Week 11- Typologies and Photographing Groups

Typologies have been around since the beginning of photography.  From the early photographs of African tribes to the Becher's and beyond. Everyone knows of the Becher's who photographed water towers over and over again but I thought I'd show some photographers that weren't the Bechers but could have been out of the Becher school.

This photographer is Charles Freger.  This is from his series called Rikishi.  Freger focuses his work on social groups like athletes, school children, the army and more.  His work is a reflection of contemporary youth.  He is also the founder of the artistic community, Piece of Cake, and the POC publishing house.  These images are amazing because they are a typology of a culture that many aren't used to viewing but want to know more of. 

The next photographer is Carl Martin who passed away in 2007.  He was from Athens, Georgia and his work is based out of Georgia.  He lived in New York City for a while and when he moved to Athens he found everyone and everything much more interesting.  Martin said, "there was a look of unmodified acceptance of how things were."  Looking at the photographs the viewer can feel this idea and it made me want to explore his work farther.  

This artist is Christine Gatti.  I first viewed her work in my self portraiture class and she came in and spoke about the work.  Christine came up with the idea of photographing herself every hour on the 18th minute of that hour.  She would photograph herself and then one of her surroundings.  When she was sleeping she would have a self timer go off but if there was a malfunction she would put a black box in the space where the photograph would of been.  This work is a typology and also a self portrait.  The work is great because it is a very different way of exploring oneself.

Then there is the artist Joachim Schmid.  He is another person who mixes the ideas that were shown previously.  He finds vernacular photographs and pieces them together like a jigsaw puzzle and then reprints them and puts them up in a typology.   These are the typologies if found photographs which is a very clever way of doing something that has been done many times before.

Week 10- The Self in Society

The self portrait is done for self expression.  Self portraiture has been done in various forms and explains who the person is or is false like Cindy Sherman explains, her self portraits don't tell who she is.  Self Exploration can be a smart way to find one self.  There are many ways to do self portraiture, not just pointing a camera at oneself but doing various things to make the picture tell who you are.

Anne Arden Mcdonald is a very famous fine art photographer who for 15 years worked on self portraits of herself.  She works in black and white and plays with space and texture.  Her work very beautiful and has been said to be like Francesca Woodman's work but it isn't in any sense.  This work has upbeat meaning, she has reasonings for every photograph she takes of herself and it all makes sense.

Then there is Robert Mapplethorpe who has done many self portraits that are very revealing.  Mapplethorpe is a gay male who took leaps that at the time and still, no artists dare to take.  He is a genius because of this and the work is beautiful at the same time.  Most people can't even look at his intimate fisting images but they speak louder then anyone could say.  

Then there is Chuck Close who is a very famous photographer and artist of our times.  The photograph on the wall is a self portrait that he did by mixing the medias of photography and painting.  He is known for his close up head shots of various people.  He isn't one of my favorite photographers but I do respect him for what he has done and how many people have tried to copy his style but have failed.

Then there are the infamous Myspace and Facebook self portraits.  These are done by everyone who has a myspace/facebook page.  These can either be done in an everyday boring way like the one up top where everyone has a myspace photo of themselves in a mirror, or be done in a more artistic way like the one below.  Self portraits are done in various ways, but guessing what we learn about the person is what makes self portraiture valuable to the artistic eye.

Week 9- The Celebrity Image

The Celebrity image is something that many of us take for granted and some of us live on.  We are a community that loves celebrity culture.  In America, we hear more news about what  happened to Brittany Spears then we do about the Iraq War.  This is our society today, which is sad but a reality.

This is an example of how filled our pages are with the celebrity image.  The paparazzi follow celebrities around day in and day out and exploit the lives of the famous.  

This is what can happen to someone who gets pushed too far...

Then there is someone who photographs many celebrities in a fun and imaginative way, David La Chapelle.  People either love or hate him, but either way, people can't stop and look at his creative photographs.  This photograph is of Elton John, a very famous musician who has been photographed numerous times but not in the style of Chapelle.  

Here is another way of celebrating the celebrity image, with a tattoo and having a snapshot done in remembrance.

Week 8- The Institutional Portrait

Institutional Portraiture has been around since the beginning of photography.  There are various forms of institutional portraiture like corporate headshots, mug shots, and id photos.  

This is a corporate photograph made by Jonathan Gayman.  The  nice thing about this photograph is that is captures a moment in another wise boring photo.

I.D. Photographs are another type of institutional portrait that is done for licenses and passports.  

Then there is the infamous mugshot that is taken when you go to jail.  Could this be real???

Week 7- In the Studio

The studio portrait has been around from the beginning of portraiture.  The feel of a studio portrait differs from any other style of portrait.  In the beginning they were very serious and were about capturing particular known people and then went to family portraits and then expanded to show a variety of people in different facets.  

This photographer is Irving Penn.  He is the master of photography.  He based his work out of the studio.  His portraits are very elegant and the tone quality is exceptional.  Each photograph feels different because he knows how to get the subject to show a different side of themselves.  

This photographer is Nigel Perry.  He is a recent famously known studio portrait photographer who shoots a lot of editorial photography but is based in the studio.  He likes to work with contrasty situations in black and white.  To me he is definitely influenced by Avedon.  

Joel Peter-Witkin is another amazing photographer who works in the studio.  He has been known since the 80's.  His work is based on people who are different then the norm and he lets them be themselves or exaggerates their desires to get an amazing photograph.  The photographs have a dark connotation to them but to me they are beautiful.

Then there is the man that many have been influenced by, Richard Avedon.  His work is remarkable, a lot of it is very simple, he just sets up a white backdrop and puts his subject there, then he finds a way to get what he wants out of his subjects through different emotions that are real.  This photograph is from the 97 Pirelli shoot.  This is great because she feels very comfortable and seems willing to do whatever he wants, which is what always makes an Avedon photograph, the vulnerability of the subject.

Week 4- The Candid Portrait

The candid portrait is  a photograph taken at the right moment with spontaneity.  They are different then other portraits in the sense that you deal with whatever is happening in that moment, like weather and other disruptions and get the best portrait of the subject, it all deals with timing and making everything perfect in the few moments before clicking the shutter.  This can be done with the subject not knowing they are being photographed or known, either way works and has different responses from others.

Walker Evans is one of the masters of candid street photography.  He would walk the streets and photograph what he saw.  This photograph was his subway series of 1938 where he hid a camera and took photographs of people in-front of him.

Then there is Bruce Davidson who is another amazing photographer who did a different type of Subway series.  He would photograph in areas that many photographers wouldn't want to go and make beautiful portraits of people living their lives.  This series was made in the early 80's when New York was very different then it is today.  The main differences besides subject matter compared to Walker Evans was that they were shot in color and many of the subjects knew they were being photographed which made for a different type of photograph. 

One of my favorite photographers is James Natchwey.  He is a photojournalist, war photographer who can be called a candid photographer.  He finds moments in life that are remarkable and gut wrenching and takes the picture.  He sets nothing up but just has one of the best eyes anyone has and just knows when to photograph.  This photograph is from 9-11.  He was in his apartment when the first plane hit and he grabbed all of his film and sprinted to see what was happening and this is one of many beautifully sad photographs that came out of it.

Then there is another master of photography, Gary Winogrand.  He does street photography all around America.  He has a great eye where he sees a perfect moment and takes it.  This photograph was done in Los Angeles in 1968.  His composition with the light coming from behind on the three trendy women while the darkness falls on the homeless man on the side, incredible.

Week 3- Snapshot and Vernacular Portraits

The snapshot and vernacular portrait are portraits done by many.  They can be done by the amateur photographer who is at a wedding, or family event or just to remember a time.  Nan Goldin said it best when she said that she takes snapshots to never forget her past.

This photograph is done by Nan Goldin from her Ballad of Sexuality series.  Nan Goldin is one of the most prominent snapshot photographers.  She is the person who took the snapshot and made it remarkable.  Nan Goldin doesn't worry about the colors or cropping but just sees special moments, good and bad and captures the moment.  This photograph is of her dear friends who are gay and both have Aids, later on in the series she photographs the death of both of them.  This portrait is very compelling because anyone who has a heart will feel for this couple and understand what is happening.  This is what makes her work strong, her honesty to the photographs.

This snapshot photograph is done by Alfred Eisenstaedt.  This was taken in Times Square on       V-J Day.  

Then there is the other famous snapshot photographer, Larry Clark.  He is a photographer and film maker who focuses his work on teenage angst and lust.  His work is very raw from the beginning with Tulsa to Ken Park.  His work has raised a lot of controversy over the years and some of his movies are even banned in America.  This doesn't stop Larry Clark from showing the truth of what many teenagers go through dealing with sex, drugs and rock n roll.  This photograph was taken from his Teenage Lust series.  He is definitely someone who pushed the envelope to another level.

Then there is the infamous Terry Richardson who is today's most famous snapshot photographer.  He is the son of Bob Richardson who was also a prominent fashion photographer but Terry took his own style to another level.  He mainly uses a Yashica point and shoot and photographs models, celebrities and himself in ways that most wouldn't dare.  He has a love for women and portrays this in his photographs in a semi controversial way mattering who is viewing the photographs.  He has done many advertisements for Tom Ford, Sisley and Diesel.  He is one photographer that many won't forget.