Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, known for his sometimes controversial large-scale, highly stylized black and white photography. Mapplethorpe worked mainly in a studio, and mostly in black and white. His body of works features a wide range of subjects, including celebrity portraits, made and female nudes, self-portraits and still-life images of flowers. His most controversial work is that of the underground BDSM scene in late 1960s and early 1970s of New York.

 Self-portraits

Female nudes

Still-life

Celebrity portraits

I found that his work is very strong, no matter the subjects, even the still-life flowers.With his understanding of form and light, together with the composition, he created some really beautiful images that show you the quality of nature and the beautiful of human body.  I tried the still-life and portraits, although I got some good and clear images, they were not appear to be very strong. I think his work encourages me to do some more flowers. 

He had a wide range of subjects, but his main focus and the greater part of his work is erotic imagery. I tried to look for some but there were hardly any online. 

I understand the controversy,  but I am agree with what Tate said, " With these images he tested the right to individual freedom- they were not meant to be titillating, shocking or obscene, but beautiful in a traditionally classic way. His work therefore holds a significant place in the history of artistic struggle to depict the world as it is with honesty and truth. "

After doing some experiments and trying to create nice images. I start to the think the point of photography. When I was looking for photographers to write reports for the assessment purpose as well as looking for inspirations, I had seen Robert Malllethrpe's work before but they did not caught my eye. They did today, I think because i can see he was recording some scenes, some happenings,  no matter what the subject was, he was be able to use a high art format to tell the world about some other group of people who also exist in this world with some different attitude and life style from other so called normal people. He was honestly and truly with his eyes and his camera. And I think that is what I want with my camera, be honest and be true. 

A few days ago, I happened to see some photos taken years ago which I thought I had lost. They are families and friends photos. I suddenly saw time passing through these photos. Every little moments came back to life. I felt tears in my eyes. To record life is the most important job for a camera, isn't it?

Penelope Umbrico

Penelope Umbrico (born 1957) is an artist/photographer, best known for appropriating images found using search engines and pictures sharing websites.

Suns from Flickr" - installation view, SF MoMA

Umvrico combines photographs of simple objects, rearranging them to create something all together new. She uses images she found on internet and put them together to make a statement. 

She started  "Suns from Flickr" with the pictures she found on Flickr which contains 541,795 images. She cropped just the sun and ordered the machine prints from Kodak. This is a ongoing  project, with each installation, the numbers of images she found getting more and more. The number itself becomes a statement that the use of web-based photo communities are increasing dramatically. 

Her work makes me think a lot. What are we using our cameras for? 

• to say " I am here, now"
• to accurately and quickly make the objects in front of us into an image
• to catch a moment
• to store a memory  
• to record a change
• even just want to upload to social media and to show off
• .............

We click more than think, we desire to let people see our photos but forget about the privacy, we store them in a space which is not physically exist rather than print them out, 

These are what i can think so far. For the past days I was thinking what I want to use my camera for, what I want to say. 

Umbrico uses photographs in a completely different way than we normally do and makes a stronger statement about what she wants to say. I like her work. 

Sunset Portraits

Sunsets Portraits is from the same source as "Suns from Flickr". Umbrico left the people who are individuals in the picture. But when she put so many of them together, all these individuals becomes similar or even more or less the same to the viewers. 

Ends of Things

An inventory of hundreds of hand size, house-hold objects (mostly handles)are photographed isolated in front of colorful fields. Each image is paired with a twin print to create a whole new form.

They are out of focus which make the original identification become impossible. Umbrico said that devices made to mimic human eyes. Here the camera is not processing the image clearly, instead,it creates a distortion that produces something altogether different. The image is abstracted from its source, every piece looks similar what ever they originally are, again, the individual becomes less important and becomes one of the large number of multiples. 

I do like this idea. we are all individuals and unique in this world, but when we are put together with lots of other people, we are all the same. 

Honeymoon Suites

Honeymoon Suites is an investigation of the super-glossy honeymoon resort brochures which depict happy-just married-couples in their honeymoon duties. As Umbrico said, they are prefect candy-colorer horizons, blue skies with perfectly fluffy clouds and never ending pinkish sunsets. Is this what a marriage look like? 

Wolfgang Tillmans

Wolfgang Tillmans(born 1968) is a German fine-art photographer. His diverse body of work is distinguished by observation of his surroundings and an ongoing investigation of the photographic medium's foundation.

Tillsman was the first photographer - and also the first non-English person to be awarded Turner Prize.

Tillsmans' name came on the top when I searched for abstract photography. I instantly liked his abstract work. The color is beautiful, They are  moving but they are still.

It says that these abstract work are his darkroom mistakes, They are on color-negative photographic paper, collected by the artist since he began colour printing in 1990. 

These are a few examples from his Silver work. It reflect the reaction of the photographic paper to light, mechanical and chemical processes. Dirt traces and silver salt stains remain on the paper when they get developed in a machine that is filled with water and has not been completely cleaned. 

Since 2000, he has been become increasingly interested in chemical, Works created directly in the darkroom without a camera. 

They are done by using different light sources in the darkroom.  People says that Tillmans is painting with light. In an interview he talked about the painting and photography.  He said " I don't want to mimic painting, and I think it's actually crucial that they are photographs. In a way, they are not doing anything that photography doesn't do anyway, because they are recording light. " He also said the important thing about these work is the simplicity of how they are done. " I am interested in how I can transform something simple, or even something complicated into something else." I read the whole interview and now have a lot better understanding about his work. I am not sure what I can do with a digital camera but it will worth to try. 

Here is another one I like, his "paper drop" series and " Light"

His other types of work which I am not sure about or they are not my type. But after I read the interview conversation, I understand them more and agree with his opinions. 

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http://www.americansuburbx.com/2013/12/interview-conversation-wolfgang-tillmans-2001.html

studio set up experiment-still life

I took some still life photographs in the studio yesterday. I found light can have a dramatic effect on the photographs. The quality of the photographs surprised me. I used the biggest aperture I can and changed the shutter speed according to the light. Here are a few which without any editing apart from a little cropping on some of them. The studio light is a lot better than the ceiling light.

I switched off all the lights, used my mobile touch, I got some really black background. Compare with this, the studio light is softer and warmer. 

I tried to use a really long shutter speed, switched off all the lights, then switched my mobile touch on and off to try to get some duplicate images, but I did not really work well. 

I put a piece of glass on top of the black paper to try to get a reflection. But I don't think i get a good composition.

I edited a few, I found there was not much I can do.

In general, I am really happy with the quality of the studio set up photographs. I learned how to use light to create different feelings. But I am not sure if this is the kind of photograph I want.