Simon Marsden

Simon Marsden was an English photographer and author who passed away recently.  He used to work as an assistant to photographer Ruan O'Lochlainn.  His early work was published in photography periodicals around the end of the 1970's.  In 1975 and 1976 he traveled The United States, Europe and The Middle East, having the chance to photograph numerous architectural subjects and magnificent landscapes. 

The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore from the Pazzietta San Marco, Venice, Italy

Marsden's main interests were gloomy, creepy subjects such as haunted houses, graveyards, dark towers and the fairytales and legends that are often connected to them. An interesting fact though, is that the dark atmosphere in his photographs is not created by the subjects alone, but by his choice of using infrared film. 

St. Andrew's Church, Sausthorpe, Lincolnshire, England

His photographs are already world famous and are exhibited in many museums and galleries, including the Saatchi Gallery in London, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. Simon Marsden also published a number of illustrated books, the latest having been used as an album cover of the English black metal band 'Cradle of Filth's second album and as an adveritsment for the Japanese manufacturer Toshiba. 

References:

http://www.simonmarsden.co.uk/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/9067498/Sir-Simon-Marsden-Bt.html

Colin Jones

Colin Jones is a famous English photographer, born in 1936, best known for the photographs he took of the band 'The Who' back in the 1960's. He joined them on several tours, so therefore he had the chance to get to know them very well and photograph them not only in public but in their private domains as well.  His range of musician portraits and documentary images are now high in demand and are often auctioned.

The Who in Manchester - 1966

Jones also studied and is still very passionate about ballet. He was offered a scholarship and ended up studying the subject at the Royal Ballet School in London. He has taken several images of people dancing and performing, that in my opinion, are extremely vibrant, full of energy and passion. In addition to that he also likes to take pictures at the rehearsals and backstage photos of the dancers preparing for the show.

He has published a few critically acclaimed books of his artwork, and has had solo exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C and at the Photographers' Gallery in London, as well as in many other international galleries. 

References:

http://www.colinjonesphotography.co.uk/

https://www.proudonline.co.uk/photographer-Colin-Jones_1575.aspxhttp://magazine.macs-salon.co.uk/2011/01/fifty-years-of-the-royal-ballet/

Paul Harries

Paul Harries is a British photographer whose main interest is photographing famous music bands, preferably ones from the rock and metal scene. For over two decades now, if a group has emerged that is loud and proud of it, chances are its members have posed for Harries' camera. He once jokingly admitted that the only reason why he became a music photographer is because he loves music but cannot sing or play an instrument. 

Ville Valo - Him   by Paul Harries

He mostly shoots in studios, hotels or backstage but in many occasions he had to go out in fields, forests or beaches to capture an image for a specific purpose. An example is the photographs of the world known band Slipknot, for their album cover and promotional posters. 

Paul Harris now occupies the position of leading photographer for Kerrang!, one of the most famous and best selling music magazines in the world. He has photographed bands like Metallica, AC/DC, HIM, Slipknot, Muse, Green Day, Nirvana, Foo Fighters and many more and individual artists like Marilyn Manson and Slash. He is currently exhibiting his Slipknot series at Manchester Photographic.

Corey Taylor - Slipknot  by Paul Harries

I truly envy this man for having worked with such amazing bands and artists. I find all of his work incredibly interesting, I love the colors he uses, which are mostly dark ones like black, purple, blue and emerald, and think his technical skills are right on spot. This is the sort of job I hope to be able to have one day, as music and photography are my two greatest passions.

References:

http://www.paulharries.com/

Charlmcgowan, 2012., Paul Harries Photography, Band Identity, [blog] 6 October Available at : http://charlmcgowan.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/paul-harries-photography.html (Accessed 25 April 2012).

The Holocaust Exhibition

During the first week of March, I paid a visit to the Imperial War Museum along with my colleagues from university. I had never been to the museum before as I'm relatively new to London and I must admit it was quite an amazing experience. The museum is famous for its variety of exhibits from the World War II and for its Holocaust exhibition which is what really made my experience there emotional.


The exhibition consists of photographs, newspapers, documents, posters and videos that show the political scene in Europe after the World War I. It examines the rise of the Nazi party and covers the corruption of science supporting the Nazi race theory, the isolation of German Jews and of course the murders of the European Jews that happened from 1933 - 1945.

Nazi Concentration Camp

 The exhibition itself was very informative and interesting to me because I love learning about historic facts, but it was quite disturbing to be there as well. There are testimonies from eighteen Jewish survivors, talking on camera about their experiences,sharing everything they've been through, which are very uncomfortable to watch. Also, there are many shocking photographs, especially towards the end of the exhibition since it's in chronological order, that show dead bodies and people getting executed. 





The most shocking piece of memorabilia to me was a photograph of a Jewish man, sitting next to a pile of dead bodies literally minutes before he was executed. There is a Nazi soldier standing next to him, holding a gun to the Jewish man's head.  That photo was taken seconds before the man was killed, and the most disturbing part of it all is that he's actually looking at the camera and you can see the fear in his eyes. After seeing that photograph I left the Holocaust exhibition immediately and, needless to say, in tears.

Identity

Identity is definitely a huge part of everyone's lives. It defines who we are. It makes us unique, different from the rest of the world.


The term identity refers to a number of different aspects of a person's life.  It can refer to someone's appearance, for example their skin color, hair color, height, weight, choice of clothing and styling etc. It can be more spiritual, referring to people's religion, culture or ethics. Sexuality is also considered to be part of someone's identity because their sexual preferences, meaning whether they are is gay, straight, bi, asexual etc., define them as people.

Race and gender are considered to be the main parts of an individual's identity.  A person's race is mainly defined by their skin color and characteristics, for example usually African Americans have dark colored skin and thick curly hair, white people often have light colored hair and blue or green eyes and Asians have long almond shaped brown eyes and straight dark colored hair. Someone's gender is whether they are male or female, which sounds simple but people tend to stereotype women as housewives that are only good when in the kitchen and men as jerks who only like sports and drinking, which is quite sad.

Photography is a popular means of exploring identity. From the simplest ID and driving license photos to the conceptual self portraits of various photographers, photography is certainly one of the few media that can reveal someone's true identity. Above you can see a photograph by Ramon Guimaraes, a Spanish artist whose work investigates topics such as beauty and identity, sometimes with an ironic approach.  Using media like photographs, videos and live performances he explores the way we present ourselves to others and who we really are inside.


Reference:


http://www.homesession.org/2_artists/artist_RamonGuimaraes.php

Modernism VS Postmodernism

Modernism and Postmodernism... These are two terms that got me extremely confused but I believe I now know what they exactly stand for.

Modernism refers to the artistic movements (surrealism, cubism, abstractionism etc.) that started developing at the beginning of the 20th century and ended when the Second World War began. The term Postmodernism consists of all the artistic movements that emerged after World War II. Some of the main differences between the two are:

- Modernism accomplishes to create new and original styles of art whereas postmodernism has lost faith in originality and is more keen on commercial aspects of art.

- Meaning and bits of truth are included in a modernist's artwork in such way that the viewer feels captured by it and tries hard to interpret it. Meaning cannot be contained or exactly determined in a postmodernist artwork.

- Modernism is all about the ability of the artist to create timeless, captivating pieces of artwork whereas postmodernism works with meaning not only given by the artist but also given from the social and cultural background of each viewer.

Example of Modern Art:

Pablo Picasso - Guernica (1937)


Example of Postmodern Art:

Andy Warhol - Campbell's Soup (1968)

References:

Butler, C. (2002) Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Butler, C. (2010) Modernism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Benz, J.,2009, Contemporary Art 101: What's the difference between 'modern' and 'postmodern'?, examiner.com, [blog] 1 September, Available at: http://www.examiner.com/article/contemporary-art-101-what-s-the-difference-between-modern-and-postmodern

Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is a well known photographer and film director born in New Jersey, USA. She became interested in art while she was in college, where she was studying to become a painter. She quickly dropped out and started studying photography instead, because painting was a male dominant profession. She once said "We couldn't or didn't really want to go into the male-dominated painting world, so since there weren't any artists who were using photographs, we thought, 'Well, yeah, let's just play with that.' " (Hattenstone, 2011). 

Sherman was first introduced to the New York art scene with a series of untitled film stills.They are portraits of herself in which she took on the role of career girl, housewife, siren and woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. As a child she loved playing dress up, but obviously that has not changed. Through the use of wigs, costumes and lots of make up, she investigates the meaning of identity, vulnerability and power. She prefers printing her artwork big - 6ft tall or even more, and most of the times uses vibrant, harsh colors.

People who meet her in say that she is very sweet and always smiling, but in most of her self portraits she looks fierce, sinister. I love the fact that she is the ultimate chameleon. She can transform herself into any sort of character she likes, always with success. I believe she is one of the top portraiture photographers of this generation.


References:

Hattenstone, S., 2011. Cindy Sherman: Me, Myself and I, The Guardian, [online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jan/15/cindy-sherman-interview [Accessed 11 April 2012]

Lacayo, R., 2012., Cindy Sherman - The Heroine with a Thousand Faces, TIME Lightbox, [online] Available at:  http://lightbox.time.com/2012/02/23/cindy-sherman-the-heroine-with-a-thousand-faces/#1 

Wikipedia, 2012., Cindy Sherman, [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Sherman

Annie Leibovitz

  

 Annie Leibovitz is a famous American photographer, mostly known for her amazing portraiture. In 1970 she joined the staff of Rolling Stone magazine and a couple of years later she became its chief photographer. In 1983 she started working for Vanity Fair and in 1998 she added Vogue to her employers. While working with Rolling Stone Magazine, she developed her trademark technique, which is the use of primary colors and unusual poses. She is also the artist who photographed John Lennon in the fetus position next to his wife Yoko Ono. That photograph was shot only a few hours before the musician's death, which gives it even more value. Annie has photographed numerous celebrities including Demi Moore while she was pregnant, Johnny Depp, Michael Jackson and even Queen Elisabeth II.


During her career she also joined The Rolling Stones on tour in order to document their lives on the road, which I find very bold. It is something I would like to do in the future too, go on tour with my favorite bands and document the journey. I really look up to Annie Leibovitz as I'm an upcoming photographer too and I'd like to work for a music magazine someday. Her work is very inspiring and full of emotion. That's what I hope to achieve as well, I want my work to inspire others.  


References :


Wikipedia, 2012., Annie Leibovitz, [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Leibovitz

Vanity Fair, 2012., Annie Leibovitz [online] Available at : http://www.vanityfair.com/contributors/annie-leibovitz

Semiotics

Semiotics, as explained in the video above, is "the study of signs and symbols. It's a branch of philosophy related to linguistics." This video is a scene from the hit american series 'The Big Bang Theory'. We can see Sheldon Cooper, a genius theoretical physicist, asking his supposedly  not-so-smart neighbor for help, since he is incapable of understanding the meaning of a tie on the doorknob. It's ironic because someone as intelligent as him cannot comprehend things that are commonly understood by the rest of the world. I find it amusing how this series takes scientific terms and meanings and explain them in a funny and simple way.


On a more serious note though, humans as a species are designed to search for signs and their meanings, As Peirce once said "we think only in signs". (Peirce 1931-58, 2.302)  Signs can be anything from words, images, sounds, flavors, smells or objects. They only become signs though, when we give them a special meaning. According to Peirce 'Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign'.(Peirce 1931-58, 2.172) For example the tie on the doorknob, as described in the video above',  is commonly known as a sign that an individual doesn't want to be disturbed, probably because they are engaging in a sexual act.


References :


 Peirce, Charles Sanders (1931-58): Collected Writings (8 Vols.). (Ed. Charles Hartshorne, Paul Weiss & Arthur W Burks). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press


The Big Bang Theory , Season 1, Episode: "The Hamburger Postulate"

Stephen Shore

Stephen Shore is a world known American photographer who is mostly famous for his "on the road" photographs of Canadian and American landscapes.  Initially he was shooting in black and white but in 1972 he decided to take up color photography, becoming one of the first photographers to consider color photography a valid medium in art. 

Coronado St., Los Angeles, CA, from the “New California Views” portfolio, 1975

His photographic career began at the age of fourteen when he decided to show his work to the curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art, Edward Steichen, which actually bought three of his pieces.  A few years later Stephen Shore met the legendary pop-art artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol. He started spending a great amount of time at Warhol's Factory, photographing him and his associates, and ended up documenting their lives for four years. During the 1970's he went on a road trip across America and Canada, creating a visual diary of his experiences. He mostly photographed parking lots, gas stations, streets etc and named the series "Uncommon Places". 

I personally find Stephen Shore's work quite boring. Yes, his technical abilities are pretty much perfect, but the subjects of his photographs lack innovation and creativity.  

References : 


Wikipedia, 2003., Stephen Shore, [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Shore  


Museum of Contemporary Photography, 2012., Stephen Shore, [online] Available at:
http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/shore_stephen.php 

Fame : Privilege or Burden?

Why do people still struggle to gain fame??

Everyone nowadays should be able to understand that being famous is not really something worth achieving. Most teenagers' dreams consist of becoming well known actors or musicians, supermodels etc but if you take the time to do some research on the subject you'll realize that most famous people just want to be left alone. I'm not talking about attention whores like Paris Hilton, Lady Gaga or Britney Spears that do provocative things just to be the center of attention. I'm talking about respectable artists like Johnny Depp, who is one of the most famous actors of our time but you don't see any shocking detailed stories about his private life in the tabloids anymore because he refuses to talk about it.



When an individual becomes well known, they are constantly being chased by paparazzi and reporters who bother them nonstop and, being a new celebrity, you answer their questions without thinking carefully. Everything you do becomes front page news. Not to mention that most of the times journalists and photo reporters twist stories and make up things just to create a scandal.

Why would anyone want that? Their lives to become a public joke? I don't get it. 


References:

E! Entertainment Television

http://www.mtv.co.uk/news/robert-pattinson/264397-robert-pattinson-fame-twilight-kristen-stewart

Walker, R.D, 2008., Britney Angry Media Watching Her Every Move. The Real Revo [blog], 28 December, Available at: http://therealrevo.com/blog/?p=3650 [Accessed 09 April 2012]