ATIBA
Any skateboarder knows who Atiba Jefferson is. Many just know him by Atiba. He is the fore runner in skateboarding photography, as well as a largely popular photographer in the sports and music scene. Pick up any skateboarding magazine and there is a guarantee that at least 2 images in it will have been shot by Atiba. He uses big pan shots, close angled shots, and depending on what hes shooting, fish eye lenses. The fish eye lens is one of the staples of skateboarding photography, and also a nemesis of other modern photographers. Many photographers HATE fish eye lenses, but when shooting close up action shots involved in skateboarding, the fish eye allows you to get the subject, and the background being dominated.
At Atiba's point in his career, every skateboarder wants him to photograph their session. It is basically a right in passage of being a pro skater. Atiba can guarantee to make you look good in your shots. It helps that he is so versatile in his skill. He can get right up in a shot, or pull back and get huge panoramic shots, making the skating gaps huge. Now that he already is popular, everyone else wants to be shot by Atiba, whether its Kobe Bryant or the Neptunes.
Atiba shows that you can go from photographing your friends tricks, to being a highly demanded photographer in the skating scene.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
A Work In Progress
As of this word >here<, I am 1/2 way done with my first project. It started out a tad rocky but has been smooth sailing so far, knock on wood. My diptych on criminal secrets is going well and the imagery has been compliant.
My second project concept is still chugging along, where all the impossible images are me against myself, basically me myself and I. The idea is basically sayings like, getting ahead of yourself, putting yourself down, torturing yourself etc. So it will really be me torturing myself.
ALSO my mommy just won a Pentax K10 D-SLR on the eBay, so now I have my own D-SLR coming in the mail to shoot with.
word.
My second project concept is still chugging along, where all the impossible images are me against myself, basically me myself and I. The idea is basically sayings like, getting ahead of yourself, putting yourself down, torturing yourself etc. So it will really be me torturing myself.
ALSO my mommy just won a Pentax K10 D-SLR on the eBay, so now I have my own D-SLR coming in the mail to shoot with.
word.
The Ludak Experience
Recently, Professor Ludak had his work displayed in the Ice House and gave a presentation on his personal photographic journey.
The Presentation:
Ludak's presentation started out with his days of learning and ended up where he is now. However, there was so much in between. The amount of work Ludak did during his career is amazing. He traveled the world, getting images for political coverage, journals and magazines, and even companies like Apple. I was blown away by his travels and employers, and personal experiences. He really is lucky in being able to allow his photography to take him to so many places, even political hot zones. Not only that, he was maintaining his outside photography career as well. Those were only his hired gigs.
The Work:
The images Ludak presented were so simple, and yet unbelievably strong. He explains that hes never out to get a shot, he just stays observant and ready for the shots that arise, and from the amount of pieces he creates, he clearly has eyes like a hawk. All of his work is straight foreward with out manipulation or heavy reliance on editing. His result are these clean images that immediately catch the eye. One of my favorite images is one he shot in asbury, where a yellow curb complements a yellow building. I have seen and drove and skated on that very curve of road, and it has never looked as interesting as when Ludak had presented it.
Ludak's work and history was very surprising and interesting. His personal backstory was also quite surprising and the whole presentation was a great sucess.
The Presentation:
Ludak's presentation started out with his days of learning and ended up where he is now. However, there was so much in between. The amount of work Ludak did during his career is amazing. He traveled the world, getting images for political coverage, journals and magazines, and even companies like Apple. I was blown away by his travels and employers, and personal experiences. He really is lucky in being able to allow his photography to take him to so many places, even political hot zones. Not only that, he was maintaining his outside photography career as well. Those were only his hired gigs.
The Work:
The images Ludak presented were so simple, and yet unbelievably strong. He explains that hes never out to get a shot, he just stays observant and ready for the shots that arise, and from the amount of pieces he creates, he clearly has eyes like a hawk. All of his work is straight foreward with out manipulation or heavy reliance on editing. His result are these clean images that immediately catch the eye. One of my favorite images is one he shot in asbury, where a yellow curb complements a yellow building. I have seen and drove and skated on that very curve of road, and it has never looked as interesting as when Ludak had presented it.
Ludak's work and history was very surprising and interesting. His personal backstory was also quite surprising and the whole presentation was a great sucess.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
JR
JR. That's about it. All I can say is that as soon as I saw his work in a magazine recently I was amazed. at first I thought his work was digitally done and did not exist as I saw it but I was wrong. Hes a pseudo-activist criminal photographer anonymous. He originally started out by finding a camera on the subway. He goes by JR because much of the work he does is illegal. He started with regular prints and was not interested in them, and realized he could make huge black and white prints in a cost effective way. He then goes out at night alone or with friends and "installs" these works. The majority of pieces are installed in high traffic public areas. The majority of images he uses are head shots or segments of the face. He uses these abrupt images to make a social commentary.
Some of his most awe inspiring work is the large faces he did on the Apartheid Wall called face 2 face, in addition to an image series using women's eyes on slum houses in Rio de Janiero, as well as women and children faces in Kenya. The Kenya installation makes a giant face divided up and posted on the roofs of the slum shacks, that get completed when a train with the rest of the face posted on it passes through.
In the Rio installation, he stayed in this favela, which is known for horrible murder and is run by guerillas, and interviewed and photographed the women, as they told their stories of hard lives and desire to live. Then he posted faces and eyes of these women on the house sides. When you view the acending favela from ground level your eyes are met with the stares of dozens of hardened and burdened eyes.
His work is so intense and amazing that I can say as of right now, he is my favorite photographer.
cool beans
Annu Matthew
The subject of this installment is Annu Matthew's exhibit. First off, her presented work in the 800 gallery was ingenious and conceptually great. The use of the lenticular prints was such a clever idea, even though it wasn't part of the initial concept. From her personal talk, it seems like as she began to work, little details that happened by chance aided her efforts. One concept was using large lenticular pieces rather than smaller ones, with less image line spacing. This then made the viewer have to stand back and physically move left and right to see the change, much like the subjects themselves moving back and forth between their personal lives.
In addition, the presentation she gave was an impressive addition to her already interesting work. My personal favorites were the satirical Bollywood movie posters. Not just the posters, but her employment of actual movie trailers and public ads on buses and walls are extremely clever. To be able to have people be able to see this art unknowingly, outside of theathers was a great idea. In addition to the posters, the time lapse images she presented at the very end were quite interesting and very creepy. The slow change of features and adding and removing of people was a very ghostly visualization.
In summation, the presentation and work presented by Annu was most impressive, and having the ability to view the gallery with her without others was a great addition.
Great Job!
In addition, the presentation she gave was an impressive addition to her already interesting work. My personal favorites were the satirical Bollywood movie posters. Not just the posters, but her employment of actual movie trailers and public ads on buses and walls are extremely clever. To be able to have people be able to see this art unknowingly, outside of theathers was a great idea. In addition to the posters, the time lapse images she presented at the very end were quite interesting and very creepy. The slow change of features and adding and removing of people was a very ghostly visualization.
In summation, the presentation and work presented by Annu was most impressive, and having the ability to view the gallery with her without others was a great addition.
Great Job!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
frustration
So far, everything has been frustrating. I am constantly changing my ideas, and Im constantly changing them because Im not sure what is expected of the projects. Apparently I am still stuck in an analog way of thinking, because my solutions to both projects are basically point and shoot.
For the first project I was going to do harmless things with unknown dangers that could be associated with them, but the analog vs digital aspect seems to be lost and only approached as how the picture is taken, instead of it adding to the concept as a whole.
The second project I want to do situations in which I am every character in said situation. For example, I would be robbing myself or about to really hurt myself while I sit by and watch helplessly, Or me, myself and I stuck in a mexican standoff. Another idea is a wholesome dinner served up by me in an apron and oven mitts while I sit at the table reading the paper and little me plays on the kitchen floor waiting for dinner. I like this idea and feel it can be really interesting depending on the situation, but once again, it is basically point and shoot.
So with photo class tomorrow I am unsure as of what I'll be doing or what I even need, not to mention I have yet to hear from Anne about said proposals and lack of understanding.
Oh shucks.
For the first project I was going to do harmless things with unknown dangers that could be associated with them, but the analog vs digital aspect seems to be lost and only approached as how the picture is taken, instead of it adding to the concept as a whole.
The second project I want to do situations in which I am every character in said situation. For example, I would be robbing myself or about to really hurt myself while I sit by and watch helplessly, Or me, myself and I stuck in a mexican standoff. Another idea is a wholesome dinner served up by me in an apron and oven mitts while I sit at the table reading the paper and little me plays on the kitchen floor waiting for dinner. I like this idea and feel it can be really interesting depending on the situation, but once again, it is basically point and shoot.
So with photo class tomorrow I am unsure as of what I'll be doing or what I even need, not to mention I have yet to hear from Anne about said proposals and lack of understanding.
Oh shucks.
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