Natalia's Photography Blog

  Alex Webb creates photos that seem so perfect that they almost look photoshopped, but from what I can tell, they are just highly posed and thought out as to make such a perfect composition with interesting subjects and colors. The photos all depict multiple people places around the scene in a very balanced way.  The picture above specifically has a perfect shutter speed to freeze the people in the photo but is slow enough to show the motion of the spinning globe. This looks like a different part of the world than in the U.S., so I think seeing it as someone who has never experienced this lifestyle makes the image more impactful. Even though it is different than I am used to, we are all on the same globe.  The precise composition and colors jumping out of the images are Webb's signature moves. I feel like Alex Webb also photographs different types of communities and explores the interactions between people in these communities. He captures these people in what seems like...

After Photography, written by Fred Ritchie, explores photography in a conceptual way and touches on a lot of the possibilities, limits and issues associated with photography.  The first paragraph on page 143 that talks about the possibilities of what could happen--and what inevitably would regarding photography, like implementing it into household items or using it on a molecular level. The one part that stood out to me was when he says cameras would ultimately be put in our skin and roam our bodies. Thinking about this being a possibility, which may not be very far off, could either really help the advancement of medical technologies or could reach an insane level of intrusion.  This leads into the next quote: "Paradoxically, the subject of the photograph is often voiceless, unable to contest his or her depiction. Often the photographer barely knows the person, yet the image could be used to define the person or to represent a certain theme." Capturing a photograph of someon...

  Arnulf Rainer's artwork stood out to me because it is very unorthodox what he does to his self portraits. First, he takes photos of himself that are not the typical "flattering" way of taking a portrait. Then, to add to this, he adds drawings or paint onto of his photos, which almost distorts his identity and the way the viewer views him. These photos evoke a very strong uncomfortable reaction, but it is this ability to invoke such strong emotions that makes these photographs so moving. The distortion of the face is really intriguing to me, because it questions the subjects identity by their looks and may represent how the person feels when other people perceive them.  All of his photographs seem to be initially shot in black and white, maybe toned with sepia, but he then goes overtop of these photographs with colorful paints. He uses a lot of yellow and blue. These colors feel very gloomy and sad. This along with the abstraction of the photos gives a similar feeling to...

  Annie Leibovitz is a modern contemporary photographer who uses very stages scenes and organized environments to capture very visually interesting and narrative portraits. These portraits are very thought out and stages, but this creates images that almost feel like paintings. I like the wide angle lens that Annie Leibovitz commonly uses. This allows her to capture more of the surrounding scene to make the environment and integral part of the photo, that the subject in the photo just seems to be a part of the environment rather than sicking out as their own object and the environment adding to them.  The reason I chose these portraits specifically is to show how similar Leibovitz's formula is for capturing a "good" photograph. In all of these, there is a visually interesting environment with women wearing dramatic dresses and good lighting. It seems as if you have these elements, you can copy and paste the composition and a good photograph will result. In all of these ph...

Out of all the portraits provided in the lecture, this photo stuck out to me very much. When I should have been focusing on other school work. I would go back and stare at this photo. It is both visually interesting and very well done technically. While I am aware that Philip-Lorca diCorcia stages these photos with professional lighting, there is some element of naturalness and surprise that is portrayed in this photo. The shallow depth of field tells me that he used a low aperture. I think having a clear focal point adds a lot to this photo specifically. The person behind the main subject is blurred just enough to hide their identity, but you can still see their facial expression and see that their focus is also on the main subject.  The direct eye contact with the camera makes you feel like you are directly interacting with the subject. The placement of their hand almost makes them seem like they are uncomfortable or nervous, and adding the subject in the back staring at them add...

  Ernst Haas seems like a very pivotal photographer with sophisticated visions. A lot of his photos exhibit the chaotic life of living in a busy city. In the picture above, the first thing I notice is the bright pop of red contrasting from the rest of the dull, grey image. Keeping the people's faces a hidden, hiding their identity adds a layer of mystery to the image. The child seems like a reflection of the adult, assuming they are their mother. This can raise a debate about different parenting styles, but I do not have much room to talk about this. The other people in the image are horizontally blurred, indicating that they are walking fast, which again reflects the busy and hurried life of living in the city.  In a lot of Ernst Haas' photography, his bright colors still have a dull, muted look which makes them almost seem like a painting. I am assuming this is because of the color film he used. His composition is always very balanced and clean. His images are very aesthetic...