Maggie Taylor
Maggie Taylor is an artist that uses a digital scanner and Adobe Photoshop to create narratives and still life collages. She collects 19th century taxidermy, photographs, mounted insects, sea shells, and other objects she finds in flea markets, online auctions, or her backyard. Taylor likes using objects have wear and tear, objects with a story to tell. She scans in these objects and saves the file as a layer in Photoshop. A finished piece of Taylor's work could contain 60 layers or more.

 Taylor’s style is hauntingly luminous. Her use of layering in Photoshop combined with the timeworn artifacts she finds evokes a surreal response. Conceptually she aims to make viewers feel or imagine something new, just like someone would in a dream. Furthermore, Her work can be interpreted in different ways by different people, just as a dream can mean something completely different to two separate people.

Alex Prager

Alex Prager is a Los Angeles based photographer filmmaker. Prager’s use of bold colors and specifically placed lighting really sets her apart. Many of her most striking photographs feature intense angles and sharp contrast. She uses editing to her advantage and creates many optical illusions within her photographs, such as the car being engulfed by a puddle on the middle of the freeway.  Her editing is also very tasteful and does a great job creating believable but shocking subjects and compositions.

Prager’s art has a very cinematic feel to it that I find very aesthetically pleasing. She is also a filmmaker, which I think helps her to understand the motion and fluidity that photographs can have. In addition to that, her choice of model/wardrobe is very important and gives a lot of her photos a vintage feel while also giving them a consistent theatrical element. I think she she is skilled in using imagery reminiscent of Hitchcock and it adds a lot of context to her pieces.

Chris McCaw

McCaw creates one of a kind long exposures of the sun using vintage fiber based gelatin silver black & white photographic paper. The focused light of the sun literally burns a path through the paper essentially cooking inside the camera in a way that changes the physical properties of the paper leaving oranges, reds, silvers, and blacks across the image. The sun is an extremely active participant and subject of the final image.
McCaw's work is very nostalgic feeling, simply based on the out of date medium he is using and how he is using it. He is not able to recreate these prints in any way; the product, the negative image at the end is a completely unique print. When I look at McCaw's images they have a very calming affect that I believe come from knowing the degree of patience that they required; each photograph can take 8+ hours to expose. His images are very painterly in the way the colors feel fluid in the way that they melt into one another, and the sun's streaks or pinholes in the image, to me, remind of the energy and controlled chaos similar to illustrations of Lanfranco Quadrio.

This last image is Lanfranco Quadrio's illustration that I felt strangely similar to some of the energy spots in McCaw's work. 

Freshwater, water everywhere but not a drop to drink

I care about humanity. I care about my planet. Therefore, I care deeply about water. It is so vital to the survival of any organism, yet it is given such little respect, at least in developed nations. Over the past few years we have seen devastating oil spills and countless other acts of needless pollution. Now, the US is expanding its quest for natural gas through the process of hydraulic fracking, a method which will certainly destroy many more freshwater rivers and watersheds. Heavy clouds of pollution hang over LA, Mexico City, and Beijing. Carbon emissions have increased the acidity levels of the oceans, leading to the destruction of aquatic habitats, strange weather patterns, and the bleaching of coral reefs. We are destroying the very essence of life. I care about the struggle to change this.

As I consider how I might be able to use my skills and knowledge to serve the human endeavor and create a healthier planet my mind always seems to come back to water. I care about clean water. I care about the act of sharing water. I care about the preservation of water, and its accessibility to every person on the globe. Life began in water and life is dependent upon water. To me water has come to represent more than just something I drink or use to bath. It is a gift that I struggle to never take for granted. It is more valuable than diamonds or gold and should be treated accordingly.

As I looked back through old photographs I saw some that represented my thoughts on water. Some connections are abstract but still there. So, I'm going to step down off the soapbox now...

Seeing History in Color

We all saw the Black and White photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin or of World War I. This reduction in color almost makes you think that life back then actually was in B/W - but of course it wasn't. People have always seen the same vibrant colors of the world the way we see them today and this art project below discovers exactly that. A bunch of coloring artist created a forum/community called r/ColorizedHistory on www.reddit.com and show historic, iconic B/W photos in a new light - in Color!

Hindenburg Disaster – May 6, 1937

Colorized by Dana Keller

View from Capitol in Nashville, Tennessee
During the Civil War, 1864

Colorized by Sanna Dullaway

Albert Einstein, Summer 1939
Nassau Point, Long Island, NY

Colorized by Edvos on Reddit | Paul Edwards

Charlie Chaplin at the age of 27, 1916

Colorized by BenAfleckIsAnOkActor

If you would like to see more photos visit: twistedsifter.com

Day to Day Life of Albert Hastings, as promised!

KayLynn Deveney

What I care about- Allison Bills

Vulnerability/Strength

I care about...

seeing beauty and finding meaning in the things all around me on a daily basis.

my homeland, my culture, my heritage.

my little brothers, who're my everything and more.

Connections

The thing I found myself writing about the most was the connections we make with the people we meet. Everyone you come in contact with on a daily basis, whether you are aware of it or not, impact your life in some way. I've always been curious as to how we become friends with a certain person. Why do we chose them over someone else?

Connection

In class the other day, I said that I cared about asking questions, but I thought about it more afterwards and I realized that's only the foundation for what I truly care about. I ask questions in order to better understand people, and thus, to better connect with them. I care about being connected.

I care about giving people a voice which can speak to the world

Alexander Kreher "All those beautiful Things"

Alexander Kreher "Under Your Skin"

Alexander Kreher "Zoe goes running"

I care about sound.

I care about music and the feelings and textures brought on by sound and the way that music inspires creative thoughts. I find myself often listening to experimental tracks, and repetitive noises to achieve a level of thought that is almost spiritual as a way to reach the end of an idea, to figure out problems, or to even start a new thought process.

Family.

I care about my family and how they have helped me successful even through the hardships.

I share because I care.

Repetitive themes in my personal writing prompt included family, self discovery (largly my plans to find it through travel), and ignoring the idea of vanity by looking deeper into people/experiences.