Irving Penn, On Assignment
My first impression of Irving Penns photography was that they were mostly sharp, high contrast and black and white. After walking through and reading more on Mr.Penn, I learned he was a commercial photographer that worked with Vogue. I thought he was a true artist since he wanted his visions to show and he wanted his work to stand out. His high contrast and full color photos are very striking, especially his conceptual work. My favorite was the old football face since it accurately depicted skin getting old from over use and how it looks very grotesque. Most of his work is centered and have one subject, but his more artistic work had more subjects.
Nick Brandt, Across the Ravaged land
When I walked into Nick Brandt’s exhibit, I remember the midterm because I saw his black and white photo of the lion. The very large scale of his photography does justice to his work because it makes the subject, which are mostly wild and mostly dangerous animals come to life. Like, Irving Penn, his photography are all very sharp, crisp and high contrast. I didn’t see any full color photography, but I think black and white photos are usually suppose to show how artful a piece is without the distraction of too many colors. I thought his subjects were amazing. When I saw the bird that was preserved with volcano ash, I thought it was fake and couldn’t believe something like that exist now. But, it shows the lengths he would go to get an interesting picture.
Robert Polidori, Versailles
Robert Polidori’s exhibit was very unique. I love his behind the scenes photos of an exhibit in Versailles. Polidori’s photography is full color, very crisp and uses a lot of line and perspective. Unlike the previous two photographer, his subject was not posed, or alive. The composition was very clever and artistic as well since they showed a different way looking at something that could have been mundane and boring. My favorite was the photo of the portrait on a mirror, which showed a reflection of another portrait. It confused me a bit and I had to really look to see what was going on. Its interesting how he was able to remove himself from a reflection piece. The gallery was a different feel than the other two. The ceiling had natural light coming in and the space was very large. It almost felt like I was in a huge empty place surrounded by behind the scene photos.
Susan Derges, New work
It baffled me a bit on how Susan Derges made these photographs. They a lot seem like illustrations. It turns out, she set up all of her work in her studio. I thought it was very artistic and clever. Her photography had on color and a black silhouette of foilage. I like her photograph of what looked like a back lit bridge with stars reflecting on a blue lake. Her photographs feel very ethereal and they almost don’t look like photographs.
Olivo Barbieri, Alps- Geographies and people
When I first saw Olivo Barbieri’s photographs of snowy places with alps, I thought they were fake. I thought he used some kind of material like stucco or cement to make the snow and merged photos of people climbing on it. I probably thought so because of the last exhibit. But, after reading about his photography, These are real photographs! He took a helicopter to do these extreme birds eye view shots. The solid blue of the sky and solid white is real snow. After some thought, I realize that its possible to take pictures like this when it snows. His photographs are so sharp, they almost seem like cut outs. Like Nick Brandt’s work, I’m amazed at the lengths these photographers would go to get a real photo of something unbelievable.
Phillip Lorca DiCorsia, Hustlers
Overall the exhibits I’ve seen, I have to say I love Phillip Lorca DiCorsia’s work the most. His gritty, grungy photography style and real models with interesting stories makes his work memorable. His photographs are in full color with mostly busy backgrounds. I appreciate sharp and crisp photos, but in this case, a photograph with lots of noise is appropriate for the subject matter. His work is personal and real because each one of his photographs has a story behind the subject. As much as I like all of his photographs, I like the one with the guy leaning on a table inside a laundromat. It reminds me so much of the early 90’s and the model looks like what guys back than looked like. His story was that he needed the money for food..or something decent, but he left with a woman and bought drugs. In a sense, he probably sums up the life of a hustler the most.
