Week #2 UOP – PB#1 Inspirations
On a creative level I like photographic styles which experiment with subjects and involve a story; whether this be that the capturing of the photo is a story or the subject tells a story via the photograph. I also like dealing with themes such as identity, femininity and vulnerability.
On a technical level I’m drawn to the aesthetics of vibrant photos, black and white and pastel/nude tones. I like high key lighting and playing with shadows as well as an interesting geometric composition/frame.
I plucked out Sophie Calle for as my inspiration for Project Brief #1 as I am so intrigued by the conceptual nature of her photography. She is recognised for her detective-like ability to follow strangers and investigate their private lives. She explores her own psychological and emotional terrain in multimedia works, probing ideas of control, freedom, gender, intimacy, and distance in human relationships.
I think this quote about her works perfectly epitomises her approach to photography: “Calle grapples with modes of perception and identification by portraying life in all its diversity, handing over all the problems and questions to the viewer – and thereby, closing the loop, back to life itself – to find the answers. Her works are distinguished by the directness of her formal approach, her narrative skill, the conceptual enrichment they undergo over the course of their creation, and their power to draw in the observer with all his or her abilities and experiences.”
In regard to her technique she is mostly concerned with making life into art. She is an artist who creates works in which ideas are of primary importance rather than aesthetics and technique. She sees her entire life as a work of art in which she explores human identity, intimacy and vulnerability while challenging the accepted boundaries of public and private space. I truly admire the level of thinking and depth of her photography projects and I would love to adopt this kind of approach in my own work.
Moving away from conceptual natured works, on a technical/thematic level I potentially would adopt the styles of Carlota Guerrero, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Evan Atwood or Angelica Dass. I am drawn to each photographer for different reasons; Carlota for her elegant simplicity in pastels and stripped composition, Laszlo for his geometric composition, Evan for his particular dark world in his use of post processing, and Angelica for the way in which she uses photography as a communal calling for identity.