Jada Street Weekly Post

Rhodri Brooks

       Rhodri Brooks is a musician and photographer from Cadriff. The above photos are from a project and an ongoing experiment. His photos explore the performance aspect of portraiture. The above pictures show adults with objects on their heads. This is to represent the transition from childhood freedom to the responsibilities of being an adult. 

     The sitters comfortableness shows in their faces, which, is actually perfect for the theme. It seems as though once these objects were placed on the sitters heads, they snapped back to reality and realized that they are now adults. I like this idea very much. It is an interesting way to show a persons transitions in life. There is thought of color in light in every picture. I enjoy that there is a window, or hints of a window in each picture. It makes me feel like they are so close yet so far away from where they want to be. This isn't like any other pictures I have viewed this semester. No other photographer has dared to place objects on the sitters' heads. This has inspired me to think outside of the box just a little bit more.

Olivia Smith Photo Blog Week 10

Peter Hebeisen 

Peter Hebeisen is a contemporary photographer born in Switzerland but now living in Paris.He is well known for the book he published called "20th Century European Battlefields."  In this book he took many photographs of the battlefields in Europe. While growing up he had a great education and from there he started traveling the world photographing different places. Today he is just an independent artist photographer. 

I really enjoyed browsing through Hebeisen's portfolios. Each image you can tell which series its from, which makes it very interesting. I like that he shoots in series. He also mixes his talent of writing and photographing and published a book, which is unique, because most artist and writers just stick one to median.

Kat Hennessy Weekly Post [Week 9]

Alexi Hobbs

Alexi Hobbs works out of Montreal, and has a focus on the use of color and light in his photography. He uses dramatic lighting, low light, and the reflection/refraction of light to highlight his subjects- creating a visual interest on things that may otherwise seem ordinary. Many of his photos have a very focused subject without distraction or abstraction from its surroundings.

Hobbs allows the subject to be simple, often viewing them from unusual perspectives, and uses a strong bold colors or lighting to place emotion in and around said subject. A sense of wonder and interest is felt when viewing, leaving the observer curious to know more, but feeling strangely satisfied at what is there. This may be to allow the viewer to insert their own sort of meaning to the image or invoke a memory or thought for them based on personal experiences and observations.

Amelia Wood

Nir Arieli

Nir Arieli started out as a military photographer before he recived a schorlship at New York's School of Visual Arts to prusue a more formal aspect to his work in the art field.  Arieli's main fields of photography are now in the aspect of Portraiture and the dancing field.

What draws me in to this work and artist is the motion and how he captures light and movement in his photographs.  The top photo Arieli seems to be using a light that is direct above the subject have this hard casted light come down on his subject.  In the middle photo the way he captured the blue of the mans eyes to even the dark shades of blues and purples in the background have them complement each other.  The last photo is my favorite of his.  Nir has this way of layering photos of his dancers on top of one another creating this beautiful photographs of light, movement, and contrast.

Mary Morris' Weekly Blog Post

Jane Olin

Jane Olin has been working as a photographer for over 25 years. She uses the darkroom as her way to add her creative input. She adds special toners to add her specific coloring to her images. One thing in her artist statement that stood out to me was the fact that she isn't afraid to take risks. She isn't afraid to crop in irregular dimensions or keep her photos unfocused. Her compositions are simplistic and soothing.

Olin is known for her nude photos of the female body and landscapes. These photographs are from her series "Quiet Landscapes 1." Olin uses an almost sepia coloring to these photographs to add interest. Her photographs have a spiritual atmosphere.

O Zhang is a female Chinese Photogapher based out of New York.  She is most famously known for taking photos depicting Chinese Youth and making short films and installations.  The following three photos are from her exhibition titled The World is Yours.  It was her first American solo exhibition and it basically showed Chinese youth wearing t-shirts with English text depicting her message of Chinglish.

These pictures I feel are very powerful because it shows how western culture has a very strong influence on other countries, especially China.  It shows the crisis that youth are facing today with trying to find their identity within themselves.   I also enjoy how the images are raw and show now alterations to the children shown on the pictures.  The children are just regular kids.  This almost relates to me on how western culture has greatly influenced myself.  I feel like I should be on one of the images!

Emily Miah-Weekly Post #9

Alec Soth

Alec Soth is an American photographer from Minnesota. He is well know for making "large scale" photographs as well as taking photos with strangers, but also forming a bond with them as the same time. In 2004, he also became the nominee for the Magnum Photos agency and finally became a full member in 2008. He is also known to self-print his photos out into books. 

He usually takes photos normally, but rather plain. Most of the people he is photographing are standing straight up, and looking directly at the camera. Although they are plain pictures, they somehow draw you in by their unappealing ways and the chances that these are all strangers he has met is rather high. 

Brandon Hamlet Weekly Post

Justin Wilkes

     Justin Wilkes did a project called the Cario Diary where he recorded a complete governmental shift in Egypt. He recorded things such as riots, everyday life and gruesome events such as dead people and animals. All of his pictures are made to give you insight into how life in Egypt during this time was. They showed the suffering along with the healing of people pressing on with there everyday lives. This photographer captured great images to show his viewer what life in Egypt really was like.

   This collection of pictures was to show people how different societies live in this case particularly Egypt. Some of these images are picked to make viewers feel some type of emotion that the majority of this society was feeling. Other images in this collection show everyday life of the Egyptian people which gives the audience a connection to the work. This connection is there because the audience can relate to the different people within these portraits.

    

Robert Lamb weekly post #9

     Arnau Blanch is a Spanish photographer, who has studied at the Institut d’Estudis Fotografics de Catalunya as well as the New York International Center of Photography. Although he does not make a living off of photography it has not stopped him from making amazing photos. He stated that he saves up money for his projects this way it allows him complete creative freedom over what he is doing and how he wants to do it. Also explained in an interview he stated that he uses his projects as a way to challenge his self and face some of his fears. “I use my camera as a way to approach reality and how to deal with it” (Quoted from the interview). As for his camera equipment he uses both film and digital, one camera is the 5D mark II and the second is the Olympus Miju I.

     In the three images above one can definitely relate what he says to the pictures he takes. For the three images they are from two different projects, “Fantasmas” and “Veneno” both done in black and white. For me I don’t expect much from black and white images, yet Blanch has done very well in capturing a great amount of emotion especially fear. Throughout both projects Blanch plays with lighting and other elements sometimes giving the images a bent or distorted look on reality. Possibly a small glimpse into the way he views the world. I would love to be able to create images that have the same intense level of emotion meaning and story with in it.  

Eboni Brice weekly post 9

Daniel Gudmundsson

                      Daniel Gudmundsson, is a Swedish photographer, most of his photos are pictures of nature, and some wildlife.  He loves to  have vibrant colors within his photos, and very little black and white ones.

                     Gudmundsson, finds the right time and place to take his pictures.  Some happened to be stumbled upon and persistence and waiting for the right time and moment of mother nature to help aid in making these colorful pictures.

Holly Walsh- Weekly Post #8

David Doubilet

David Doubilet has been taking underwater pictures since the age of twelve; he now works as a national geographic photographer mainly focusing on underwater photograph. David's personal goal is to create a visual voice for the ocean. He writes in his bio that he wishes to connect people to the incredible beauty and silent devastation happening within the invisible world below. He desire to use his art to positively contribute to something bigger inspires me.

Jada Street Weekly Post #7

Yannik Willing

The photographs taken are from Sri Lanka. He discovered this island in 2009 through a group of friends who lived there. His photos are taken of citizens who he got to know on a personal level. However, it is not what he thought it would be. The vibe he received from there was the usual exotic, tourist feel. About 4 weeks later, a historical moment happened in Sri Lanka and this re-sparked his interest. He thought it would be important to document tourists during the post-war phase. Willing decided to use this theme for his thesis paper and returned to Sri Lanka.

Willing's photos speak in volumes when it comes to the meaning behind them. The first image captured my attention because everyone pretty much has their own space in the foreground and then they slowly begin to merge in the background. It makes me wonder if he directed them to do this or if it naturally happened. There is also a lot of colored shirts in the foreground and people running/ walking into different directions. It really makes me curious how this picture was made. The second picture captured my interest because I am not used to see in soldiers on the beach. The serious soldier in the foreground and playful family in the background is ironic and creates a juxtapose. When i view the photo it also makes me feel guilty because the soldier is fighting for our lives, while we are just relaxing and not even giving praise to the soldiers who risk their lives everyday. The third picture captured my attention because of the color and many different pins. It makes me wonder what this person did to deserve all of the pins. It also makes me wonder if it is a man or a woman. This is not a traditional portrait because it does not show the face. It actually shows more of the personality through the pins on his/her clothing.

Weekly Post - Shannon Olson

Eugene Richards  is a professional photographer from Dorchester, Massachusetts. Though most of his notoriety is generated from books he has published (fifteen so far including titles such as Fat Baby, Cocaine True, Cocaine Blue, and a Procession of Them) much of his work has also been featured in several magazines like National Geographic, LIFE, and the New York Times. Richards has had a hand in documenting social/political affairs from racism in Arkansas to cultural changes in his hometown. 

Although I was unaware of the photographer himself, I first came upon Richards work in a publication of National Geographic back when I was in high school. The article, titled "The Empty Prairie" discussed the increase of ghost towns in rural North Dakota due to steady economic regression. The images can best be described in the context of the article itself: sparse, barren, devoid - a memorandum to what once was or what could have been but almost always with a startling reminder of what may or will be; a tongue of flame leaping from an oil well in the middle of  nowhere, a spray of snow over a decrepit bedroom, the flash of a man's eye reminding the viewer that life and inevitable change persist in even the gloomiest, most monotonous settings. Needless to say, those photos had a sufficient effect for me to remember them nearly five years later -

to make a seemingly meaningless article that had nothing to do with me become relatable enough to have everything to do with me, if that makes any sense.

Beth Teller Weekly Post

Sarah Bridgeman

Sarah Bridgeman is a fine arts photographer, specializing in lifestyle photography. Not only does Bridgeman devote herself to photography, she is also devoted to Let Then LOL, a non profit organization. Let Them LOL brings in clean water and hope to the people of the country. Of course, while Bridgeman is helping others, she documents it, as well. 

Her ability to catch children at the right moment is great. To be able to photograph children it's a must that you have a high shutter speed. Some of her photographs are taken inside using only the available light (which at times isn't much light). Knowing those two pieces help me to realize that her ISO was more than likely not 100, but I can't seem to find any noise in her photographs. After looking at her photographs, I found myself wanting to see all of them, which I did!

Olivia Smith Weekly Post 9

Tom Robinson

Tom Bryant is a british photographer. He is well known for traveling all over the world for his job. He shoots for a travel magazines, advertising, and hotel and airlines. His famous portfolio reflects from the Uttarayans Kite Festival. There he captures many of the kites, but he also takes images of people from that part of the country in their every day life.

I really enjoy theses images because of the vibrant colors. They really make the images pop. Robinson does an excellent job capture these people with different expressions. Each one is different, and they each tell a different story, which is very interesting. 

Weekly Post

Christian Pondella

Christian Pondella is a photographer specializing in adventure sports with and emphasis on snow boarding and skiing. He has traveled to exotic locations through out the world experiencing different cultures and photographing remote mountain ranges like the one above. Which is a stunning photo of how it looks like two photos but is just a reflection of the water. Pondella is an avid participant in the sports he photographs, he tries to capture an image through the athlete's perspective, instead of the spectators view.
 I really enjoy his perspective he uses, it gives the viewer an intimate view of the cutting edge of the sports he photographs. For the past 11 years he has been the head photographer for Red Bull USA. Working for Red Bull has given him the opportunity to work with some of the worlds best athletes and being able to participate in a variety of adventure sports.