Sunday, February 13, 2011

Influences

Initially, I had a couple artists in mind like William Kentridge and Stanley Kubrick (his films like Clockwork Orange (Symmetry and Color), Shining (Symmetry), Space Odyssey) I have to maybe re-watch them and see how he frames the shots. I saw Kentridge’s work at MoMA and since then I’ve liked his charcoal animations. But then I realized I didn’t know many of the arts on the list posted, so this what I came up with.

1) Hiroshi Sugimoto: I like the concept of memory, and as we discussed in class that some of his pictures invoke that kind of setting with the blurry focus. I also like how he uses b&w and how his scenes are lit. Except for maybe the seacapes, most of images look like the darks are really dark and the lights are really light, (not a lot of midtones).

2) Lee Friedlander: From what I’ve seen it looks like his subject matter is everyday life mostly on the street and shop fronts, but he uses shadows (usually of himself) and mirrors to create a sense of ambiguity of what the viewer is actually seeing, a mixture of planes.

3) Adam Bartos: I like his use of color in everyday life on the street. He seems to use cars as an element of color in a lot of his photographs. I also enjoy how he frames his images and his point of view.

4) Stanley Kubrick: He was trained as a photographer and I think that comes through in a lot of his films, as to how the shots are framed. I think both clockwork orange and the Shining have a sense of symmetry to them. In clockwork orange he also uses shadows in several of the scenes. The Shining also incorporates symmetry and wide angles (like hallway scenes).

5) William Kentridge: I like how he uses charcoal, and what I like the most is how each element that is moving leaves a mark on the page. I like the concept of how things leave a mark in their surrounding environment.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

First Assignment Review (Jonathan Chau)

In general I think all his photographs have a strong elements of color and composition. The first image of the black swirl (wire), I think forces the viewer to move through the picture towards the center. The second image of the Buddha, the books slashing across on the right side I think is a good composition element, with the Buddha statue on the left creating a triangular shape. The third image of the gutter pipe, the strongest element of this picture is the water exiting the pipe, which leads the viewer to the bottom corner. I think this picture has an element of movement, with the water that is captured during mid fall. I like the 4th picture out of all the others. I like how the picture is framed as the triangle is formed. The tree emerging out of the right side, I think balances out the image.

I think the image of the yellow bar with the icicles forming could be interpreted in an abstract way. It’s difficult to understand how long the yellow bar is and when it ends. The icicles are also a strange (sharp) shape, which look like they are growing out of the yellow bar.

I think the strongest image is the one with the yellow bar with the icicles. I think it has strong composition with the bar coming in from the top right corner but it ends (continues) out of the frame. The leg that seems to be holding up the bar creates a triangle. The black background against the icicles, I think allows the icicles to stay sharp.

Image of the three trees in contact sheet 1, I think has a lot of potential. I like how the trees decrease in height and the fence that cuts through the image. And the white background allows the black trees to standout.