Jem Cohen

badass.

Jean-Baptiste Mondino

ANDRE KERTESZ

Andre Kertesz (1894-1985) was a great photographer born in Hungary. He made amazing contributions to photography in regards to the ideas of composition and the use of angles to form them. He is a leading figure of the photojournalist movement in the history of photography. He bought his first camera in 1912, it was an ICA box camera. Kertesz got his first photographs published in 1917 in a magazine during World War 1. At 20 he was sent to the front lines himself where he photographed in the trenches with a Goerz Tenax. In 1923 one of his photographs was selected by the Hungarian Amateur Photographers Association for the silver award, giving him widespread publicity. In 1933 he published his first book of photographs entitled 'Enfants'. Many of his most famous photographs were taken from his window of his apartment in Washington Square Park with a telephoto lens.

Werner Bischof

Werner Bischof was born in 1916 and grew up in a financially comfortable family in Waldshut, Germany. There, Werner learned from his father how to make photograms; specifically by placing lace and other fine objects on photographic paper, which was then exposed. In 1933, Werner began studying photography at the Zurich School of Applied Arts. By 1936, Bischof opened a studio as a graphic artist and photographer. 

What I like about Werner Bischof is the painstakingly large efforts he endured to achieve a  satisfying photograph in his perfectionist eyes. For example, for one photograph, Bischof spent countless hours cutting, sanding, and polishing snail shells to achieve the translucent effect he wanted for a nature study. In 1951, Bischof arrived in Korea to cover the evacuation of a village. At a time where racism blinded many, Bischof saw Asian children equal to their European peers. From Peru to Japan, from war and famine, to simple spirit and traditional culture, Werner strived to portray the beauty of the human condition from an empathic viewpoint. How Bischof lived his life is how I dream to one day live mine. 

B&W portrait photographer

Xavier Lambours is a French photographer (of course), currently leaving in Paris. He was born in 1972 and worked for a variety of French newspapers as a portrait photographer (Hara Kiri, Libération, les Cahiers du cinéma). He also (co-)created a few photo agencies, such as Viva and Métis, and won several awards for his admired works. --- I highly recommend you take a look at his website, especially if you happen to be in desperate need for insparation! humum.

Nick Brandt

I just recently discovered Brandt's work.  I feel like the way he captures wildlife is in a way majestic.  I can almost feel what the animal is feeling in his pictures. I can only imagine the close relationship he must gain while shooting these animals.  His images are not only beautiful but very powerful.

Emir Ozsahin

I chose to post about this artist for two reasons. One, he's not a very well known photographer, just a random guy I found stumbling around flickr. Two, because the composition includes an element that I've been meaning to experiment with. I like the idea that it is unnecessary to compose the face of a person in focus or visible in a portrait. Sometimes perhaps using body language instead and having something blurred in the foreground can convey the meaning of the portrait or personality of the person better. It sort of tricks us, because I think that we are naturally inclined to looking at faces before anything else in a picture. This picture isn't necessarily the best example of a marvelous composition utilizing this distractive element, but it does convey emotion and mystery by letting the body language of the child and the shadow coming from the person standing behind him speak. It gives me an eery feeling that this is not considered a portrait at all. 

 Here are some other exampled of his work.

(side note: this is not flipped the wrong way)

Artist: Gregory Crewdson

Found as part of our digital assignment, although I had seen some of his images before, as some of you likely have as well. Best known for his dark and dramatic scenes of classic American life which contain an unusually high amount of production value (lighting, staging, etc) for a singular photograph. I really love the way he takes a topic that might sound tired and cliche (stereotypical "apple pie" America) and twists it by looking at it through a surreal and mysterious perspective. Some of his images can be seen below, and you can find more of his works here.

IDA BORG

Mariko Mori



"Play With Me" 1994

I researched Mariko Mori for our recent blog assignment in Digital but since her work was so entertaining I couldn't help but share it here as well. Her work is very science fiction-y, often over saturated and animated. She experiments with manipulating identity a lot, which I always find interesting in art. 

Check it:

Adam Fuss. I found him on the Schmidt website for Digital class, but I figured I'd share him on this blog as well. His choice of objects/materials may be limited, but his use of composition, light and shadow are both haunting and compelling. Here is just one example that stood out to me among many:

Anna Gay

Boom

 Boom

 Boom

ClickClickClickClick!

Contemporary Photography exhibit in New York City

Aspen Mays got her masters in photography from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois three years ago and is already exhibiting in museums across the nation. I couldn't find an artist statement explaining her most recent project titled Sun Ruins, but I thought the multitudes of gelatin prints were good examples of the renewed interest in minimalistic art in the art world. Here are some images from the Golden Gallery of Chicago in 2009.

I think the pieces displayed together are very effective, but have the feeling that a lot of people might scoff at each piece if displayed individually instead of as a series. I really wish I could find more information on it other than the fact that she spent time in Chile before and after the recent earthquake that devastated the country. She was becoming close with some astronomers, and given an old abandoned University dark room to play with (something I'm sure all of us could only dream of happening to us). The images are really soft and almost childlike to me. Like she's discovering her passion all over again from a new angle.

Punched Out Stars 5, Silver Gelatin Print, 2011, 6" x 7.75"

Punched Out Stars 3, Silver Gelatin Print, 2011, 9.5" x 7"