Sam Abell

Sam Abell is an American photographers who's work has frequently appeared in national geographic magazine. Born in 1945 he was the son of a geography teacher who also ran a photo club. Because of this Sam gained an early passion for photography. The style in which he shoots his images is mostly documentary. He is know for staying in close proximity of his subjects and prefers to travel light instead of using complex equipment. Whats unique about many of his images is how candid they are. Yes many of them were intentionally shot from a certain angle but because of what hes shooting it appears as if hes just part of the environment. Its almost as if hes shooting like hes the blade of grass next to the buffalo or the other cowboy trying to wrangle a bull. It is this up close candid style that makes so many of his images successful. Hes not showing you an animal from 50 yards away hes showing you it from 5 feet away. By doing this the viewer is able to see so much more detail in each image. Detail that can make or brake an image.

Alec Soth

Alec Soth is an American photographer born in Minnesota 1969. His work is noted for having both a cinematic and folkloric feel to it. This is because they often hint at a story behind the image. For shooting he uses an 8x10 camera that he claims is extremely difficult to work with. This is because not only its size but also the shallow depth of field and the extreme light sensitivity. The first thing that one notices when looking at his work is how simple the composition is. There doesn't seem to be any elaborate sets or props. There is simply the subject and the natural environment. This is due not only to the subject matter he shoots but also the camera he uses. By using a large format camera he is able to capture the environment and the simplicity of it. He no longer has to worry about what should be in the photo and what should be left. Instead he just captures the entire environment in a way that only a large format camera could do. However, even though he can shoot much more with a large format camera, he is still selective of what he shoots. Most of his object or people are mundane. They are simple objects that, although boring by themselves, makes the viewer wonder about how they came to be. It is this that make his images so successful.They don't tell a story but rather show that there is a story that might exist.

Leigh Perry

So while stumbling around the internet again I came across Leigh Perry and his landscape photographs. I was instantly interested in his work because of how simple it is. Many of his images consist of beach landscapes looking out into the sea. Whats unique about his work is how simple each image is. He doesn't try to photograph landscapes with strange rocks or tree in an attempt to make the scene interesting. Instead, he captures the simplicity and the wide open space of each. There are no rocks, animals, or anything else in his image except maybe the grains of sand that make up a beach or the blades of grass that make up a field. By shooting in such a way he reveals space like it has never been revealed. He creates isolation within area. The feeling you get from his work is the same you get when your out in the middle of a flat nowhere. You feel alone and small in a world that is so big yet so barren and plain. Because of this it makes you think. It makes you realize your own significance. Whether your as great and important as the ocean or whether your just another grain of sand on a very large beach. When talking about his work he says that he looks for motifs which are often found in transitions. The transitions from earth to sky. From water to land. He uses a very long depth of field to show these transitions and to allow the viewer to see the differences and similarities between the near and far. HIs ultimate goal is to present a view of the world that is both timeless and instantaneous.

Art idea

So for he last couple of months I have been writing all my ideas on the walls of my room. This keeps them fresh in my mind since I see them everyday and ensure that I don't just forget about them in some notebook. Although it does kind of look like the room of some crazy person who is all writing things down that make sense to them. Anyways one of my more recent ideas has to do with what makes up a picture. That a picture isn't created just using a camera but is found within the framing of a scene. So the way I propose to show this is to create a box hallowed out within another box. So if you can imagine six cubes connected together making a seventh hallow cube in the center. All the cubes would have the inside wall removed so that you can look through one cube into another. Finally the two holes in each cube would be of different sizes. The hole facing the center were all the cubes meet would be smaller then the hole facing away from the rest of the cubes. Finally it would all be suspended so that a viewer will be able to look inside from any direction, including below, and see through the center and out the other side. By making is this way the viewer can adjust what he sees through the box and the framing of it. In doing this the emphasis is no longer about capturing an image but more about what is inside the frame. The viewer is able to move the box so he can frame whatever he sees fit. The other advantage of this is that after the first viewer leaves and another comes the second viewer will be able to see what the first viewer framed. So like a camera a multiple people will be able to view an image until it is changed again.

Marc Gouby

So I have another stumble find for the blog. Came across Marc Gouby's website and figured I should share it considering the quality and variety of his work. Gouby was born in Boulogne-Billancourt which is a suburb of Paris France. He studied at Les Beaux Arts. From there he became an advertising photographer. Since then he has traveled to many different countries taking photos of what ever seems to catch his eye. Looking over his portfolio I must say that I am thoroughly impressed by his work. Not only does he have a wide variety of subject matter but each image is almost perfectly composed and lit. Gouby said that the reason he traveled to Scotland so much was because of the beautiful light. This is the same reason why I like his photos so much. They are perfectly lit. What makes his work stand out from other though is the cleverness of his images. Whether they be his advertisement work or his personal photos they are all made in a way that is clever and unique. A way that gets the point across but does so in a subtle or or stylish way. An example of this would be his pieces that show a group of people talking with one person looking at something disastrous. In doing it the way he did the object of importance isn't influencing the rest of the scene. It is merely being recognized by a single person. This makes both the object important and the scene important but separates it in a way that says " sometimes disaster might happen to you."

Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton is another artist that belongs to the sculptor family. Receiving her degree in sculpture most of her work uses textiles. Whats great about allot of her work is the effect of it on the viewer. Walking into a room full has a strange effect on people. It makes them remember an intimate part of their childhood. It comforts them in the same way that a bed provides comfort for people at night. As well as working with textiles many of her pieces deal with the sensual. They often ask the viewer to sense am object using a sense that they would not normally use. So this might include using your eyes to sense something that might normally be felt. In the end though I'm not much of a fan of her work. For one thing, considering the amount of press coverage and grants shes gotten I would have expected to see a little more work to show for it. She seems to be one of those artists who makes a few popular pieces then falls of the radar until she comes upon something again. One of the other things that bothers me about her work is how simplistic it is. And I don't mean simplistic in a minimalism way but more in a lazy way. Like she creates an object that is interesting but really isn't of an consequence. Anyways I would like to see her branch out more becasue I think she does have potential she just needs to expand her use of materials and concepts