resolution. When photographing, he tends to get an ariel view, which intensifies abstraction. 


In Brtynsky's photography, he often does close ups to emphasize abstraction. In his picture Densified Oil Filters, he uses his close up technique to intensify the abstraction as well as make the viewer question what subject matter the picture is actually trying to portray. Also, he takes ariel views of landscapes which colors are unique and seem to stand out, but also the pictures are from so far away that they can be viewed as abstract. 


Silver Lake Operations #1, 2007


Burtynsky is recognized for many accomplishments including: the TED prize, the Outreach award at the Rencontres d’Arles, The Flying Elephant Fellowship, Applied Arts Magazine book award(s), and the Roloff Beny Book award. In 2006 he was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Canada and given an honorary degree; Doctor of Laws, from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.


Nickel Tailings No. 31,1996






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Andreas Gursky

Andreas Gursky
Andreas Gursky is a German photographer who was born in 1955. This visual artist is famous for his landscape and architectural color photographs. These photographs are recognizable because they present a high point of view. Color is prominent, and the pictures present themselves as extremely busy. There seems to be a lot going on in Gursky's pictures, causing your eyes to constantly wonder. Gursky's pictures often are shot from an ariel view. As of 2007, Gursky continues to hold the record for the highest priced single photograph that was sold at an auction. Gursky's print titled 99 Cent II, Diptych, sold for USD $3.3 million.
99 Cent II Diptychon, 2001
When Gursky photographs, he heavily relies on the manipulation of computers to enhance his pictures and make them pop. By enhancing his photographs, Gursky plays around with space by making the space photographed appear to be larger than the subjects that are being photographed. His pictures have been described as "splashy," "entertaining." and "literally unbelievable."New York's Museum of Modern Art called the artist's work, "a sophisticated art of unembellished observation. It is thanks to the artfulness of Gursky's fictions that we recognize his world as our own." Through his photographs it is evident that Gursky is primarily interested in man-made objects and space. We can see this through his pictures of buildings, skyscrapers, stores, as well as other public areas. His photographs are very industrialized.
Shanghai, 2001


Chicago Board of Trade II, 1999











Gursky New York Times Art Review

To capitalize on abstraction, Gursky plays around with colors as well as high resolution. Due to the fact that the pictures are in such high resolution, they seem chaotic which then intensifies the abstraction. Also, he plays around with line in pictures such as his photograph titled Shanghai. He crops this photo to emphasize abstraction and makes your eyes wander along the strong line counters. When looking at Gursky's photos at a quick glance, they just appear to be numerous colors blending together which creates abstraction through his images.


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Sunday, October 3, 2010

Wolfgang Tillmans


Wolfgang Tillmans
Wolfgang Tillmans was born in 1968 in Germany. He was a successful and influential international photographer and was the first photographer as well as non- English speaking artist to be awarded the Turner Prize in 2000. Apart from this recognition, in 2009, Tillmans won The Culture Prize of the German Society for Photography. Tillmans interest in photography first sparked during his childhood. He became highly interested in the chemical foundations of photographic materials along with different spatial techniques.
Wolfgang Tillmans: Freischwimmer, 2004
Tillmans became recognized for shooting street photography throughout London, the London nightlife, as well as the rise of Gay Pride. His abstract photographs resemble that of an abstract painting. Through his photographs, a sense of sculpture is portrayed. He plays around with spontaneous lighting, chemicals, and their reaction to paper. From this, Tillmans photographs are moderate and mysterious. He also is recognized for taking pictures that

Wolfgang Tillmans: New Family, 2001
In Tillman's photograph titled New Family, he creates a sense of abstraction by blurring his image. By blurring his image, he invites the viewer to have to stare at the picture in order to see what the picture is actually of. At a first glance, all one can see is a bunch of blurred colors, but when second looking at it its evident that as the viewer you are placed in a car driving down a street. The blurriness creates a sense of abstraction through the picture. Also, in Tillmans photograph titled Freischwimmer, Tillmans creates abstraction through cropping and a close up perspective. He makes the viewer question the subject.
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Imogen Cunningham

Imogen Cunningham
Imogen Cunningham is an American photographer who was born in Oregon in 1883. Cunningham is considered to be the greatest female photographer throughout fine art. She expressed interest in photography at a young age, but soon after her interest sparked, she sold her camera. It wasn't until attending college at the University of Seattle in Washington, that her photography interest sparked again. While in Seattle, she opened up her own studio that focused on pictorial work as well as portraiture.
Imogen Cunningham: Triangles Plus One, 1928
In her pictures, she experiments with angle and cropping to create an abstract feeling. When photographing plants, she zooms in on the plant causing it to be abstract. She does a close up which makes the viewer question what type of plant she is photographing as well as if it is a plant. She focuses on texture to emphasize abstraction. 

Cunningham became a sought after photographer and premiered at an exhibition at the Brooklyn Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1913. Cunningham was also recognized for the founding of the "f/22" group with noted photographer Edward Weston.
Imogen Cunningham: Rubber Plant, 1929
Cunningham was recognized for her expressed interest of botanicals, nudity, and industry that she captured so beautifully through her photographs. Also, she took a great interest in pattern and detail, as seen in her pictures of leaves as well as bark textures. Cunningham carried out an in depth study of the magnolia flower which she photographed so frequently. Around 1940, Cunningham decided to branch away from botanicals and she began to photograph documentary street photography. She did this as a side project to her commercial and studio photography.
Imogen Cunningham: Dream, 1910
Cunningham died in San Fransisco in 1976.

Chronology of Cunningham's Life


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Thursday, September 30, 2010

Edward Weston

Edward Weston

“The camera should be used for a recording of life, for rendering the very substance and quintessence of the thing itself, whether it be polished steel or palpitating flesh.“- Weston
Edward Weston: Cabbage- Leaf, 1931
Edward Weston, born in Illinois in 1886, is considered to be the most influential American photographer in the 20th century. Apart from being such an influential impact on photography in America, he co-founded Group f/64. Throughout his career, Weston published several articles in magazines including American Photography, Photo- Miniature, and Photo Era. In September of 1970, Weston's article called "Weston's Methods" which emphasized on unconventional portraiture made an appearance in the magazine Photo- Miniature. Around 1930, Weston photographed a series of close up still life's of cabbages, seashells, peppers, and other objects with dramatic texture. In 1946, the Museum of Modern Art in New York featured a major retrospective of 300 prints of Weston’s work.
Edward Weston:Artichoke, 1930
Weston is recognized for photographing natural landscapes as well as natural forms. For example, he photographed artichokes, cabbage, and peppers. “Weston strove to capture the formal essence of his subject matter and present it as a revelation. Emphasizing line, careful cropping, and the interplay of shadows and light, Weston turned peppers, cabbages, egg slicers, rocks, and roots into objects of mystery and wonder.” He was known to use large-format cameras and experiment with lighting techniques. When viewing his photography, there is a subtle use of tones, and almost a sculptural design formation. 

Edward Weston: Pepper, 1930

Weston died in 1958 in Carmel, California.
Edward Weston: Back of Nude,1937.
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