PHOTOGRAPHER RESEARCH

Photographer Research -

   
Jeff Mermelstein 

I picked Mermelstein as I liked his use of landscape photography and how he focused in on characters within a setting. The way he captured everyday people within an environment whilst looking at the location they are within. His photos are mostly colour and represent everyday New Yorkers. The 2nd image, when first looking shows a woman outside the subway however when you look into it closer you can see the use of her mirrored sunglasses has focused your eye onto the reflection within. By the photographing blurring out her hair and other features it has made the glasses stand out more clearly. The lighting used for all images must've been natural as they are all outside, although the photos vary between soft and harsh lighting. This artist influenced my work as it made me realise that I could look at people within a setting and within a location. Therefore I started to work on the idea of capturing one person with a clear background setting/location. Overall I really liked his use of natural lighting and everyday settings to capture his work. 

Irving penn 

  I chose Irving Penn as again I liked the way he used portrait photos to capture a person with a setting. The majority of photos are in black and white, this could be due to the development of photos in that era and they show characters going about doing activities within the Images. When first looking at the first image I can see a woman sitting on what looks like some cushions. This could be a temple of some kind in an Asian culture as they are known to have drinks and eat on cushions down by the floor. The bottom photo shows 2 women who look like they are having lunch. By the way they are dressed I would assume that they are working women, one which is smoking a cigarette and they both look stern and serious. The artist influenced me by the use of black and white making all the photos having a high contrast, so I decided to experiment with some of my own images by converting them into black and white. This meant I was able to experiment and further develop the images I had taken. 

Nan Goldin 

 I picked Nan Goldin photography because I was inspired by her themes of LGBT and the gay subculture. The reason I like her photos is because they show characteristics that some people have taken a long time to get use to like 'drag'. She has shown these in a harsh and dull lighting depending on the location of the photograph. When looking at her photos you see very stern expressions and not much enthusiasm. It captures the models feelings within the image and how they can't always do things like the another person could. I was influenced by her as I have taken photos of my own friend in drag and showing them in a similar light. I therefore decided to try and influence my own photography based on her styles. 

Walker Evans 

I chose Walker Evans as I liked his theme of landscape black and white images. The way he captured pairs in particular, some of couples and others of workers. I really liked his high contrast in photos and the way he had a clear broad idea that he mostly wanted wide angle shots.I personally like the idea in the 3rd image of the  couple joking around with each other and the photo being off guard where they aren't paying attention, I found his work inspirational and I recreated some photos of shops fronts like the 4th image and then edited them in photoshop into black and white. 

Yasujiro Ozu 

My final choice was Yasujiro Ozu. the reason for this was I liked the way he focused on family life within his culture and it the idea of pairs and groups within a location. I found his work to show the emotions clearly and the setting you could clearly see was all very much the same idea of a home environment. The 4th photo I think shows how simple life can be with what looks like 2 family members, however it could also show a daughter helping a mother getting ready for bed and helping her tie up her nightgown. I tried to recreate some photos of my stepsister in her own environment of school and activities, although I didn't get her with a group of people I did however see her in her own lifestyle and culture.