colesharpnack

        Harry Gruyaert is a Belgian Photographer who publishes work through Magnum Photos, and is currently posted on the website for his series titled Homeland . Homeland  features images he's taken over the past half century of Belgium. Most famous are his photos from trips to Morocco, Egypt, India and some of Ireland. However, on the Magnum website, here are my favorites that caught my eye: Ostend, Belgium. 1988.          Some may argue its very simple, and honestly that is why I think it works. To explain, in a lot of his work everything I see speaks color and yet the scenes and places he photographs offers not the brightest or most perfect light. Just because there isn't a whole lot going on in the foreground I think that leaving that space open makes the photograph. It makes my eyes jump around from the neon red sign to then again the horizon. Trying to translate the small sign, I am getting pieces of what sounds like a small ...

        Inspiration for my portrait work work in this assignment came from Duane Michals. Michals is a 93 year old American photographer, who is well known for his portrait work showcasing black and white images with multiple different exposures atop one another. What really caught my eye and pushed me into looking more into Michals is his work shown above, titled Rene Magritte. Interestingly, through my research, I found that Rene Magritte is an artist who... (always seemed to wear the hat seen above)... but also is well known for his quote, " Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see, but it is impossible." I think even though this isn't Michals' quote, it does well to describe the image. It is almost if Michals was on a mission to try and prove Magritte's quote wrong, while depicting a portrait of him. Noticed above, the viewer sees Magritte, in more places than one, but his figure and image doesn't necessari...

           Annie Leibovitz is an American photographer and is famous for her portrait photography. Notably, Leibovitz often photographs celebrities, athletes, and public figures in comical, awkward, or revealing poses. Even then, a right of passage into becoming a true "public figure" often includes having a portrait of yourself by Annie Leibovitz. Below are a few of my favorite works done by Leibovitz...          The first photograph that caught my eye was of "Alice" in a series of Leibovitz's work. Included in her Wonderland series, Annie Leibovitz reimagined illustrations from the original Alice in Wonderland book. Featured above, Alice is squeezed into a small house, and paired with the original book, a rabbits house. In talking about this photo, Annie describes the amount of time and detail that it took to fully recreate a narrative into a working set. I think what makes this image work so well is the model,  Natalia Vodia...

         Edward Honaker is an American photographer who is famously known for capturing his battle with depression. In many of his pieces, he uses natural and artificial methods to provide a deeper story or abstract approach. Below are a few of my favorites...          The first piece that caught my eye was Honaker's self portrait featured above. In a lot of his work, Edward Honaker features himself but never seems to show his face. Like seen above, the use of photoshop to swirl and twist the colors of his face provides an abstract nature taking away detail but adding a much larger message. Like mentioned earlier, Honaker uses his photograph to describe his constant battle with depression. Seeing depression as the underlying tone in a way, the unsaturated photo as well as the blur and swirl of the face suggest a questioning of his own identity. Additionally, I am always drawn to his suit; the neatness, straight lines, and lack of wrinkle...

          In his work, Fred Ritchin discusses the power of photography and the power over the individuals who view it. Interesting to me, Ritchin describes the difference in photography and in portraits as we jump from analog into the digital world. When looking at analog photography the ability to portray anything other than what has once happened, becomes super difficult, if not impossible. But thanks to this digital age, we are able to sort of tell a story of the future with images of the present, wielding the power to change the world.            The first quote that caught my eye was, "there are those who have photographed the stone hitting the water... there are those who focused on the ripples that the force of the stone hitting the water produces... there are others who profoundly mistrust the depiction of either stone or ripple" (146). Yes, the quote is paraphrased a bit, but here is what I take away from it: in t...