Alessandra Sanguinetti

 

Alessandra Sanguinetti was born in 1968 in New York, New York. She is a member of Magnum Photos. She has received multiple awards and grants, including the esteemed Guggenheim Fellowship.

I think that this photo is absolutely beautiful. The emotion expressed by this image can be seen through the usage of nature to exemplify the age of this girl. The leaves taped to her nails show a want to be old enough and mature enough to have long nails. This could also be seen as the societal pressure pushing a young girl to grow up so quickly. Another example of this in the image is the flower in her mouth and the way she is pursing her lips to make it look as though the flower is acting as a cigarette. I think that this photo shows a powerful message that is well portrayed. I also think that depth of field is used to discourage distraction from the message that Sanguinetti is trying to show. She chose to have only the child in focus and no part of the background. I think this helps to draw the audience to the child's face and action (of pretending to smoke a cigarette) which helps to enhance this image. 

Yousuf Karsh

 

    Yousuf Karsh was an Armenian-Canadian photographer. He was an Armenian Genocide survivor, then he migrated to Canada as a refugee. He was born on December 23rd, 1908 in Mardin, Turkey. He died on July 13th, 2002. His work was highly regarded and he was considered by some to be one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century. 

    I love this photo because it screams regal and she isn't even smiling. She doesn't have a courteous queenly reaction to having her picture taken, so although I know this is staged, I like that she isn't sitting straightforward and smiling, like I would expect a queen to be. Instead she is looking over her shoulder with a straight face. I like that this photo is black and white, it gives the viewer a chance to see the model without the distractions that the element of color can bring. Without color, there is more focus are her smug expression and pointed posture. I think that everything from the angle to the outfit make this a stunning picture. 

Annie Leibovitz

 

    Annie Leibovitz is an American photographer. She was born on October 2nd, 1949 in Waterbury, CT. She often takes pictures of celebrities. 

    I particularly like this photo because it is inspired by the Disney animated movie Brave. This is a movie that I loved as a kid and still love now. Leibovitz did a great job with it because I was immediately able to identify that this was supposed to be inspired by that movie upon first glance at the picture. I think that the costuming helps to show the culture that meant to be portrayed (Scottish.)  I think that the contrasting between the grey clouds, the silky black horse, the green velvet dress, and the model's orange hair ties together perfectly to set a mood of fierce but still fairy tale-esque. Even the expression on the model's face brings so much to the picture. She seems to have a smug confidence, it makes me think that she can do anything. Another element that plays well into this picture is texture. It looks as though the viewer could touch the horse and the dress. I think that Leibovitz did amaxing with this photo, I don't think that there is any way that this image could be improved. 

Fred Ritchin

 "The digital photograph also can be said to represent a single moment, but one that can be easily lengthened and amplified by joining it to many moments through various forms of hyperlinks and hybrid media, including extending it as a movie."

This quote is important because it shows the complexity to digital photography. It provides an example as to one of the ways that a single photograph can be manipulated  into so much more than just a singular moment. 

"The contradictory "double image" is cubist; reality has no single truth."

I just thought that this quote was interesting. The idea that a photo is more than just what is in the photo is interesting to me. I like the concept. Every photo can be more than what it is made of. A picture could be of an open window but really be trying to symbolize the freedom of the mind. I think that it is fascinating to think that there can so much meaning hiding in one image.

"Rather than be rendered passive and guilty from the latest shocking photograph or suffering from a terminal case of compassion fatigue, the reader could be given a chance to intervene."

I think that this quote is important because it exemplifies the advances made in technology. Technology has made photography so much easier to locate and consume. Now people can just access art online and enjoy it in their own homes. This has also left art more vulnerable to criticism by people who may or may not be educated to place judgement. Artist are also more able to share the message behind their art with these technological advances. I would say that the advances in technology come with their perks and drawbacks. 

Uta Barth

 

    Uta Barth was born in Berlin, Germany on January 29th, 1958. She addresses themes such as perception, optical illusion and non-place. She has won the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada. She went to a couple different universities in California, University of California, Los Angeles, and University of California, Davis. 

    

    I think that this is a powerful image. The use of depth of field makes this image strong. The way that only a few close leaves are in focus when most of the image is a blurred out background gives this image a sense of significance. I personally like this image because it makes me feel that although the leaves in the front don't take up much of the screen, they are still important. I also like that the focus could easily have been on the background because the background has scenery, but Barth made the stylistic choice of un-focusing the background. I think that she made this choice in order to draw attention to the details of the few leaves nearer to the camera, they seem to hold some sort of importance. I also like the contrast in the yellow-ish leaves and the mellow green leaves because the rest of the background seems to follow the same calm, natural color scheme. 

Steve McCurry

 

Steve McCurry was born on April 23rd, 1950 in Darby PA. He is an american photographer/freelancer and photojournalist. He is known to capture the essence of human struggles and joy. 

I like this photo because I think that it portrays the boy's emotion very well. I feel as though I can see the hardship that this boy has faced in the details that McCurry captures. There appears to be dirt on his face and wrinkles in this forehead. Since he is only a child, these things symbolize growth and maturity beyond his years, and hardships that he has not gotten to wipe away (in reference to the dirtiness) yet. The boy is holding a straight face in this image. This is consistent with the theme of unhealthiness as a child of his age should be insistently happy, or temporarily sad. His expression is neither. He seems knowledgeable and lacking contentedness. He seems to have experienced more than a child should have to. This is all shown through the immense detailing seen in McCurry's photo, which draws out the potentially unnoticeable features in this boy's face. 

Inspiration

Photo by Jennifer Rogers

 I look up to the stars for visual inspiration. The night sky is the most beautiful creation in my opinion. I love the way the stars form shapes to make constellations and how the light reflects and makes them appear to glimmer for the bystanders below. As long as it isn't cloudy you can see a piece of space every night. I think that that is beautiful. I use the night sky as visual inspiration because I find myself mesmerized by it. I always want to see it and when I start to look at it I lose track of time. I particularly like the photo above because it exemplifies the lure of space and the simple charm of the rugged rocks and vast ocean of the Earth. I admire the way that they are both pulled together into one image.