Alison Bradey

http://www.alisonbrady.com

Born and raised in Cleveland, OH works in NYC.
as stated by the artist:
"My work is a series of color photographs that work to stimulate unconscious emotions, desires, and sexual compulsions, all unified within a dynamic that vacillates between the real and the fantasized. I explore issues related to madness and alienation as they exist in contemporary culture, concentrating on expressions of neurosis, on feelings of anxiety, displacement, and loss of identity."

Her work is beautiful, yet extremely disturbing, and that tension is fascinating to me. I like how the faces are covered/ only parts of the body are shown so the person remains just a person instead of someone specific. She clearly considers color choice when doing her works, and all of them have an overall general color combination. They're rather simplistic. There's not a lot of things in the pictures to distract you, which is an approach that I like a lot. They have this vintage-like feel to them through the use of color and the wallpapers that she uses as backgrounds in most of them. They're familiar, yet completely strange to the viewer.

Post by Lisa Bove

Gregory Crewdson

http://www.luhringaugustine.com/index.php?mode=artists&object_id=66

BIO: Gregory Crewdson (born September 26, 1962 ) is an American photographer who is best known for elaborately staged, surreal scenes of American homes and neighborhoods.

Crewdson was born in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. As a teenager, he was part of a punk rock group called The Speedies that hit the New York scene in selling out shows all over town. Their hit song "Let Me Take Your Photo" proved to be prophetic to what Crewdson would become later in life. In 2005, Hewett Packard used the song in advertisements to promote its digital cameras.

In the mid 1980s, Crewdson studied photography at SUNY Purchase, near Port Chester, NY. He received his Masters of Fine Arts from Yale University. He has taught at Sarah Lawrence, Cooper Union, Vassar College, and Yale University where he has been on the faculty since 1993. He is now professor at Yale.

Chris Strong

Chris Strong is a Illinoise based photographer working closely with many important figures in the Chicago scene. The first work of his that I had ever viewed was the photograph for the cover of American Football's LP. The cover is visually pleasing but sends a nice message to me as the viewer. The way he framed the top of the house with the triangular shape and the light coming from the window is beautiful.

I like Chris Strong's work because many of my favorite musicians such as Tim Kinsella, Mike Kinsella, Issac Brock, and Jeff Tweedy have been photographed by him. Knowing the music and seeing the way that they are represented in the photos almost feels like I, as the viewer, get to see another side to them but they all seem to fit in their photos. Tim Kinsella is drinking in his photograph and I know from his music that he is still a bartender in Chicago. I find this work interesting.

www.chrisstrong.com

--Chris Donahue

James Looker

James Looker is from Australia. He is twenty four and is already traveling the world with artists and musicians taking photos from a photo journalistic point of view. He has a great love for travel, culture and beauty which I love. I love that he has a variety of work and doesn't concentrate on any subject specifically. Now that we are focusing our next project on portraits, I started to look at his and I like how he photographs people. A lot of them are two images of one person in one photo, which I like.


http://jameslooker.carbonmade.com/projects/2182482#7



Ashley Finkney

William Eggleston

William Eggleston is a Memphis born photographer who was raised in Sumner, Mississippi. Eggleston never earned a college degree, but during this time became extremely interested in photography. He was given a Leica camerea by a friend in college, which helped to spark his interest. Eggleston discovered the process of dye-transfer printing while teaching at Harvard (1973-74). He loves the striking, saturated colors that were created in his photographs and continued to use this process throughout much of his extended work. His work, called 14 Pictures, was made into an exhibition at the MoMA in 1976 and was a major moment in history for color photography. Eggleston was the first person to singlehandedly hold an exhibition in color photography at the MoMA. Many of his series can be viewed as photographic scenes from home movies, capturing people and subjects in their natural settings. He forces the viewer to look at every day objects and situations, to see them in a different, more exciting light.

His use of color is amazing. The colors in every photograph are so vibrant and enticing that my eye was immediately drawn to his work. His saturated images delightfully vary in subject from dilapidated road signs to carnival rides to the interesting shots of individuals. A lot of his work is very high contrast, which is a style that I find to be personally appealing. His camera angles are interesting in that they crop and capture parts of a subject that are somewhat abstract (the carnival ride), and gives his work even more of a visual interest.

http://www.egglestontrust.com/

Posted by Kim Steinhilber

David Muench

David Muench was born in 1936. He is a landscape and nature photographer known for portraying the American western landscape. David went to RIT, UC at Santa Barbara, and Art Center School of Design in Los Angeles. His father was a photographer and they traveled a lot and that inspired him to take pictures. David is known for his American western landscape but in recent years, he has traveled to Antarctica, New Zealand, Russia, Morocco, Iceland, and many other places. His worked can be seen in many galleries, such as the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Mountain Light Gallery in Bishop, CA, Phoenix Art Museum, etc. I really enjoy his work because I really like nature and landscape and I think the colors he captures are so beautiful. He can make something as simple as some tress look beautiful with great colors and light.

"I am inspired by the power and beauty of the primal landscape," Muench said. "In the unending experience it offers to light, space and time, I engage in my equally unending search for sublime beauty."

www.muenchphotography.com

Posted By Stephanie Aldrich

Adam Fuss

Adam was born in London, England and currently lives in works in NYC. He first started studying photography in Australia, working for a commercial photographer.


I am not in love with all of his work, but I was impressed by his cocoon series.
I think that the detail is nothing short of amazing. You can almost see through the "skin". It reminds me of science fictions movies, and some sort of human or alien is going to pop out.
They also look like they are light from within, they have illuminating appeal to them, which also reminds me of life in a more symbolic way.

http://www.fraenkelgallery.com/index.php#p=-1&at=-1

http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/sub.asp?key=15&subkey=563

Collections

• Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH.
• Albright-Knox, NY
• Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Australia.
• Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
• Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO.
• Fisher Landau Center, Long Island City, NY.
• George Eastman House, Rochester, NY.
• The Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
• Israel Museum, Israel.
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA.
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.
• Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.
• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
• Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH.
• U.S. Trust Company, New York, NY.
• Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England.
• Vienna Moderner Kunst Museum
• Whitney Museum of American Art, NY.
• Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, VT

Margot Quan Knight

Artist Journal #5
Posted By Toni
Margot's Website
Since graduating from Dartmouth in 1999, Margo Quan Knight has had nine solo shows and has showcased her work in over 60 publications. Her work covers a wide variety of content and tone but there is still an underlying consistency. She say that, "My photographs use fantasy to trim away the fat of reality, to expose possiblities." Her work results in a complex mix of emotions that focus on the human body and finding the surreal in everyday life.
When Margot has a project in mind it gets very intense. Her work usually involves etensive reasearch at the library and making props then gets bigger from there. She can go through 2-3 cycles of a search period before she makes a final decision. Most of her images are done with more work on props and less work in photoshop. She uses everything a old Light Bright to a Mamiya 645 Pro for cameras.
What interests me most is the surrealism in all her pieces. In some you might have to look close but it's there. She takes simple everyday things and makes us think twice about them .
I also love the way in the majority of her images the color is really saturated, but not intense.

Mike Rosenthal

Artist Journal #4
Mike's Website
As a kid Mike Rosenthal started out in the fine arts. His mother was a ceramist and he followed in the footsteps of the many artists in his family. He started out by making furniture, paintings and home movies. which later led him to focus on cinematography. For three years he worked with the Academy Award Winning cinematographer on Titanic before realizing that he was more interesting in still photography.


Mike Rosenthal is mostly known for his fashion, celebrity, cityscape, landscape and commercial photography as well as his numerous guest appearances as photographer for America's Next Top Model. It is said that Mike Rosenthal is one of those rare photographers who can tell an entire story with his photographs. He focuses alot on movement and the attitude of both the subject and its surroundings.

Most of his commercial and model shoots use a lot of props but never take away from the main focus or subject of the photo. They don't over power the shot. He uses natural and artificial lighting depending on the location of the shot and it's always used to his advantage. He creates dynamic images that are full of movement no matter what the subject.


Because I'm most familiar with them, his images from America's Next Top Model are my favorites. With the help of make-up and wardrobe he turns he gives these girls images that they can uses for portfolios for years to come. If there were to just walk off the street for a go-see without some of these photographs, an agency probably wouldn't even look twice at them.

Posted By: Toni Ratleff

Julia Fullerton-Batten

Artist Journal #3
Julia's Website
Julia Fullerton-Batten was born in Germany and spent her childhood there and in the USA. When she was 16 she and her family moved to the UK. It was after this she decided she wanted to pursue a career in photography. She developed her unique style after assisting for five years upon completing graduation from the Berkshire College of Art & Design.
Julia's images are a part of permanent colleges in both London and Switzerland. She is most known for her book 'Teenage Stories' that was published in 2007
When creating her images she has a entire process that she goes through. One small thing will usually trigger an idea. Then she has to find the right models, book assistants, find hair and make up and costuming and studios.
What interests me most is how the majority of her images seem surreal. They tend to have a dream like quality about them. One of my favorite images of hers is 'Bike Accident.' I love the way the body is completely mangled and it actually looks like this teenage girl is a giant in a small world. When in actually reality these images where shot in a real location. One of several model villages in Europe.
From the photos that I've seen I love her use of color. Overall they blend very well and the bolds stand out nicely. From her 'Teenage Stories" series all her images where shoot on a model location. To achieve the color she would have had to acquire proper lighting and shot from the correct angels. She did a great job of accomplishing this.




Posted By: Toni Ratleff

Steve McCurry

posted by Ashley Finkney


Biographical Information: Steve McCurry was born in Philadelphia and attended the College of Arts and Architecture at the Pennsylvania State University. He graduated cum laude. He worked for a newspaper for two years after school and quit to pursue freelance in India.

Historical Placement: Steve first became well known and distinguished when he decided to dress is native clothing and cross the Pakistan border into rebel- controlled Afghanistan. His images from this journey became well known around the world and were of the first to show what was really going on there. After this he won numerous awards and became known by many.

Techniques and Conceptual Ideas: Steve is known for his vivid color photography focusing on war. He has covered conflicts such as the Iran Iraq war and the Gulf war. He mainly works with people and faces and how the wars have effected the human face. He also works with the landscapes a little. He wants the viewer of his work to know what it may feel like to be that person he photographed. He doesn’t look for the posed looks, he looks for a real moment when the person has not put their guard up.

My Interest: I have always been really interested in Steve’s work since I first saw his famous photograph of the unidentified Afghan refugee girl. The photo was so striking with the color he used and the subject matter. I also admire what he does, going into conflicted areas of the world and capturing what is going on and showing them to the world. I have always wanted to work for National Geographic and travel the world and document it, so naturally I really enjoy Steve’s work. He captures such amazing moments and the people he photographs look like they can tell a million stories.

Personal Analysis: One of my favorite photographs Steve has taken is the one in India, Covered of the Unguarded Moment. The color in this photo is so intense, there is not one dull part of the photo. Your eye wants to travel in every part. The red handprints on the wall are so strong in color against the blue wall with the child running away. It also has a very intense subject matter that matches the intensity of the coloring. The boy is running away so quickly from the camera while there are red handprints on the left side of the photograph that almost looks like they are made of blood. If you look at Steve’s other work, the coloring is very similar. There are very intense colors capturing a mood. In one there’s a fire made by a group of people in front of the Taj Mahal, while the fire is very warm in color and very orange looking, the Taj Mahal is very blue and cold looking. The contrast in this photo is so beautiful.

Art Wolfe

www.artwolfe.com

Art Wolfe was born in Seattle, Washington in 1951.  He graduated from the University of Washington with Bachelor’s degrees in fine arts and art education. Within the first four years after graduating, Wolfe had done assignments for National Geographic magazine and produced his first photo book. He has released more than 65 photo books and instructional videos of photographic techniques. Wolfe has gotten many awards, such as the Rachel Carson Award, The National Audubon Society in 1998, Photographer of the Year by Photo Media Magazine in 1996 and the Alfred Eisenstaedt Magazine Photography Award in 2000.

            Art’s role in the photographic world is to show everyone else in the world what a beautiful planet we live on and that we need to preserve it. His goal is that when people look at his work, they see the natural beauty of our planet and they will want to save it.

            When Art is shooting, he likes to travel very light. He uses Canon’s 1DS, 1DS Mk 2 and 1DS Mk 3, which has 21.1 megapixels. He only uses a few lenses, such as telephoto. Art is very passionate about wildlife, so a lot of his work is wildlife. He has traveled to every continent. With his passion for wildlife, his images show some of the world’s fast-disappearing wildlife, landscapes and native cultures. His goal is shooting wildlife and the Earth is to win support for conservation issues by “focusing on what’s beautiful on the Earth” (www.artwolfe.com).

            Art Wolfe’s work really interests and inspires me. I’ve always dreamed of working for National Geographics. His work is the kind of work I hope I can produce someday. I am very much into wildlife and the environment like Art, and I want to show the world how special our planet is and that we have to save it.

            Art’s work has a variety of colors. They are bright and vibrant. None of the colors are too bright to make them seem out of place. They are natural looking. He uses a variety of colors to show that our Earth is full of vibrant colors.  To me, the color in his work makes me feel calm or happy because I think our planet is a beautiful place and everything in it is wonderful.

Posted by Stephanie Aldrich

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

http://www.greenfield-sanders.com/

Biographical Information: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders (born 1952) is an American portrait photographer known for his strikingly intimate portraits of world leaders and major cultural figures. The majority of his work is shot in large format, 11x14 inch black and white film and 8x10 color film. His images are widely published and he is a contributing photographer to Vanity Fair.

Educational Background: Greenfield-Sanders received a B.A. degree in Art History from Columbia University in 1974 and a M.F.A. degree from the American Film Institute in 1977 in film. While studying film at A.F.I. he became interested in portraiture after the school asked him to photograph visiting dignitaries for the archive. Alfred Hitchcock, Ingmar Bergman, Billy Wilder and Bette Davis all gave the young student tips.

Career: "Art World Exhibit" Timothy Greenfield-Sanders started out photographing artists. Through his father-in-law, Abstract Expressionist painter Joop Sanders he met the leading figures of the "Ab Ex School", including Willem de Kooning, Larry Rivers, Milton Resnick, Lee Krasner and Robert Motherwell among others. In those early years he also started to photograph the emerging artists of his own generation, Cindy Sherman, Julian Schnabel, David Salle, Richard Prince and Peter Halley for example. His art world obsession continued and he added art critics, art dealers, art collectors and art curators to his archive. Greenfield-Sanders' first one-man exhibition was in 1981 at The Marcuse Pfeiffer Gallery. Titled, "New York Artists of the Fifties in the Eighties", the show consisted of 40 portraits of the leading figures of the Fifties who were still alive. The exhibition was reviewed in the New York Times by Hilton Kramer, the chief art critic for the newspaper. Kramer said, "Mr. Greenfield-Sanders has a wonderful eye for faces and a subtle understanding of how their characteristic attributes may best be translated into the language of the photographic print. Even if we did not know who his subjects are, this would be a very affecting exhibition. But since the subjects are who they are, this show is also something of a historic event-and a moving one, too, for anyone who has lived through the period that it recalls". This significant review in the Times gave the photographer an important career boost. Years later, in 1999, Greenfield-Sanders exhibited all the art world subjects who had sat for his camera over a 20 year period. There were 700 images in this show at The Mary Boone Gallery in New York. Full editions of all 700 images are now in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

rinko kawauchi

Art Website:
http://www.cmp.ucr.edu/exhibitions/kawauchi/

You Tube Video on her work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1TdTaB4_Dg

Born in Shiga Prefecture, in 1972, Kawauchi-san has become one of the most celebrated contemporary photographers in Japan and became interested in photography while she was studying at Seian Junior College of Art and Design.

Her publications and exhibitions have been seen worldwide.
Her photographs mark the cycle of existence illustrating themes of birth, life, death, and the nuances of temporality.

Which are demonstrated in her best known work Alia which means family in turkish.

They are at once effortless, fleeting and occasionally melancholic.

While the single image contains an encapsulated experience, it is the strength of multiple images in sets and suites that demonstrate the power of this work as a whole.

.... Photo Alliance

Shoots in mostly 6X6 format Has published 9 photography books

Major Exhibitions:

Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris (2005)

The Photographer's Gallery, London (2006)

posted by : Amber Pasiak

Skip Bolen

Artist Journal #2

Skip Bolen is a southern photographer who works in both black and white as well as color. His work mostly circles around musical life, culture and architecture in New Orleans, Los Angeles and New York City. He specializes in shooting stills for TV, film and music productions. Born in the south he began in New Orleans where he started out with a publishing career in designing and art directing. He then ventured to New York where he spent a lot of evenings in jazz clubs and beganphotographing jazz musicians. He also did this frequently when he visited home.

In private and public collections across the world, Skip Bolen’s images have been showed in many solo and group exhibitions including the ZOOM photography show in Los Angeles, the Robert Bruno Gallery in New Orleans and the Los Angeles Jazz Society's Annual Jazz Tribute & Concert. Hisphotographs have been a part of publications such as The NY Times, Rolling Stone, VH-1, Vogue and US Weekly.

Bolen has a very distinct technique. I have seen many photographers while photographing musicians, getting on stage like they’re a part of the concert or show. Bolen works without a flash and tries to be as unobtrusive as possible to the artist. He only wants to capture the true essence of the performance, without becoming a part of it. He adapts to his surroundings waiting to capture the perfect moment that showcases the definition of jazz. In the studio however, he uses completely different techniques. He becomes a master at lighting, shooting portraits in black and white and color.

What interests me most about Skip Bolen’s work is his ability to use his surroundings to his advantage. When he shoots musicians he uses the artificial fluorescent lights that are already present. He doesn’t add his flash or any additional lighting. I also love the way he doesn’t intrude on the artists while they are performing. He took his love of two different things, jazz music and photography and was able to find a way that work together for him.

Most of Bolen’s work from concerts that I’ve seen, the colors are very saturated, which works for the content and context of the photos. His landscape photographs that I’ve seen all seem to have a relatively calm or serene color basis. His TV still were the same as any TV stills, they show the basis of the movie or show. I was more interested in his landscape and music photography. I did take a look as some of his album covers all which seemed pretty interesting. They seemed to fit right in with each artist.

Skip Bolen Photography
Skip Bolen's YouTube











Posted By Toni Ratleff