Mark Seliger

     Mark Seliger was a photographer for the Rolling Stone magazine. He has photographed numerous celebrities. Im attracted to the way he captures people. Looking at his photographs, you get an essence of the persons personality and who they are. I think this is admirable characteristic of his photography. Each one of his photos are unique and expressive. I envy the way he uses his camera and his final outcomes. Partly why I also chose his work was because he has my dream job.

Richard Prince

     

     This image taken by Prince stirred up much controversy. This is Brooke Shields, ten years old, plastered in make, standing nude in a bathtub. Im choosing not to show the whole photo because I myself do not agree with the photograph. The Tate Modern was ordered by police to take down Richard Prince's "Pop Life" exhibition which showed this photo named "Spiritual America". I think this photo is highly inappropriate. Its uses what photography can do with a subject and creates an evil. I think if he shot the photo differently, it would not of stirred up so much trouble. Prince makes this ten year old girl look like a thirty year old woman who works in the Red Light District. This photo is disturbing, and not in an artistic or educational way. I think the police department was correct in taking down the photo.

GIF

EVERYBODY DANCE NOW

Diane Arbus

King and Queen of a Senior Citizens dance, NYC, 1970

     Diane Arbus is by far my all time favorite photographer. I first saw this image a couple years ago, and I was instantly drawn to her perspective of individuals in a society. Arbus captures the essence of individualism in each one of her photographs and made it her goal to travel around and bring witness to "deviant and marginal"people. Her subjects include dwarfs, giants, transexuals, twins, circus performers, nudist, etc. The images are raw which brings reality into them. I am drawn to her photographs because of the unique and eerie feel they bring to me. Her photos are not emotionless. They are emotion empowered. I think the purpose of a photograph is evoke emotion in the audience, and Arbus is the epitome of that. Her images put together make up a society of outcasts. 

James Natcheway

Somalia 1992- Child starved by famine, a man made weapon of mass extermination.

     When I first saw this photo, my heart sunk. The position of the child shows his every bone and how fragile he is. You can see the poverty of the environment by its architecture, lack of shoes, lack of clothes, and also the state of this little boy. I think that the composition of this photo is excellent. It shows just the right amount of environment, while still having the starving boy as the main subject. The man in the back with the gun also gives information about the security and state of fear that people are forced to live in. 

     The series that Natcheway put together is eye opening and heart jerker. When looking at the photos all together you can't believe that this is going on around the world. It angers and saddens me to look at these photos of children starving to death. Parents always tell you there are starving children in Africa. When you look at these photos, especially together, they are visualizing facts. These types of photos are extremely important to societies, especially ones that do not witness poverty on a daily basis. 

     

Mary Ellen Mark

   
     This image is from Mary Ellen Mark's body of work called Ward 81. After working on the set of "One flew over the cuckoos nest" Mark found this ward. It took her over a year and a lot of persistence to be able to go and photograph the patients. She focused on capturing the patient as who where, not what they where. Mark did not photograph their illness's, she focused her camera on what the person was doing. When she first started this body of work she was afraid that the patients would "reject her".  I was drawn to this specific photo because of the eeriness I felt when I first looked at it. Without knowing that the photo was taken in a ward, it is easy to conclude that. This women's emotion and position in bed makes her look insane and put away. When looking at this series together, it evokes emotions and almost freight. Im not frightened by the actual pictures themselves, but imagining taking the photo. These photos are powerful. The emotions are raw.

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Earliest Human Relatives, Hiroshi Sugimoto 

This photo may be a simple interpretation but non the less, an awesome photograph. This photo represents evolution. I like how Sugimoto combines family/love with the idea of evolution. I do not know if this was his actual intent, but it makes me think, that just like humans, love has evolved. Some of his other works have included animals, and most of his photographs, if not all, are black and white. The sharpness and lighting in his photos are remarkable. They are all so clean and have incredible details. I was drawn to this photo because I have been thinking about society lately. With the evolution of humans, also comes the evolution of society. These two animals in society have the "natural" anxiety, the worry and desire to survive. Now days we have people taking their own life. As hard as life was back then, was it as hard as it is now? 

Joel-Peter Witkin

Ars Moriendi, 2007, Analogical print, 68.5x67.5 cm

     Joel- Peter Witkin draws his inspiration from an accident he witnessed as a child. A young girl was decapitated in front of his eyes. One common theme among many of his photographs is the subject of death. In this photo, you can see seven severed heads surrounding this woman.  Because his work is so explicit, Witkin has had to work in Mexico to obey US laws. Other subjects he commonly works with are dwarfs, transexuals, hermaphrodites, and religious episodes. I really like his photography. It is very interesting and obscure. I think this photo is a representation of beauty. This women represents beauty and the ultimate cause of death. I see the feather as her weapon. A tease or tickle that ultimately killed her victims. Looking at his work sparks curiosity and also puzzlement from the uniqueness. Witkins photos are images that I have never seen before, they are all new. His work may have "old" concepts, but his creations represent the concept in a whole new and unique way. 

     

Sandy Skoglund

Fox Games

     This photo is part of Sandy Skoglund installation called Fox Games. It was originally displayed in 1989, and is currently up at the Denver Art Museum. This piece shows the excitement, curiosity,and playfulness of foxes. I do not understand why Skoglund put the animals in a human setting. After reading more about the series, I found out one intended theme was how calm humanity is compared to how chaotic the animal world is. When I first looked at this piece, my interpretation was the exact opposite. I saw the playfulness and simplicity of animals and how humanity is set up and organized. 

Robert and Shana Parke Harrison

Bee Season

    In this photograph, it reminds me of the beginning of spring and new blooming. You can not see the mans face but I imagine it being peaceful because of his stance and the position of his hands. WIth the flowers in blossom, I imagine the season is Spring. The photographer uses the foreground to create a simple horizon line. The tonality of this photograph is very similar to their other work. In multiple photographs someone is releasing something or is being tied down by heavy objects. The frequent subject of these photographs seems to be entrapment or freeing. One can relate this image to their life. We are all tied down and wished to be released.

     

Artist Analysis: Helen Levitt

                                  Helen Levitt, New York 1940, 35.4 x 27.9 cm, Silver Gelatin Print
     
     The subject in this photograph are different race children, playing together in a New York segregated community during the 1940s. These two children are clearly unaware of the impact skin color had in society. Levitt's technique is a great example of the decisive moment, as she captures her subjects as they are. She draws her inspiration from Henri Cartier-Bresson who is credited with the decisive moment. She said she wanted a feel of  "out on the street, go to the people." The photo was taken, as the series states, in New York in the 1940s. The series is a large body of work that shows many new York residents out on the same streets performing everyday activities. This image shows how social values are taught by the surrounding adults, instead of being developed naturally.

Anabelle

     My niece Anabelle is the love of my life. This three in a half year old brings me more joy and love in my life than I knew imaginable. The hardest thing about being away from home is not being able to see her smile, hear her laugh, and be in her physical presence. Her laugh is contagious and her sense of humor brings a smile to everyones face.

Scrappy

      I met Scrappy at a friends apartment Saturday night. He is a loving little chiwawa who just wanted his peanut butter. I snapped this picture just in time,  as Scrappy was wrestling to lick the cup clean. His sister in the background was just as protective and determined for   her share of the peanut butter.