Question Of The Week, vol.2
Most things in life are moments of pleasure and a lifetime of embarrassment; photography is a moment of embarrassment and a lifetime of pleasure.~Tony Benn
All artists are influenced and/or inspired by others, but not limited to the same medium. Who are some of your favorite photographers/artists?
from Jodi Hoye:
My main form of creativity has been in quilting. I love Jinny Beye's unique approach to quilting.
I also love picking colors and putting them together in rug hooking and knitting.
Freeman Patterson is my favorite photographers because he can do unusual things with the normal, and make it beautiful and unique.
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from DJ:
Most events in a persons life begin with a certain amount of background, or a succession of events; then they work on finding closure based on what has come before as a foundation. As far as our ability to build on these foundations; our ability to speak has been built by years of remaining silent, babbling and finally speaking; so, too, do photographers have to build an image by laying thought upon thought, vision upon vision, and incident upon incident. This is perhaps the most natural way to create an image. This is also probably the safest way to create the image, because the photographer is creating, whether consciously or unconsciously, in a straight-line. Problems that surface are easily fixed, because in theory the photographer can step back and see where the problem started and take a different path. Not that images don't exist that can be created using this process, there are quite a few, and effective ones at that. Still, the strongest emotion a photographer can invoke, is when the vision is clear. Sometimes, a less common strategy, which is to begin the image creation process by first looking at the end. Rather than creating the image in a linear fashion, the photographer can adopt a more organic approach, where images LEAP from the print — to support. Images built in such a manner, support the main emphasis of the subject. An image should not attempt to provide an answer, but to prompt the viewer to ask a question that needs an answer. The image can accomplish this in endless ways. Instead of proclaiming the subject matter of the image, the image should quietly address the answer and let the viewer determine the question. The motive of this, is bringing the viewer back to the question they themselves asked upon initial viewing. You cannot affect a persons memory, but only affect it in hindsight. By changing a persons thoughts about past events, which by definition are unchangeable, a persons thoughts can never truly become a memory.
So... how does this relate to the question at hand... believe it or not, or at least in my chaotic mind, it does. I try not to focus on a single artist or style or art. I like to think I am a well rounded artist and by trying not to focus on a single concept or individual, I will remain free of getting stuck in a rut. I like to make the viewer think deeper than they have ever thought before and make them keep coming back to the image for one last, or so they think, glance at the image. anyway... hope this clears up nothing and provides clarity, none-the-less.
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from Cindy May:
I enjoy and am inspired by the works of artist David Hockney and photographer Martin Parr (whom I have met and have gotten his autograph). I had never heard of David Hockney until I saw an advertisement for an exhibit of his at the National Museum in Cardiff (Wales). My husband, a friend, and I all visited and I was hooked ever since! Probably the most impressive work was a whole wall taken up with overlapping photos (called ‘joiners’) of the Grand Canyon. It was the next best thing to actually being there (and I have – twice!).
I had never heard of Martin Parr either, but he was listed as a guest lecturer at a photography seminar I attended quite a few years ago. That was also the first time I had ever heard the term ‘documentary photography,’ which is a style I’ve adopted and practiced for most of my life. Last summer when I was in Paris my husband and I visited the Museum of European Photography. Unbeknownst to us, there was a Martin Parr (& Charles Close) exhibit on. The most impressive work was an installation where Parr decorated a room to look like his family’s living room circa about the 1950’s. There was an enlarged photo (of the window) in place of where the window would have been, but otherwise everything else was authentic. Although it wasn’t so much about photos, it was a really clever installation complete with a TV and radio spewing programs from the time period.
I also very much like the impressionists – Monet, Van Gogh, Rembrandt to name a few. I have visited Monet’s house in Giverny (France) and seen the garden which was the subject of so many of his lovely paintings. It’s always interesting to see where artists get their inspiration.
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from Arthur Weeks:
Here are some-
Robert Frank
Heinrich Riebesehl
Fay Godwin
William Eggleston
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Lois Conner
Toshio Shibata
Roni Horn
Minor White
Joseph Beuys
Lee Friedlander
Bernice Abbot
Hans Hofmann
Diane Arbus
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from chantal stone:
I like to draw my inspiration from various mediums. I go through phases where I really try not to look at other photographer's work, for fear of being too influenced by them. I like to see what other people are shooting, and of course, to learn new techniques, and gain new ideas. But I've seen where sometimes other artists become so influenced by those of the same medium, they tend to copy too closely. Call it my own insecurity.
I really feel that I do live and breathe my art. But it isn't always practical to be shooting day and night, which is why I like to write and occasionally paint and draw. And I find that I am more inspired in my photography, when I am most active practicing these other art forms. Therefore, it seems natural to me, that the vast majority of my influences come from fellow writers and artists, but not necessarily photographers.
A line of poetry, a beautiful melody, or lyric from a song, the raw emotion felt through a skillfully acted performance in a film. These are the things that inspire me, that motivate me to do what I do.
A few of my favorite artists and writers include Van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Klimt, Emerson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Tamon Van Scoy, John Spivey...among many many others.
posted by chantal stone @ 6/04/2006 03:41:00 PM
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