Elyse Smith- Sally Mann Show

I loved going to see the Sally Mann show. It was great to be able to really see her work, not just in a book or on the computer. I loved all of her images, but I think the one that surprised me the most was a photograph of a male corpse. I was very nervous to see the images from the “body farm” because I have a very sensitive stomach. Before going to the show I didn’t know if I would be able to handle those images. While there were some that were a little too much for me, I was able to really appreciate the beauty in most of them. This one in particular I really couldn’t stop looking at. I don’t know what it was about this one photo, but I spent a long time in front of this particular image. I don’t know if beautiful is the word, but I was truly captivated by this image. I think that this is one of the images that was memorable because I was so surprised by my reaction. I knew that I would love seeing her work, but I didn’t expect to be so fascinated by the images of the dead bodies. I guess I could say that I was pleasantly surprised by this reaction. I am glad I was able to appreciate that part of the exhibit and not have to walk out. Not only was I able to handle the images, there were a couple that I really reacted to.

Glenn Jodun - Sally Mann Favorite Photo

Proud Flesh, Amor Revealed.  Sally Mann.  2007.

My favorite photograph from Mann's exhibit was Proud Flesh, Amor Revealed.  I enjoyed her use of depth of field, as well as the exploration of her husband as a model in her work.  The other aspect of her work that I liked was her creation of her own negatives through ambrotypes, creating one of a kind images with different emulsion streaks and cracks in the glass.

Sally Mann Favorites- Adriana Rossi

Virginia #42 and Hephaestus were my two choices of the many favorites I saw at the Sally Mann exhibit. What drew me to the portrait of Virginia, was the blissful yet somber way her eyes are closed so sweetly. It looks like a delicate moment in the child's mind weither she is really dreaming or not. The soft focus and extreme upcloseness adds to the concept and really makes this photo what it is. I saw this photo is a gallery a couple of years ago, and still enjoy observing every freakle on her gentle little face.
Hephaestus is an equally strong photo and has a quite powerful impact when viewing it in person. I watched part of the video of Sally Mann at the end of the exhibit, and she said something along the lines of "I hope for a mistake. Those mistakes are my blessings." I think Hephaestus is a good example of the way the process really enhances the work. The circular marks add to the composition and are really intriguing because they look as if the man has caught some sort of dieases. The fact that his head is cropped out of the frame also adds to the fact that he seems to be objectifiyed and used as a prop in this piece. Hephaestus was a mystical powerful greek god, and this photo depicts a sick looking man; I find that ironic. Anyway, its a haunting photo.
Overall I enjoyed the exhibit and liked seeing somethings I haven't of hers. The self-protrait was really neat and the room full of figure studies which I think was called Matter Lost was very successful. It was a series of objects, flowers, and human legs underwater which I thought were very interesting and dreamlike, especially because my sense of scale was thrown off when looking at them. The flowers were very up close, while the legs further away leaving me wondering if it were a different layer on top of the original photo, or if the flower was really on top of the water, while the child's legs just at a greater distance. Sucessfully confusing. The only thing that bothered me in the exhibit was the color photos of the dead people. Not because they were in color, but because they seemed slightly obnoxious to me for other reasons. Something about the distance and the context that they were placed in seemed like she was just glorifying the fact that they are dead people, rather than a poetic study of their remains. In my opinion, the rest of the series which was in black and white, was more successful in regards to concept.

Mike Weinheimer-Sally Mann Favorite

Untitled (self portrait)

2006-2007

Was Ever Love

2009

Hephaestus

2008

Emmett #3

2004

My favorite Sally Mann photographs is her self portrait that is six across and 3 down, Was Ever Love, Hephaestus, and Emmett #3. The use of the ambrotype process for her photographs is very successful and gives each an unusual feeling and appearance. Her angling and frame use is very interesting in the way how it portrays masculinity from a female on a nude male. Also how it veers from traditional viewing of masculinity. It is interesting to see how her self portrait does not appear to be the same person due to the process of which the prints went through and the difference in angles, print quality, and tonal range of each print.

Alicia Helm Second Blog Assignment

Smoke and Veil, Paris Vogue, 1958

Broadway and 103rd St., New York 1954

William Klein

William Klein is best known for his fashion and journalistic portraiture. He trained as a painter but after an exhibition in Milan with his kinetic sculptures, Alexander Liberman, then art director of Vogue hired him. He is able to create powerful images using shallow shots and tension within the photograph. This tension doesn't necessarily stem from the tension of what the subjects are doing. By trying to squeeze the most into the frame, he can equilibrate the balance of subject and abstract tension.

Marcel Duchamp

Salvador Dali

Irving Penn

Irving Penn is one of the century's most influential fashion photographers. He worked for Vogue in 1953- a remarkable time for the growth of American fashion. He was not primarily a fashion photographer. He shot still lifes and pictures of food saying once that "photographing cake can be art too." He graduated from the Philadelphia University of the Arts in 1938. He passed away last year, yet his legacy lives on in the modern fashion photographer's heart. The two pictures above show a different technique he possessed. Using a narrow triangle as the background forced the subject out of the frame making them seem more 3-dimensional.

The Beatles

April 18th 1963

Twist and Shout (album cover)

The Beatles

Fiona Adams

Fiona Adams studied photography at Ealing School of Art. She went through several phases of photography before landing her claim to fame photographing the Beatles (little known at the time) outside London for Boyfriend Magazine. The photograph on top made the album cover for the album Twist and Shout. The most interesting thing about her is the innovative quality of the shot. She didn't stick to the traditional studio-posed shot (like the first shot below). My favorite part of the story is imagining her cramming into a taxi with her equipment and the four Beatles. After this, she started photographing other icons of the 1960s like Jimi Hendrix and Twiggy.

Andy Warhol

Painter, Printmaker, The Factory, New York

1973

Leonard Bernstein

Philharmoic Hall, New York

1968

Arnold Newman

Arnold Newman spent two years at University of Miami studying painting and drawing before leaving because of finanical troubles. He then moved to Pennsylvania and worked at a print shop. This started his journey into the world of photography. He photographed celebrities and personalities such as Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol (pictured above), and Ronald Reagan. Although he photographed all of these people, their fame did not matter to him. His ideology was to photograph with intention- the composition was the key element that spoke to the viewer whether the subject was famous or not. I like his work because I agree with his ideas completely. He can make the most average person look important just by using his eyes and composing them as such.

"Henry" by Olivier Laude















"Yossef's Buck" by Olivier Laude

Laude is, surprisingly, by profession a freelance graphic designer. However, on his site you are immediately taken to a gallery of 37 images, including the ones I posted above. In contrast to his serious graphic design work, these portraits, which include many of the same models as different characters (as you can see, "Yossef" and "Henry" are quite obviously the same person) are hilarious, beautiful, and mildly creepy at the same time. I'm not quite sure what Laude was going for with these portraits, but I think they are hysterical, which is something I don't always appreciate in artwork.













"Dermit, Kilkeny, Ireland" (2007) by Geordie Wood















"Pamela Chen, Newport, RI" (2007) by Geordie Wood

Geordie Wood works in fashion and sort of journalistic portraiture. A lot of Wood's portraits that I found were taken for magazines and other commissioned jobs, but it still seems very apparent that he considers each photograph that he presents a work of art, even if it is for a job he's hired to do. The image titled "Pamela Chen, Newport, RI" is probably my favorite of his. The simple silhouette in contrast to the rich textures in the floor and curtains is haunting and beautiful. I'd definitely recommend looking at more of Geordie Wood's work.















"untitled" (2004) by Tierney Gearon

















"Untitled" (2004) by Tierney Gearon

Both of the above photographs are from Tierney Gearon's "The Mother Project". This series is a conglomeration of uncomfortable, sad, and beautiful photographs of her family members and herself. Tierney works under the belief that all of her photographs are of herself.





















37 PAINTING (HYGIEIA, THE GODDESS OF HEALTH, BY KLIMT), 2007-2010



















“The Bride with a Nô Mask, Self-portrait” (2005) by Kimiko Yoshida.


“I take my makeup from the Japanese technique of doran, the white paint with which geishas and maïkos traditionally cover their faces,” Yoshida writes. “Doran tends only to erase the singular face, to dissimulate it by covering it with white, to remove any particularities.”

I love the way Yoshida incorporates the idea of doran make-up techniques erasing any unique qualities of the face. This is an interesting idea to me, considering portraits usually fit the fact that human facial features are so unique to each and every one of us.

The top portrait is from a series of self-portraits that interpret or recreate famous works of art. I recommend checking out the whole series, she created very interesting costumes/masks for all of them.

Micki Multer Blog Assignment #2

Dabe Alan's Website

Dabe Alan is a commercial photographer that I found and instantly fell in love with. I enjoy his sense of humor that he conveys, and the feel of the photos are nice. I would like to expand and be more creative with my subjects and their backgrounds like he uses.

Phil Nesmith's Website

Phil Nesmith is a friend and photographer I look up to. I am always captivated by his ambrotypes. These two are from his show "Flow" which was is 3rd solo show at the Irvine Contemporary. To me the way he takes the pictures which not being digital or film amazes me and gives a really creepy feeling to them, I feel they convey so much more then if the same was done in one of the usual media's of art.

Caroline Olson's Website

Caroline Olson is a photographer that I enjoy and watch regularly. I love her use of photoshop when editing, to me you can tell it's been used but it feels right and not overdone. She shoots just about anything, from weddings to family portraits to pictures of her son. I enjoy looking at it all. Out of these two the top one I love because its showing you what that person does.