Andy Warhol [Historical Photographer]

Andy Warhol has always been an influence to be. I got to see a show of his work once in London and it was great seeing it in person. One thing I really liked about the show was the size of his pieces. The large size of the Double Elvis made the work stand out.

I also enjoyed see the Marilyn Monroe pieces. I could tell the thought and time he put into choosing the colors. For instance, all of their eye shadows match the background. This might just be a subtle things but it ties the piece together. 

Warhol was known for his influence on Pop Art. This movement made art out of iconic subjects, such as soup cans and dollar bills. He was able to make art out of the ordinary.

Yves Tanguy [Historical Artist]

I decided to blog about some painters because I realized how they can influence my photography. Yves Tanguy, born in Paris in 1900, is a big influence to photographer, Pete Turner. Tanguy was a surrealist painter with work that involved surprising compositions and subjects. Tanguy's paintings inspire me because they are so different. I love the bright colors against the somewhat subdued background. It makes the subject really stand out. I also really like the use of shadow in his paintings to add a new form to the piece.

Piet Mondrian [Historical Artist]

Piet Mondrian was born in the Netherlands and grew up to have a significant impact on art. He contributed to the De Stijl art movement which sought to reproduce simple form and color in an abstract way. Mondrian's art is very abstract and he was influenced by the Cubism style.

I am influenced by Mondrian's work because of its simplicity. He worked to create pieces that have harmony and rhythm in a simple form. I find it to be beautiful because although they are not elaborate paintings, they are done by his reflection of nature and the emotion that is evoked in him.

Jerry Uelsmann [Contemporary Photographer]

Jerry Uelsmann's photographs are unique and adventurous. He uses multiple images and enlargers to make the final print. He sees his pictures as and image of the unreal. While these types of pictures can be pretty easily manipulated in photoshop, Uelsmann creates them in the darkroom.

Pete Turner [Contemporary Photography]

Born in 1934, Pete Turner helped to modernize the art of photography. Through unusual compositions and bold colors, Turner dared to take the art to a new level. His interest in photography began early when he got his first camera at the age of 7. His passion grew all through school and eventually Turner went on to work for National Geographic Magazine. He traveled around the world experimenting and developing his knowledge of color photography. After his travels, Turner got into advirtisement photography because of his skills with color saturation.

This picture, entitled Giraffe, was at first a mistake. When returning from Africa, Turner realized that the shot was well overexposed. In an attempt to save the picture he added his own colors. At first he added just one which didn't look nice. Then he decided to add magenta for the sky and purple for the ground. He was pleased with the outcome and this became one of his most famous shots.

Another one of Turner's classics called Doorway to Nowhere.

Jay Maisel [Contemporary Photographer]

Jay Maisel is most known for his mastery of light, color and gesture. The focus of his career has been on commercial photography, however in 1996 he decided to focus more on personal work. Maisel success is due in part to his dedication to photography. He always seems to carry his camera with him in case he sees something that he wants to shoot.

Luis Marden [Historical Photographer]

Born on January 25, 1913, Luis Marden was a well known photographer recognized for his work with National Geographic Magazine. He first became interested in photography in high school during chemistry class. At the age of 19 he had already written a book about color photography using a 35mm camera. Marden had a passion and decided to pursue it. This led to scientific discoveries and advancements in the field of photography. When he began working for National Geographic he introduced them to the idea of using a small camera, such as a 35mm, to take their color photos. This also led to the desire to take underwater photos. From these underwater adventures came the invention of various techniques and devices, such as filters, that helped further photography. Luis Marden died on March 3, 2003 in Arlington, Virginia from Parkinson's disease.

Alexander Rodchenko [Historical Artist]

Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) was a Russian artist who helped found contructivism. This is a movement that started in Russia in 1919 and pushed the idea of art having a social agenda. Rodchenko worked in many mediums including painting, graphic design and photography. In order to make a statement with his art, Rodchenko his subjects from all different angles to surprise the viewer.

I am inspired by Rodchanko's use of light and angles. The lighting in the first picture has such a big effect on the picture. It adds lines to create visual interest. Combined with the unusual angle, the picture has a mysterious quality to it. The next two pictures don't play around with light as much but they certainly use different angles. I like the middle picture because of the various shapes that are formed. It creates an interesting composition. The bottom picture also has a nice use of shapes but I don't think the angle does as much for the picture as the other ones. It look kind of unnatural.

Bert Hardy [Historical Photographer]

Bert Hardy (1913-1995) was a self-taught British photographer. His main area of photography was press and documentary. He captured post-war Britian by showing people at work and play.

His pictures, although they look somewhat posed, have a sense of joy in them. Hardy documented regular people doing regular things (except of course the panda picture). His pictures are reveal culture in the everyday life.

Richard Avedon [Historical Photographer]

Richard Avedon (1923-2004) changed the face of fashion and portrait photography. He got his models to display emotions. Instead of just photographing someones outward appearance, he captured their personality and their character. Avedon also sometimes printed large prints, up to 3 feet tall, which was new for that time.

The Beatles

Brassai [Historical Photographer]

While researching artists I found a lot that like to take pictures of city streets. For a while it seemed like that's all that any famous photographers did. Walker Evans, Eugene Atget and Bernice Abbott all seemed to be influenced by each other. Although these photographers had similar subjects, they all contributed something slightly different to the art form. Brassai is the same way. This Hugarian born artist became famous for his photos of Paris. The thing that distinguished him from the others was that he photographed at night. He had a love for Paris and while wondering the streets at night decided to capture the beauty through the medium of photography.

Anton Corbijn [Contemporary Photographer]

Anton Corbijn, born in 1955, has influenced a different area of photography. Corbijn is a music and celebrity photographer and has photographed people such as Robert de Nero, Clint Eastwood and U2.

Clint Eastwood

U2

So why blog about Corbijn? His type of photography doesn't exactly relate to what I'm doing. Well, I think it is important to look at the various uses for photography. It plays an important role in careers, not just for an artist. Photography influences people. These photographs effect the way people see each other. It creates an image for bands and actors.

Man Ray [Historical Artist]

Man Ray (1890-1976) was a modernist who contributed to the Dada and Surrealist movements. He liked to experiment with his art, mainly painting and photography and sculpture. Man Ray influenced photography with his fashion and portrait pictures. He invented the technique known as solarization and another he called rayographs.

Solarization-Image recorded on a print is wholly or partially reversed in tone.

No Title (Two Profiles Solarized), 1935.

Rayograph-A photographic image made without a camera by placing objects on photography paper and exposing it to light. This process is known as photograms but Man Ray claimed his work in this process by calling them rayographs.

Rayograph

Man Ray also helped introduce African art to the western world through his photography. I got the chance to see this photography along with the actual artwork at the UVA art museum I visited. Also displayed were some Walker Evans photographs of the same thing.

 "I paint what cannot be photographed, that which comes from the imagination or from dreams, or from an unconscious drive. I photograph the things I do not wish to paint, the things that already have an existence." -Man Ray

Keith Carter [Contemporary Photographer]

Keith Carter, an American photographer born in 1948, is most recognized for the dreaminess of his photographs.

As you can see in his pictures only a very small part is in focus. Everything else looks like it is fading out. I think this must be done after the shot is taken. We did something like this in photography class. If you put a certain material or paper over some of the picture it makes it sort of hazy.

Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre [Historical Photographer]

Daguerre was influential because he was one of the most famous of those who invented photography. He began working as a stage designer, using a camera obscura to help in getting the perspectives right when painting. In 1835 he accidentally discovered that he could develop a latent image onto a plate. In 1837 he found out how to fix the image, making it permanent. He called this process Daguerreotype.
The Daguerreotype process included:
1. Expose copper plates to iodine.
2. Expose plates to light.
3. Develop plates.
4. Fix plates.
5. Rinse plates.

This picture, taken in 1839, was one of the first Daguerre used. The streets look empty because of the long exposure time and the fast moving people. However, there is a man getting his shoes shined on the corner of the street. These two men might have been the first to ever be photographed.