Collier Schorr

I would definitely have to say that I have extremely mixed feelings about the photography of Collier Schorr. On one hand I feel that she is an extremely talented photographer, but on the other hand I just really don’t connect with the subject matter of her photographs. To be honest at first I was a little disturbed by the fact that a grown woman was taking photographs of young boys wrestling and talking about how beautiful they were. But, after she continued to speak I began to understand where her artistic vision was coming from. One thing Collier said was that she was in a sense, “photographing the boy that she always wished she was.” After that I realized that it was not a sexual thing, but merely her true inner-self coming alive  through her artwork.

Here are my five Photographs for the Post Card assignment…. hope you like.

Roni Horn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I am going to be completely honest I was not very impressed by the work of Roni Horn. I thought many of her close-up portraits were pretty cool and showed a wide range of emotion, but the rest of her work left me fairly disinterested. I think for the most part her photographs, as well as her artistic approach was just way over my head. Although, I still believe that if she is passionate about her work and is compelled by the images she captures, then more power to her. I guess I just didn’t get it…….?????

Jim Brandenburg 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All I can really say about the artist Jim Brandenburg is that he surely is a master of his trade andt that his work is simply extraordinary.  To be completely honest I have never been a huge fan of nature photography, but Jim has definitely changed my mind. Just to learn about and view the processes he went through to capture these images has made me look at photography in a different way. I love the fact that he said being in nature and having the opportunity to photograph it is sort of his therapy. You can really tell that this is where his true passion lies and it completely shows through in his photographs.

Working with layers….

 

Today I was learning how to work with layers on Photoshop. This was my first attempt where I used layers to create a sephia tone image. Nothing amazing, but it was my first time.

Here is the original image so you can compare the two.

Sally Mann

The one thing that I love about Sally Mann’s artistic philosophy is that she believes that creating art should be fun. She doesn’t get bogged down by the notion that art needs to relay some sort of message, or should have some underlying statement that others need to analyze and interpret. She simply takes photographs of things that are interesting and beautiful in her own eyes. Whether it is photographing her family, landscapes, or dog bones, Sally Mann takes a very subtle and spontaneous approach to her work that I feel is quite successful. I also love the fact that she still produces photographs the old fashion way because I think it adds to the authenticity of them.

Rick Smolen

All I can say about the photograper Rick Smolen is that he is one cool SOB! After listening to his stories of fate and all the exciting travels and life experiences he has had I have gained an immediate respect for the man. I love the fact that he had this vision of photographing an entire country in one day, with one hundred of the worlds greatest photograpers, and I find it insane that so many publishers rejected his idea. I love the fact that he didn’t bow out to the man and continued pursuing his dream.

Mexico Trip!!!

Jim Brandenburg

After learning about Jim Brandenburgs 90 day project to take only one still frame per day it has left me with a sense of envy. I admire the amount of passion, patience, and ambition that it took for him to conquer such an enormously difficult challenge. I love the fact that in his project he chose to defy the obvious shots of grandeur and opted to take photographs of the subtle beauty that is found within nature. The photographs that I have seen thus far from the first fifteen days of his project are simply breathtaking. Jim Brandenburg obviously has a keen sense of nature and the simplicity, as well as complexity that it embodies. I hope to become more familiar with the artists work and also the naturalistic approach to his art.