For my final project i decided to do a campaign about the importance of having enough sleep. This idea was inspired by my well being and I noticed a significant change between having a goodnight sleep vs. lack of sleep and how it relates to your everyday life.  How it affects the way you think, the way you act and the way you look. In my photos i would have people suchas my classmates to yawn, fall asleep and be really energetic!  Really energetic due to having enough sleep.

The article I’m using to link my project is https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-reasons-why-good-sleep-is-important#section1

Richard Avedon is a legend. The New York Times said that “his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America’s image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century”.  All of his photography is black and white and is compose against a white background. He has captured lots of celebrities which includes Andy Worhol, Marylyn monroe, isek Dineson etc.  Avedon was always intrigued by peoples expression and reaction.  That is exactly what all his shot consist of.  With minimalistic approach he captured the subject reaction up close.

Johnathan Mannion on the other hand is both a photographer and film director.  He made a lot of cd covers and most of his shots like Avedon are black and white. Being that he was Avedon’s student a lot of his styles was an influenced to his.  Eventhough most of his work is colorless he is very good at positioning his subject to describing of what they are about and who they as an artist, actor or singer.  He has a talent of pacement and capturing emotions.

The maternity picture that Annie Lebowitz created for Demi Moore and Awol Erizku created for Beyonce are both very stunning photography.  Both of these picture’s purpose is to pronounce the bump of these public figures.  The photos also emphasizes women’s ability, grace and strength.  Both of these photos, the model has their arm framed around their belly. 1 to emphasize it more and 2 to shows how a mother will always protect their baby.

The portrait of Demi Moore mainly shows strength and courage.  She looks like she wants to pass her legacy to her future child and protect it with all that she got.  The lighting illuminates the subject and the background.  The light is coming from a high angle hitting 80 percent of the subjects face as well as casting a shadow underneath her.  This shots is simple but powerful at the same time.  it got to do with the way she is positioning herself too.  Her body is sideway which this way you can see the contour of her stomach and her facial area is turned to the opposing side.  This makes her look powerful and optimistic.

The portrait of Beyonce on the other hand.  This shot in my opinion is not as elegant as Moores portrait even though the photographer adds a floral background to try to make it match. I understand that different artist has different styles but i believe in less is more.  i feel that the floral background as well as the thin cloth that on her face; there is just too much going on!! it seems very unnatural.  What i like about this photo is that she looks very content, very loving and nurturing.  She looks like she is going to take care of the babies(twins) with all that she got.

Philip Lorca Dicorcia is an American photographer that his work alternates between reality and fantasy.  His shots are carefully planned, he take shots of everyday occurrences and adds a twist of cinematic feel into it.  The color in his photography are very vivid and you can say that all his shot can pose as an advertisement.  All his work really emphasizes on the model’s expression/reaction.  He is one of my favorite photographer because he’s a guy that can make a boring situation full of life and excitement!

In this gallery “Hustler” Philip Lorca went around LA shooting images of male prostitutes. instead of paying them for sex he would pay them to have their picture taken. This gallery is all staged.  The men he found came to LA from all over the country for a glamorous new life that they believed could be found in Hollywood. The titles of the photos included the subject’s name, age, hometown and the fee exchanged. My favorite shot from him for this gallery would be Roy, ‘in his 20s’, Los Angeles, California, $50. This shot is perfectly proportioned.  The subject is lying directly in the middle of the bed while having his head dangled over the edge of the bed.  Th subject has perfectly mid length hair which makes a beautiful symmetric shape for the shot.  The main light source seems to be coming from the left side making the right side of the subject face darker.  The meaning behind this photo tells me that he did not expect Hollywood to be like this.  He made a huge mistake and hes having flashbacks of all he did till this very moment.

As a class we took a trip to see different photography galleries specifically in the chelsea area. These were all very interesting to look at, especially at the fact that they were all selling for at a very high price point.

The first stop was at Apperture Foundation: Prison Nation.  This gallery explores inmates and incarceration in the United states. The selection of photos shows the different sides to life  behind bars.  As we start our tour with this fine lady which was an intern for Apperture Foundation, I have noticed that most of the prisoner that were presented was not the expression that i had expected. I thought they were going to look sour, upset and perhaps even suicidal but instead they were posing happily in front of the photographer; throwing up the peace sign, having a big smirk and laughing.  What i found amusing is that one of the photographer was also correction officer at the time.  Photography was one of his main hobby i would say.  We then the came upon portraits of inmates that were either going in there for life or may have a death penalty.  These portraits had a black background and what i have noticed is that these set of photography looks drastically different from the photos that we saw earlier.  The models were more serious and they seem like they have a lot of thoughts going through in there head.  The pictures was taken inside of a bleacher, that was how the black background come to be about.  They were all dressed in costumes for a play that they had to do.  It doesn’t seem like they wanted to do the play or even be there at all.  These feelings were greatly expressed greatly through their faces.  When i walked in to these set of photos i didn’t really enjoy it that much until i heard the story behind it.  it immediately changed my perception of viewing these photography.

The second stop was a gallery called Leaning out.  This was one of my favorite gallery through the whole trip mainly because the pictures was at a birds eye view of the cities  of New York and Los Angeles.  At first i thought it was taken from a drone and i was surprise of how the picture quality came out.  These photos were huge and most of them were even taller than me.  I spoke to the receptionist and later found out that the photos were taken from a helicopter which  explains the high definition in them.  Through this gallery i cant help but imagine how it would be like to take these photos especially from so high up in the air.  With the propeller spinning and the wind all up in your face it must takes some great skills to keep steady. I would like to be in his place one day because i love heights!!!

The final stop, Yossi Milo Gallery.  This gallery focused on photos of churches.  This was a interesting gallery because according to the tour guide these pictures were made up of thousands of close up images of the same church.   The photographer would take pictures of every angle of the church day in and day out. He would then mesh all the good pictures in to one glorifying beautiful top to bottom photo of the church.  It was super interesting to look at because no matter where your eyes moved its like you’re look at that portion of the building directly.  This take massive amount of skills to execute. kudos to the artist!!!

Yousuf Karsh, a canadian photographer best known for his portraits of celebrities.  He has been described as the greatest portrait photographer of the 20th century.  OVER 20 PHOTOS by Karsh appeared on the cover of LIFE magazine..  I really enjoy his work b/c you can see great detail in his shots. its dramatic and if feels as if there is a sense of motion in all his portraits.

Navad Kander. A London based phtographer known for portraits and landscape.  The usage of vivid colors and tones in astounding!  It makes his work very cinematic and dramatic.

An american photographer who was raised in Queens New York w/ Harlem roots.  Bey was specialized in portraits and a lot of black and white photography.  He is known for photography with the subject having direct eye contact with the shot.  I have also noticed in all of his portraits the subject has a way of placing their arms which brings out the emotions of which the model is trying to express.