Adam Fuss

Adam Fuss was born in 1961 in London, United Kingdom. He is currently 59 years old, and has written three books.

The title of this picture is The Space Between Garden and Eve. I think that this image is very interesting because at first glance, a person may not know what Fuss is attempting to get across. My interpretation of this image is that there are snakes in the dress. The snakes are likely a biblical reference to when the snake in the Garden of Eden tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. The dress represents a girl/human. That would mean that the snakes in the dress represent the temptation and evil within a person. I think that the choice of a dress to embody Eve is particularly interesting because until Eve made the choice to eat the fruit, her and Adam did not cover themselves at all. So in her making the decision to cave in to temptation a lot of unexpected results followed. I think that this is a great photo because it has such powerful biblical background supporting it.

Ralph Gibson

Ralph Gibson was on January 16th, 1939, in Los Angeles California. He is famous for his photography book, in which he wrote twelve. He has won the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada.

This photo shows the bonding of a person with a child through music. This pictures captures this experience in a unique way in which no identities are revealed. I think that this image is representative of the power of music to invoke a respond from even a baby. The focus of this picture appears to be the bassinet, which I believe drills in the point that even a baby will react to something as powerful as music. My initial reaction to this picture, though, was that it is a bit eerie. A baby's arm with no body to be seen confused me as to the purpose of this photo. I thought it was strange that no other part of the baby could be seen. Aside from my initial reaction, I think that this picture exemplifies the brilliance of Ralph Emerson's photography.

Antonin Kratochvil

Antonín Kratochvíl was born on  April 12, 1947 in  Lovosice, Czechia. He is a Czech-born American photojournalist. He is also a founding member of VII Photo Agency. In 1999 American Photo magazine ranked him amongst the top hundred photographers in the world.  

I found this image to be interesting because it was a part of a photo series called "Haiti Election." What caught my attention is that the line is mostly children, yet it is being guarded by armed men. This photo clearly has a more in-depth story to tell which it why it is such a great photo and what make Kratochvil such a good photographer. All of his photographs draw in the viewer with something that seems out of the ordinary, yet realistic. According to www.alessandroniccolai.com, "Kratochvil’s works are often aimed at giving a voice to the underprivileged, the oppressed and the forgotten, at exposing injustice and atrocities." For this picture, in the center is an armed man, the first thing you see. Looking closer you see that most of the people in line are children, which seems strange because in the US the legal voting age is 18. This picture is interesting because of the questions it raises and the story that hides behind it.

Barbara Kasten

Barbara Kasten was born in 1936  in Chicago, Illinois. She was known for her contemporary art. She won the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada.

This piece uses reflection in an interesting manner. There is more to the artwork than just reflection, yet he eye is drawn to the area with the mirrors. The mirrors appear to be intentionally set up to reflection the same image back into one another. Another interesting aspect of the image is the shadows that can be seen to the left of the mirrors. They bring in an interesting detail that a viewer likely won't notice right away. The color choice in this image also contributes to how this image comes together. The tame blues and pinks contrast with the deep orange. This causes an interesting conflict in where to look. The colors all have a metallic tinge to them, which fits nicely with the mirrors.
Between the reflections, the shadows, and the color choice, I find this image to be artfully composed and intriguing to the eye.

Duane Michals

Duane Michals was born on February 18, 1932 in McKeesport, PA. He is known for his innovative use of photo-sequences, often incorporating text to examine emotion and philosophy.

I think that this photograph has a very interesting use of framing. In most cases that I have seen, framing is done by something angular and dark. This picture portrays framing done with a light colored and rounded object. By making the curtain the frame for the man, this photo become more interesting than if he had just used the window. The rounded shape of the curtain around the man brings a soft tone into the picture. This is enhanced by the fact that the curtain also allows light to come through it. These soft tones draw the viewer's eye to the man. I think that this picture is simple, yet wonderful. If Michals had done any small thing, such as taking the picture at night, differently, this picture would just be an ordinary picture. I applaud his ability to make small changes that drastically enhance the picture.

Sebastiao Salgado

Sebastiao Salgado is a photographer known for social documentary photos and photojournalism. He was born on February 8th, 1944 in  Aimorés, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This photo is depicting firefighter putting attempting to put out an oil fire in Kuwait in 1991.

The first thing that stands out in this image is the intense contrast between black and white. The oil* and the fire are white, which I find interesting because white is typically associated with innocence and gentleness. In this case, the most harmful parts of this event are lighter (closer to white) than the background. This is seemingly an iconic photo because it showcases a firefighter being drenched in oil and still moving forward toward the fire to try and ease that situation. Even when they were in a dangerous position (being covered in oil) they were trying to solve the problems around them. I think that this image is symbolic of the bravery that firefighters have, especially during emergencies.

*I could not find any research that clarified whether the liquid falling was oil or water, so given the situation, I referred to it as oil.