Thursday, 3 March 2016

Ex 2.7 Contemporary awareness #2


Look briefly at the website of each of the photographers to get a general picture, then pick five or six artists (more if you have time) to explore in more detail. Present your findings along with reference images in your learning log or blog.


My chosen photographers were:
Zarina Bhimji:    www.zarinabhimji.com
Zarina’s website was fairly difficult to navigate and even her selected works were, to me, disjointed and not easily linked.  Her main body of work, which was the first one on display, was taken in association with the Journal of the Association of Physicians.  I had expected medical pictures of gruesome illnesses or disjointed limbs but it seemed to be pictures composed using flowers or parts of plants.
Her ‘Yellow Patch’ completely baffled me, as again there seemed to be very little linking the images together.

Elina Brotherus: www.elinabrotherus.com
Elina’s website, on the other hand, was clear to see and easy to maneouver and her strong relationship with her models achieved the solitude, light and colours she sought.  I understood her need to have the model facing away from the camera as this would invite peaceful contemplation not confrontation.

David Hockney:    www.hockneypictures.com
David has had several styles in his painting career and has now moved back to Yorkshire from LA and concentrates mainly on starkly realistic pictures of the Yorkshire Dales and hills, etc, devoid of superfluous detail.
His work is wide ranging from single images to collages of landscapes, people and places.  His use of contemporary media, ie, the iPad, shows an ever willingness to try new things.

 Jeff Wall:         www.mariangoodman.com/artists/jeff-wall
Jeff Wall’s pictures seem to bear no relation to each other yet are show as selected works.  I would have thought that images clubbed together as such would have some linking theme.  Jeff seems to have exhibited his work around the world but not too much my style.

Jane Bown:         www.janebrownphotography.com
Jane worked for the Observer for over 6 decades and made sure she kept her camera equipment to a minimum, ie, Olympus OM1.  Her simple approach using natural light if possible blended iconic with informal poses which became her trade mark.  Her ideal sitting was when she used no more than a roll and a half of film.
My portrait work has been compared to Jane’s in previous modules and I take that as a great compliment as I admire her work immensely.

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