German Garbage Men Turn Dumpsters Into Giant Pinhole Cameras

dress up like Shane for Halloween

Terry Richardson

To Sarah, check this guys out. He is one of the professional photographers who is known for taking photos with his in-camera flash .. and his photos make it onto covers of GQ and Playboy.

http://terrysdiary.com/tagged/terry

Taylor Stevenson: Brian Day

Brian Days work gravitates toward urban, conceptual, and landscape themes. Inspired by masters of landscape, street, and conceptual work, Brian started his adventure into photography about 3 years ago and within that time he has evolved quite dramatically in a unique style featuring visual scenes with as few subjects as possible. I think that is why I gravitated to his work because within my work I do not like to many subjects in the frame. I like to keep it simple. Brian’s legendary talent also explores new opportunities for black-and-white imagery guiding the viewer’s eyes trough lights, contrasts and visually stunning compositions.

Brian enjoys photographic moments that inspire some sort of narrative thought or emotion. He prefers to minimize the number of subjects in a frame, use geometry to create visual impact, and find elements spark introspection, either in himself or in others. Believing that black and white photography requires a strong emphasis on mood, composition and subject, as color is not present to stimulate the senses. Realizing that in some circles it seems counterproductive to work in black and white, given the tremendous advances in digital photographic equipment and software, and considering the fact that our world is often quite literally drenched in attention grabbing, colorful elements. But, the monochromatic vibe appeals to him as a whole.

Sebastian Dahl

This week I've decided to go with the up and coming photographer Sebastian Dahl. He just recently graduated from Bilder Nordic School of Photography in Olso, and soon after decided to trek across Europe and document his travels. 

His photographs are intimate and beautiful. He clearly develops a good relationship with the people he meets along the way and thus captures some stunning images. I'm particularly interested in his black and white photos. He uses high contrast within the photographs and also fogs the backgrounds. The resulting images are captivating. He is currently uploading his travels on his blog "Angles" which can be found on his website, sebastiandahl.com. 

Alex Kreher: Dave Jordano - Detroit – Unbroken Down

For my photography project I would like to document the diverse life in my neighborhood Jacksonward. I looked at other photographers who did similar projects to draw inspiration from them. One that stood out to me was Dave Jardono from Chicago. He grew up in Detroit and turned his regular visits back home into a longterm photo project to document the life in his old neighborhood. The photos that came out of it are stunning to me. They feel honest, close and sad but yet hopeful. This is what I would like to go for with my project as well.

His website: http://www.featureshoot.com/2012/09/dave-jordano-photographs-a-gritty-but-hopeful-detroit/

Chloé McLennan- Allison Bills

Chloe McLennan's photographs speak to me very strongly. I was immediately attracted to her style of low saturation and soft lighting. There's SUCH fantastic sense of emotion delivered all throughout each subject captured. The body language, position, action shown in each photo is remarkably unique. My favorite part of these photos, though, would be the minute amounts of light that plays on the curves of the bodies shown. The brilliance of diffused light is hard to obtain and its obvious that she perfects it as well. 

Quentin Shih - Hannah Nees

Quentin Shih, born in China in 1975, is a photographer working between New York and Beijing. Shih's techniques come solely form himself, because he is completely self-taught. He began his career as a photographer by shooting local underground musicians/ artists in his college years. Shih is recognized for his style, revolving around largely planned sets as well as tons of different dramatic lighting. These stylistic approaches help to engage the viewer in the narrative that his photographs revolve around. Shih also uses a lot of digital editing techniques to create his images, such as using a green screen to help edit some parts of his photographs in Photoshop. One technique that Shih utilizes is making his photographs super sharp and noisy, because he feels they look more surreal.

In the last few years, Shih has been involved in commercial and fashion photography, where he has successfully been featured in high fashion magazines. Some of his top commercial clients include Adidas, Microsoft, Sony, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, etc. Shih feels that "trends and standards kill the creativity of photographers", though he does feel that the Surrealism art movement inspired him the most. His work is all narrative, rooted in the Chinese culture. Shih's series, such as The Stranger in the Glass Box, include "large empty spaces that enhance dramatic, ceremonial, and emotional lines".

http://www.quentinshih.com/

Brandon Stanton- Lexi Wilson

Brandon Stanton is a street portrait photographer in New York City most known for his book/blog, Humans of New York. Stanton approaches people he encounters everyday, mostly in Manhattan and asks them if he can photograph them. He then records and shares snippets of conversation or takeaways from these conversations. He shoots with a 5d mark III and uses a fairly shallow depth of field in his images. He uses color as well as environment to draw attention to his subjects.

Starting out, Stanton wanted to take 10,000 pictures of the people of new york to plot an interactive map, creating a photographic census of the city. He covers a variety of people in his photographs, each with a unique and interesting story. Sometimes these short interactions with people will result in the subject sharing a personal story about themselves which Stanton then includes with his photographs, or Stanton will provide a caption explaining how he was impacted by their interaction.

Christopher Burkett- Virginia

Christopher Burkett is an American photographer, widely known for his images of nature and woodlands. His prints are clean, crisp and stark; and contain outstanding colors. Burkett works with color gradients, immense depth, and an ever-present rule of thirds. He utilizes contrast so that all of his images have intense lights and darks. His work is also very directional. It seems that he composes his photographs so that they flow; they move from one side of the image to the next.

Burkett’s images are all landscapes and growth that he finds in nature. He utilizes patterns, light and color to somewhat abstract what he is shooting. He also crops things very distinctly, to enforce the abstract, magical quality that inhabits all of his pictures. Each subject seems that it could fill an eternity- even if it in reality, is as small as your hand.

Shannon Roulet: Julie Dermansky

       

         I was really intrigued by the documentary style work Julie Dermansky did in 'bathtub' of Louisiana. A lot of her photos were shot at dusk and/or night and it added a significant amount of depth to her pieces. Her attention for detail really shows in the shots she takes, and her work on controversial and devastating topics is really inspiring. She is able to capture moments of extreme emotion such as the work she's done of natural disasters, global climate threats, etc.
        Even though I tend not to be interested in documentary or journalistic photos, I really enjoyed looking through Dermansky's portfolio. She has a style the uses the photographs to create an authentic relationship between the viewer and the subject in the photo. I also appreciate her determination to get the "perfect" photo by getting down and dirty to where things that may not be the easiest to get to or the most comfortable to be in. Dermansky takes moments that are intense and unforgiving and is able to translate them into amazing pieces of work.

dermansky portfolio

Ralph Eugene Meatyard - Natalie Kohlhepp

Ralph Eugene Meatyard

            Meatyard once described himself as a “dedicated amateur” photographer. In the late 50’s, Meatyard found a set of masks in a store in Lexington, Kentucky, that looked like melted wax faces and they became the main prop he used to take portraits for the next 13 years. Why masks? “The idea of a person, a photograph, say, of a young girl with a title ‘Rose Taylor’ or the title ‘Rose’ or no title at all becomes an entirely different thing,” Meatyard once said. “ ‘Rose Taylor’ is a specific person, whether you know her nor not. ‘Rose’ is more generalized and could be one of many Roses—many people. No title, it could be anybody.” And in the same way, a mask “serves as non-personalizing a person.” Gowin, who posed for a Meatyard portrait, recalls thinking that wearing a mask would surely erase all sense of personhood. “But when I saw the pictures,” he says, “I realized that even though you have the mask, your body language completely gives you away. It’s as if you’re completely naked, completely revealed.”

            In an interview Meatyard’s son, Chris, explains that his father would pick the environment first, and concentrate on the light available at different times in the space. He wouldn’t start to bring people into his shots until he had already composed the image.
            I’m personally very drawn to Meatyard’s style, and I believe he was asking questions about personhood, body language and aesthetics that I am also very curious about.

Abbey Reddington- Charles Fréger

I came across Charles Fregar when pondering through National Geographic's photography section. I was immediately enticed by a series called Painted Elephants. At first, the viewer is overtaken by the brilliant colors and power of the large scope of the beast painted beautifully and ridden by a man. Charles takes the photograph from a low stance, further magnifying the impressiveness and power held by the man and animal. When examined more closely, the photograph is much simpler than it originally appears. The background is neutral without any harsh shapes of lines cutting through the subject. This style is further seen in Fregar's work.

Other trends seen in his portfolio include intensive focus on color and shape. His simple creations closely examine one particular subject and are careful not to draw away from the message he is stating. Never ignoring color, he either contrast strongly (ex. purple and yellow elephant bellow) or creates a completely neutral piece (ex. young boy bellow.) Light is always soft and you'll never see a heavily exposed picture in his work. I really enjoy his attention to detail and framing of foreign sights.