Lee Friedlander

Lee Friedlander (born 1934) loved anomalies, quirks, best intentions gone astray, visual puns and conundrums. He worked with mirrors, reflections, signs, movie screens to get images within images.
He portrayed himself as a "stalking shadow". His pictures are often informal and the subjects at ease and touchingly vulnerable.

Alexander M Rodchenko

Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) used photo motion sequences in his photography. He wanted to educate man to see everyday things in new ways through unexpected perspectives and situations. He is "considered a pioneer in integrating the photographic gaze into the fine arts, while preserving and fostering photography's own qualities as a medium".

Herbert Bayer

Herbert Bayer (1900-1985) created dream pictures through photomontage. His series "Man & Dream" was published work in 1936 in a portfolio simply named II Photomontages. It was originally meant as a story in pictures. His self portrait was the most famous of this series:

Another self portrait, in the Lonely City Dweller series:

Walter Peterhans

Walter Peterhans (1897-1960) used photos as a means of aesthetic education. He liked to force 3D objects into 2D space. He brought out materiality of things through proximity to each other, textures, and composition. I see his work as original "photoshop" images.
He was a trained mathematician and preferred comprehensible photos to free associative works. He taught visual design and art history.

Psychology of Children's Artwork

At the insightful suggestion of my professor, I did some research on what childrens artwork "reveals".

The first article I read was found on http://artful-kids.com/blog/2010/03/01/what-does-your-childs-artwork-reveal/. "Artful Adventures is the Artful Kids blog, dedicated to the Young at Art, including features, creative projects and lots more". The author of this particular blog entry, Jude, stated "Children’s drawings, doodles and sketches have been the subject of study now for over a hundred years, and new theories and ideas about what they mean, how they develop, and how they can be used both educationally and therapeutically, are arising all the time. This week, I’m going to look at whether children’s drawings, especially younger children, can give any psychological insights into their character and thinking.  There is a school of thought that believes that children’s scribbles and doodles are in fact deeply revealing of intelligence, personality and emotional state, in the same way graphologists believe that handwriting is for adults.  Analysts will look at how the drawing sits on the page, the character of the mark making (for example whether it is bold or light) the colours used, and whether or not it fills the page." Jude then references some "findings" about what colors, shapes, placement, etc. say about a child's personality and security. I thought it was all really interesting and as I read it I thought of my own children's use of particular colors, themes and placement, however, it was Jude's summary that I really felt was accurate and worth pointing out: 

"I learned that in fact the validity of drawing tests as psychological measures (rather like that of handwriting analysis) continues to be called into question, and is not really consistently backed up with reliable research.  Most experts condemn the evidence of children’s drawings in isolation to identify specific character traits or problems.  The suggestion was that identifying what children draw, and the themes within them, may be more significant in understanding a child, rather than how they draw it, and that verbal input from the child is essential in understanding both the content of his or her drawing and the meaning he or she wishes to convey, especially if that content is unrecognisable to an adult.  The research generally suggested that analysing children’s drawings  according to a specific drawing feature (e.g. size of figures), was fraught with difficulties, as too many factors can come into play to influence it, and besides, different researchers attributed different interpretations to the same features.  Also, one of the most difficult things about understanding the emotional content of children’s drawings, is recognising that our own emotions as adults can get in the way without us even realising it.

All children have their own ‘style’ and their preferred subjects, and any individual child will produce artwork which is distinctively theirs, but when it comes to interpretation there seems to be broad agreement that a child’s drawing will be more reflective of their mood at that particular moment, than of a wider personality trait.   As parents, I think we are generally well aware of our children’s personality traits and do not really need drawings to inform us – what can be interesting is occasionally to see that reflected in their drawing, though I suppose if there was an issue in their life which we weren’t aware of, which was manifesting itself in their artwork, it would be good to be able to recognise that!"

There may be some truth to the psychology of childrens artwork, but as a parent I think children are unique and their artwork isn't a mathematical equation of this equals that. Different things appeal to each of my children and I love that they have their own creative way of seeing the world and their own unique "favorites".

Craig Shields

Craig Shields is a Graphic Designer and photo manipulator. His style is more graphic design than I am looking for in my own images, but his work is still pretty amazing.  I was more interested in his website, statement and portfolio than his graphic work for inspiration. You can check out his website to see more images. http://www.craigshields.co.uk/index.html

He does a lot of commercial work (thats how we make money :), freelance and with his full-time work. I am curious how many hours he puts into each image and how we acquires the model image, or if he starts completely from scratch.

Erik Johansson

He's a great manipulator...

..in Photoshop. I found his work when I was looking for some inspiration of Emily's winter scene artwork "Snowman at Sunset". I've seen a lot of photo manipulations but his are very clean and realistic. He doesn't cover them with vignettes and fog to blend scenes. And I love the creativity!

His website: http://erikjohanssonphoto.com

I also like his simple and clear artist statement : I’m a photographer and retouch artist from Sweden. I use photography as a way of collecting material to realize the ideas in my mind.

Ben Heine

"BEN HEINE (born June 12, 1983 in Abidjan, Ivory coast) is a Belgian multidisciplinary visual artist. He is best known for his original series "Pencil Vs Camera", "Digital Circlism" and "Flesh and Acrylic". "

www.benheine.com

In other words, he mixes drawing and photography, like this:

I'm not combining my  hand sketches with photography, but I am combining my childrens artwork, sketched painted and collaged pieces, with my photography. Ben has some good ideas to get my creative wheels spinning.

Ben Heine has some other interesting projects- check out his website (above).

Caras Lonut- Photo Mechanic

Photo Mechanic? That's a job title I never heard of but sounds pretty interesting!

Caras Lonut is a professional photographer and photo mechanic and her work is creative, edgy and inspiring:

http://www.carasdesign.com

I'm working on my semester project, combining my childrens artwork with an image of them and I have a few pieces I'm stumped with creatively. Caras Lonut has some great ideas to get me thinking!
She also offers tutorials, which I may have to invest in a few to help me along...

She manipulates multiple images to create a dream-like scene like this one: 

Humans of New York

I found this guys name, Brandon Stanton, mentioned in a post somewhere and since I needed another artist to blog about I looked him up. I just spent HOURS looking at his HONY (Humans of New York) project and blog.

http://www.humansofnewyork.com

Its pretty freaking awesome! He walks around the city and talks to people, takes their picture, posts it with some caption and made a book. He's been on the front page of the TIMES, interviewed by ABC, yadda yadda. And he deserves some attention. His work is really fun, creative and I love the captions. The images themselves tell a story, but I think the captions have their own impact. Some are hilarious, some are political statements, some are sad, some are peoples regrets and advice. And his "Today in micro fashion..." images are adorable! I love it!

Here's a poem and image sample from his website/blog about HONY:

Jerry Tovo

They May Have Been Heroes- A Nations call to honor the dishonored

By Jerry Tovo

http://www.theymayhavebeenheroes.com

Last year my family visited the St Louis History Museum (which is awesome so go if you can) and there was a special photography exhibit by Jerry Tovo. He spent a year traveling the US to photograph and document the stories of homeless and impoverished veterans. I was astounded by his images and how they made me feel. My husband is a USMC veteran and we've been blessed beyond our expectations since his discharge. Another family member is also a USMC veteran, however,  he has struggled like so many other veterans. He had to seek a new career and struggles with depression. Life has been rough and after 14 years he still can't get all the benefits he is entitled to. So Tovo's images hit home you could say.

Military life is a sacrifice and not for the faint at heart. And those willing to make that sacrifice shouldn't have to struggle so much in and out of active duty. There are organizations out there trying to support our veterans and they need our help. I appreciate Tovo's images because I think they will help Americans feel compassion and a sense of duty to help the men and women who sacrificed for each of us.

The images themselves are exceptional and remind me of the work by a past classmate, Jon Slade. The contrast is high and the facial features detailed. Its not a glamour shot, but an honest look into how harsh life can be. Check out the website and DO something about helping our nations Heroes.

The Ron Haviv don'ts of a website

Ron Haviv is a photojournalist who captures conflict, violent and non-violent, to record injustices and people in the events they describe (the bio on his site is much better). You can check him out yourself:
http://www.ronhaviv.com/#s=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&p=0&a=0&at=0

His pictures are compelling but his site isn't friendly. It causes me conflict to look at...I'm in the process of creating a website and its not my forte. I want it to look good, make a good impression, and not piss someone off when they try to navigate it. I want to come across as friendly, not self-important and God's gift to photography (which is my impression of Haviv after viewing his website). This is one of my goals for the semester.

What do you think of his website? What are aspects you like? What would you change?

Selfie #14

Every Monday I volunteer at my church's storehouse (food pantry). I help patrons fill orders, fill truck orders that are going out, stock shelves, clean, etc. 

Selfie #13

Skyping with my husband..

Selfie #12

Today was a little bit busy and I didn't take a selfie of me, but something reminded me of a recent experience, which I have a selfie of:

It was taken shortly after Halloween, when I temporarily dyed my hair red for my costume. Temporarily meant it was should have washed out in "4-6 washes". It didn't. It took months. I went through a lot of emotions.

But as frustrating as that was, I have to say the color looked pretty good on me!

Selfie #11

My name is April Stout. I'm married and have 4 children, ages 8-13. I am a photographer and a student.  And I'm a Mormon.

Of all the places I go and things I can do, going to the Temple is my favorite and the most important. I'm so glad I could go today!

Selfie #10

I finally got to the doctor and the diagnosis is...

just a sprain. I'm so glad its not broken or torn! The brace I was wearing was helpful the first couple of days but my doctor said it's what is making me walk with a limp, not my injury, and that is making my foot more sore and the muscles tight. Its off and I can walk fine, but it still hurts using stairs.

Richard Tuschman

I searched for photographs inspired by paintings and found this site:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2013/11/25/richard_tuschman_edward_hopper_recreations_are_inspired_by_the_painter_s.html

Richard Tuschman created photographs, inspired by Edward Hopper's paintings, by making a diorama large enough for his cat to fit in then taking photos of his models with a grey background and photoshopping them into the diorama. This is why the furniture has a "dollhouse" feel to it. 

The images are dreamy and the light is beautiful, the way it falls across the room or the subject. Tuschman says “The general mood in my work is more somber, and the lighting is less harsh than in Hopper’s.”

I sought out this kind of work because I am contemplating a similar project for this semester. I don't want to copy the paintings, but use them as inspiration for a more realistic/modern day version. With this on my mind the following from the above referenced article stuck out to me:
"Although the first image he created (Hotel by Railroad, 2012) set out to replicate a Hopper painting, the more he worked on the series, the less he wanted to create duplicates. “The more I did them, Hopper became more of an inspiration rather than something to copy,” he said."

I also want a project that will challenge me and require some thought and intentional planning. It will be difficult to get the required 20 images, but as Richard Tuschman says, “If it doesn’t take me a long time, it’s really not worthwhile.” 

Selfie #9

Today was a rough day so this is all your getting:

I haven't seen a doctor for my foot injury because of school and the bad weather and I'm uncomfortable and miserable. So I treated myself to a Dr Pepper and a bag of cinnamon bears. I look terrible but I feel slightly better.

Selfie #8

Today I had to trudge down the long snowy walkway to the FAB on my crutches, carrying my heavy camera bag. It wasn't pretty. And 2 hours later I had to trudge my back back because campus was closed due to the weather. Have you ever driven home a small compact car with a broken uncasted right foot in the snow?

If I could balance myself better I would have gotten more of the background in view...

Selfie #7

Yes, I know I missed yesterday. In fact, todays selfie is me realizing I forgot, after a long painful day (I hurt my ankle pretty bad but still volunteered at the food pantry for 5 hours and I've been working on my computer for an assignment for church for 3 hours which aggravates my tailbone injury):

Selfie #5

Once a week we try to have Family Movie Night. Tonights movie is "Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs 2".

Selfie #4

5 mornings a week I sit at the kids bus stop, waiting in my car or van while Porter runs around with his friends and Emily waits in the car too. This morning I'm headed to the gym (why I have no make-up on).

Selfie #3

The other class I take at SCC is Ceramics, something I was good at in High School. I took a 15 year "break" before having the opportunity to sit in front of a wheel again last Spring. Right now I'm working on bowls. Lots of bowls.

I was inspired by The Singing Butler

I signed up for my Advanced Digital Photo Independent Study course for this semester because I wanted something creative and outside my comfort zone to work on. It was nice having a semester break to catch my breath, but by Christmas I was feeling unproductive. For anyone that knows me even  remotely knows that I am a productive person... but there isn't much to show for surviving holidays, touching up scuffed walls and the daily grind of family life. I needed something to motivate me to create, but I had no idea what when I started class a week ago and was hoping something would inspire me. I'm interested in documentary and travel/culture photographs, but they don't push me- I'm very confident in my abilities concerning that type of photography. Posing, setting up and creating a scene is where I hide in my bubble. Because I don't do anything small, as many of my friends tell me, I of course chose something time-consuming and not very smallish.

When I was a teen/young adult my mom hung a painting in her living room that has stayed with my over the years. Its by Jack Vettriano and titled "The Singing Butler".

I've always pictured this scene played out in real life, by whomever, and I imagined they would really be in love and that made me happy.

As I sat at my desk brainstorming ideas for my project I kept coming back to this image. I may not have a beach (or servants) but somehow I am going to reproduce this scene with real people and take a photograph. And I'm going to do that with other famous paintings, 20 total, which is going to be an undertaking...

If you have suggestions on paintings I can replicate, or want to model, let me know. If you think I'm crazy, let me know, but give me some other ideas while you're at it!

If you want to learn some interesting facts about this painting and its creator you can visit http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/07/jack-vettriano-singing-butler-art
I really enjoyed this paragraph:
"At least Vettriano skeptics cannot accuse the prolific artist of sloth. “I like to look at a painting and see labor,” notes Vettriano, who usually works from photographs he himself has staged and shot. His virtuoso effects of moisture and light on flesh, sand, hair, and metal, which often recall the look of vintage Hollywood movie posters or pulp-fiction covers, are accomplished by dragging a small stiff brush through semi-dried, still-tacky pigments—a technique he modestly likens to blending makeup. Not surprisingly, Vettriano venerates the Ruskinian craftsmanship of midcentury American pinup master Gil Elvgren and, “dare I say, Norman Rockwell.” For Vettriano the idea that his easel paintings, which cost between $48,000 and $195,000, are more accurately classified as illustrations is meaningless. “I don’t make a distinction between painting and illustration, and we shouldn’t get hung up on arguing the difference.” He is more acerbically opinionated about the conceptual approaches of such acquisitions-committee darlings as Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, both of whose hands-off methods he considers “morally corrupt."

Selfie #2

Today is a sweatshirt and pony tail kind of day...made even better by some homemade bread!

The Daily Selfie Assignment

My photo professor showed the selfie clip I blogged about a few days ago (http://unlooker.com/selfie/) and assigned our class a "daily selfie" for 2 weeks, starting today.

Todays submission- I ran to pick up my cuckoo clock from the repair shop and snapped a pic as a I ran by the clock out front. My life is short on time many days, so I thought it appropriate!

Lewis W. Hine

You might recognize this image of a Empire State Building construction crew eating their lunch on beam 1000 feet above 5th Avenue:

It was taken by Lewis W. Hine, who took this image from a basket, also suspended 1000 feet in the air. He was an American sociologist and photographer who photographed immigrants coming into Ellis Island, steel workers in Pittsburgh, red cross relief in Europe and drought relief in american South during the depression. The most influential body of work he accomplished was for the National Child Labor Committee from 1908-1920. His photos were instrumental in changing child labor laws in the US.

Lewis Hine's work was a precursor for documentary photography, something I greatly respect. I enjoy the creative process and artistic medium of photography, but what has driven my passion for photography is the influence it can have on society when its used for a purpose. When I feel emotionally drawn to an image and it inspires me to help Gods children I love the talent I have pursued. Lewis' work is amazing as a piece of art, but it's brilliant in how its influenced generations of children in America. I am overwhelmed at how far our country has come in 100 years, but I know there is so much yet to improve. As I think about what children face today my heart aches for the ones still facing poverty, starvation, physical and emotional neglect and abuse. What impact can I have on society in changing this? How can I use my camera as a tool for social reform? 

Lewis Hine is the kind of legacy I want to leave as a photographer.