Kerry Kilburn Weekly Artist Post 4/4/2016

Lynn Savarese
"My Still Life Aviary" article in Resource Magazine
New York's New Abolitionists

Lynn Savarese

From "My Still Life Aviary"

From "My Still Life Aviary"

From "Water Paints"

From "Water Paints"

Mayor David Dinkins, New York's New Abolitionists

"Kenya", New York's New Abolitionists

Lynn Savarese is a relatively "young" photographer, having fallen in love with the art after having graduated from Harvard Law School, worked in corporate law and investment banking, and taken a long break to raise her family and pursue volunteer opportunities with a variety of human rights groups. Having found her passion, she has pursued it relentlessly, and has had her series "My Still Life Aviary," "Water Paint," and "New York's New Abolitionists" featured in both group and individual shows since 2013. She also works periodically with not-for-profit agencies through special photography projects. According to one article, she is happy to shoot with her Canon EOS 5D Mark III with a 70-200mm f/2.8 ISII USM lens.

Ms. Savarese's work focuses on what she calls "intimate observation," which is readily apparent when you look through her portfolios. "My Still Life Aviary" began when she was working with The American Museum of Natural History,  photographing bird specimens for their collection digitization project. She became fascinated with the specimens and with taxidermy; in an interview with Resource Magazine, she explained that she was particularly drawn to "their power to convey the endangerment and threat of extinction many bird species face today." She was also interested in the ethical challenges the specimens represent, and notes that "it was important to me also to convey man's hubris in turning animals into replicas of themselves, and the inherent irony in striving to achieve a kind of immortality for them by killing them in their prime." (As an aside, and someone who understands the value of natural history collections, I was surprised that she didn't mention the scientific value of the specimens she was working with.)

"Water Paints" is precisely what it sounds like - her effort to capture the colors and textures of water in various places and at various times. New York's New Abolitionists is a campaign organized by the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition that seeks to raise awareness around human trafficking and modern-day slavery by recognizing and honoring those involved in the effort to combat them.  Ms. Savarese is a co-founder, financial sponsor, and photographer for the organization. You can read more about the organization and its participants at the website listed at the top of the page.

I am attracted to Ms. Savarese's work because of her focus on "intimate observation," which leads, in much of her still life work, at least, to a kind of abstraction that I find particularly interesting; it's something I try to do in my own work. Looking through her various portfolios of "personal projects," she seems to have a unique way of seeing that translates into unusual images even of such standard photographic subjects as flowers, waters, sunsets, etc. I would like to see her cull her collections - I think fewer, better chosen images would have a stronger impact than the long series she has on her website now, but I very much enjoyed looking through them.

Yajaida, 11

Ciril Jazbec

Slovakian artist with an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography, Jazbec is a world traveler. In addition to being published in numerous magazines he is a contributor to the National Geographic. He does some commercial work and smaller personal projects as well as extensive assignment work.

"I believe in the power of photography... I want to show positive examples of how to solve various problems of our society and the world in general... The projects I choose are those that do not merely document, but rather also inspire and remind us of the many things we tend to forget in the fast-paced world of the West."

For the first time I wanted to look at an artist within the confines of a specific series, to help me focus my intention and understand that a series is cohesive, but not linear. This series by the artist is titled "Waiting to Move" and focuses on the Shishmaref community. It won the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award in 2013. The interview for Leica can be seen here, and is particularly telling of who he is as a photographer, and the humanity behind these images.

Stumbling across Jazbec's work, I was stopped immediately by the simple thought, "This is what I want to do."  If I could I would just place these images in my final project. I am struck by the composition, the light, and most importantly the narrative that is implied but executed in a polished fashion. Not at all in a crude way that I tend to do with my amateur photography.

Christian Moll Weekly Artist Post

Chris Jordan

Chis Jordan is a great photographer of our time. His Midway Atoll series is awe inspiring and very moving. For those that are not familiar, Midway is a remote cluster of islands more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent. Jordan's Midway series exposes the problems inside the stomachs of thousands of dead baby albatrosses. The nesting chicks are fed lethal quantities of plastic by their parents, who mistake the floating trash for food as they forage over the vast polluted Pacific Ocean.
This is just the tip of the ice burg when is comes to our vastly polluted ocean and problems that is causes.

For my final project I have decided to use this as an opportunity to shed more light on an issue that I feel needs more attention brought to it. I plan to use light painting as my medium to shed light onto this issue that effects this community directly. As Hampton Roads is very large in the fishing industry. Over the next few weeks I will be making photos that stress this problem and in a different way that will be more appealing to the viewer.

Katelyn Curtis Blog Post

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The Field of Memory: Irina Rozovsky’s One to Nothing

 

 

By: Katelyn Curtis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               Irina Rozovsky went an visited Israel in 2008 originally to visit the land her ancestors had come from and with no intent originally to photograph, let alone make a book of her completed series. Rozovsky photos are meant to be looked at together; thus, creating a narrative that "moves lightly – episodically – between bold and diminutive statements, between raging light and languorous pastels, between a poetics of the absurd and the undigested normalcy of the everyday mundane". Her photos vary from a woman covered in mud, children playing, sheep walking down the street, a man climbing over a gate, and much more.

               This series is about Israel in the physical, symbolically to biblical history, and as Israel being the home of Rozovsky's ancestors. She is absorbing her surroundings and trying to create a sense of identity with herself and the land, moving from one section to another in the photos. Reacting as what her life may have been like or what her family would have been if there. She furthers investigates the religious conflicts around and ties in subtly throughout the series.

               Rozovsky series is creative that she went back to her family's homeland to reflect and then to go further, and a create a series on her findings. Doing so, is creating new memories in her head, and the photos acting like bullet points to her self exploring and need for connection. Personally makes me also reflect on where my ancestors have come from, where they might have lived, done for work, and why they decided to start a new path for their children.

 

Carra Roots - Weekly Blog Post

Hsin Wang

So in class I’ve had plenty of discussions with Shane about trying to get away from portraiture. Outside of work, it seems to be the only thing that I do. I’ve been working on showing meaning indirectly. This is exactly what Hsin Wang does. She takes her own personal stories and recreates them using things that came to mind or more than likely happened to her.

In her series De-Selfing, no faces are being shown. Not only that, but she provides things in her photos that do not include people that still tell the same story. These may be pretty obvious things to some people but for me I see this as challenging, yet I find myself intrigued. She also paid attention to the lighting and colors being used. If she used bright colors somethings would not have the same meaning, or the meaning would be lost. She makes you feel as though you are losing one self.

Seeing this really opened up my mind into thinking what do my photos have that tell a meaning. Not saying that every photo has to have this deeper meaning, but if it does how is it coming across.

Diana Macaraeg - Weekly Post

Nguan

Nguan was born and raised in Singapore. He had attended Northwestern University in Illinois with a degree in Film and Video production. His series "Singapore" is his journey back to Singapore after living in the U.S.

Nguan focuses on the internal isolation he feels living back in Singapore. He is not literal in the sense that you are lonely in the city, but that you are just another person in the city. He states that none of his subjects are posed or staged, making his work an observation of candid moments in the country. 

I was mostly drawn into Nguan's work because his photos create a sense of openness, but ironically a sense of isolation. His minimalist approach with interesting subjects create a storytelling of a 'typical' citizen of any city. 

Brandon Mabrouk Blog Post 3/28/2016

Chip Forelli

Chip Forelli is known for shooting prestigious advertisements for companies such as BMW, Land Rover, and Kodak. He has a passion for shooting beautiful landscapes, there are a few series' he did that interested me. A great portion of his work is in black and white but the everything balances well. its seems there is a editing process that he is consistent with but it works with this series. Since I am working on a water series his work has become an inspiration to me. The elements are simple and elegant and in my opinion are enjoyable to look at. His commercial work involves him shooting in a location of the clients choice and the product.

I appreciate how minimal Forelli's work is and how fascinating he can make an image of water. he stated that he has no favorite place to shoot, its the subjects in the photo that make it fascinating. Day or night time a great photo can be made. I plan to do more research on him and study works that he is currently working on as well. Definitely is an experience to see someone's progress that has been shooting for almost 3 decades. I can learn from his process and incorporate it into my shooting process as well. 

Hailey Porth blog post

http://www.featureshoot.com/2016/03/photographers-around-the-world-capture-those-closest-to-them-for-the-ones-we-love/

this blog post is a little different than what were supposed to do. (kind of sorry shane!) lol but I was really captivated by this article (look at the link above) the title of it is "

PHOTOGRAPHERS AROUND THE WORLD CAPTURE THOSE CLOSEST TO THEM FOR ‘THE ONES WE " 

all the photographs were taken by photographers of the people they love most. There's two whole issues full of photographs of dearly loved people. It's inspiring and i freaking love it. 

this is the actual website

http://www.theoneswelove.net

something that has been on my heart a lot is people that I dearly love. and how do i express that without it being this candid, instagram worthy photograph. How do I document the amount of love I have for my friends and family through a photograph and express the intimately personal part of my heart! Idk if that makes sense. But this article allowed me to take a step in the right direction today!!

heres one of the photographers I have found

​Karen Ward 

http://www.theoneswelove.net/karen-ward.html

Hill Street Chronicles

Karen's portraits are very light based and she uses the light to expose incredible expressions. It natural light that we see everyday but she is able to capture it in a way that is able to make the photograph exponentially better than it would have been if it was fully lit. 

Catherine Meadows Weekly Post 10

Rachel Potter

I know, I know... I posted about another pet photographer. I've just been doing a lot of research on people to see if it is actually possible to be successful with a project similar to what I'm doing for my final in class. I'm not choosing these people because I think the animals are cute, I'm choosing people that I find to have good skills in photography. And the cute animals are a plus!

1)  Artist biography and background

     Rachel Potter is actually a full time veterinarian, living in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Through being a veterinarian, she discovered pet photography and fell in love with it immediately. When she's not working at the vet hospital, she takes pictures of adoptable animals at local shelters. She also, if she has time, books sessions with people to photograph their pets as well.

2)  Artist’s intent, thematic and technical choices

     On her website, she states that she often feels she can relate better with animals rather than with humans, which creates a strong connection in her work. I feel that by photographing something that has had such a huge impact in both her work life as well as her personal life, she indeed creates strong work. 

3)  My personal response

       I mean, she basically has my dream life. I'd love to work with animals for the rest of my life, and if I can include photography in that work, then I'd be more than happy. To me, her work isn't uninteresting to look at. Which is surely the opposite of what most people would say when looking at professional photographs of dogs and cats. I think they're composed very well and she chooses angles that show intriguing perspectives on the animals.  She uses both artificial and natural lighting in a way that really brings out the endearing qualities in the animals.

Bradley Manley Weekly Artist Post

Daniel Arnold

Daniel Arnold is photographer who captures the essence of men in his project known as...Men. These images are based strictly around men and correspond with his other projects such as Women, Children, and Pets.

Arnold's images included men of all demographics and age. Most of the subjects in the images seem to be in comfort zone or way out of it. He is able to convey through the images of what men deem important. The photos capture true emotions from the subjects in response of their environment. They seem just comfortable enough to, what it seems, not notice that there is a camera pointing at them.

These photos say many different things to me on the male perspective. These photos give me a glimpse of what all men uphold in morals and emotion. In corresponded with his other projects, I can gather the perspective of many different kinds of people and how they interact with one another.

Victoria Garnett, Weekly Artist Blog, 03/28/2016

Jonathan Mannion
                                          
                                                                    Aaliyah

DMX

Ice Cube

Nicki Minaj 

 Kendrick Lamar

 

Young Jeezy

Jonathan Mannion has captured photographs of the people that I and many others, love and admire in the entertainment industry. Hes photographed celebrities such as the indivduals shown above along with many others such as Tyra Banks, The Game, Outcast, Eminem, Drake, Jay-z, Ja Rule, and the list goes on an on. What makes this photographer such an important one is that he has a unique style when it comes to photographing his clients. It is clear that he is very successful and a very popular photographer to celebrities but he too has other interests that he takes on. He is able to expand his photography outside of the entertainment world and photograph places that his celebrity clients have informed him of or just places he takes a liking or interest in.


“I decided to return to my roots as a photographer, to shoot raw with no plans, no lights, no extra equipment – just a camera, an alert eye and an open mind.” - Jonathan Mannion



He has a project called, The Crescent City, which is a series of photos taken in New Orleans. This is such a great project to look at. Mannion shows that it is possible to be a great photographer in many other areas than just one specific type or style of photography. An amazing photographer to read up on.

Anna Luker Blog

Kate Silvia 

Stumbling around the internet, I discovered this week Kate Silvia! Searching for more connections for my final project I was really taken by her portfolio and website. 

She has a beautiful eye for color and composition. When looking at her portfolio I felt as if I had just discovered what nature really looked like. For me there is something so magical about her photography that sets it apart from the typical nature photos. The utilization of all these different techniques really show through her work. High contrast and use of color, long exposures in landscapes, and composition elements that make for an effective photograph. 

Composition right here. Perfect. Everyone see's the elephant yes? 

The use of color here and creativity here is amazing. I hope to recreate something similar for my final project. This just captured me. 

I could not find much about her personal life but her website is great. Her blogs are very informative to her techniques and she shares great tips to achieve some of the things in her photographs. She seems really passionate about helping people achieve beautiful photographs and I really felt inspired by that. For me personally I don't usually see that on a lot of photographers websites. 

https://katesilviaphotography.wordpress.com/

This seems to be her old website/blog. Not the one I linked above. 

 

Rachel Trautmann's Weekly Blog - 3/28/16

David LaChapelle

This is the second David LaChapelle post for this semester. I already planned on doing one on David and wanted to share other work by him so I went for it. LaChapelle began to make share his photography with the world in the mid-1980's. I know LaChapelle as the photographer to the stars. He has photographed an endless list of celebrities over the past few decades. He even did a Kardashian Christmas photo a few years ago...seriously. Along with his photography, he has also directed quite a few music videos. The link below will direct you to the Elton John video for This Train Don't Stop There Anymore, starring Justin Timberlake. 

http://www.lachapellestudio.com/film/music/elton-john-featuring-justin-timberlake/

David's main talent, more me, is his staging of his sets and subjects. It isn't uncommon for him to rent out massive warehouses to setup a single image. He has also built sets that include over 80 people and multiple cameras to capture a single image. There isn't a centimeter of his image that he did not okay. Along with his amazing scenes, his use of lighting and color is very recognizable. 

I'm drawn to David's work because of his use of color. The majority of his work includes incredibility vivid portraits. I also love his use of lighting. He doesn't treat every image the same for treatment of light and it is clearly noticeable. He also has a lot of humor behind most of his images. He maybe photographing A-list celebrities but he photographs them in ways we haven't seen before. As for his videos, I didn't know about his video work when I found his photography. I knew about a lot of the music videos but didn't know he did them. I absolutely love the video that I linked earlier in this post.