Stephanie Sinclair
The innocence in this picture really moves me. The title of this piece is "Living with Sickle Cell Anemia." Sinclair's work focuses on human rights and social issues. I find this to be one of her more powerful black and white images but my favorite collection of work from her is a story she did on female circumcision. http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/01/20/magazine/20080120_CIRCUMCISION_SLIDESHOW_4.html
Marcus Bleasdale
Bleasdale is another photographer who i greatly respect. He is having a real impact on the world and I aspire to have a career like his. Looking at these pictures my stomach turns and I don't want to keep looking, but at the same time I can't look away. These are from a series on malnutrition in Dijbouti.
Arthur Elgort
I love Arthur Elgort's work. When I was very young he shot me (sadly, I have never seen the images) and two years ago he did a critique of my work. Since then I have become fascinated (even more so) with his body of work. This may be the only image that I don't feel anything for of his. I find it non-impressive and lacking emotion.
I was touched by the images of children by Stephanie Sinclair and Marcus Bleasdale. After spending two years working closely with children and capturing my own images, i've become fascinated with capturing and re-understanding children now that I grown, yet my childhood years were only about a decade ago.
ReplyDeleteThe Bleasdale photo captures the ignorance and fear children have. The lack of adult faces in contrast with her central-full body position demonstrates that she is in their care, yet, she cannot understand what it being done to her.
The Sinclair photo captures the innocence and lack of self-sufficiency children have, especially in times of illness. Yet, there is something serene about this photo. The children are comfortable, perhaps just waking up in the morning as an adult assists them. Both photos compel me to sympathize for these children, because they are suffering and may not realize the entire scope of their situation.
I feel that all of the photos I have commented on, I am drawn to them because there seems to be a mystery behind them that allows the viewer to ask questions about what could have been going on in that moment. I was moved by Marcus Bleasdales photo because he manages to capture a moment of high energy and emotion and essentially forces the viewer to question more about it.
ReplyDeleteThough the photo was not staged, the lighting highlights the child and leaves out information that does not necessarily add to the photo. For example, the childs facial expression and outstretched arm are highlighted perfectly while the rest of the body and other figures remain in shadow. The blur in the photo also does the same thing by showing the desperation as the child reaches, while leaving their face in full focus.