Izima Karou
Karou takes images of corpses in elaborate, romantic settings for her series, Landscape with a Corpse. The deadpan title with the fashion rhetoric gives this ironic look at fashion photography. Taking these models in designer outfits and putting them into intricate landscapes with erotic undertones makes for an subtle commentary on the way the fashion industry sees models. She titles each image after the model and the designer to play on the fashion format of photography. She has impeccable lighting and narrative elements to add to the drama of the series.
(Source: vonlintel.com)
Emily Portmann, Somewhere Within Sometimes
Portmann is a young artist using her own body as a means of expression. These self portraits are taken in this cross between institutional and private setting. All the images confine her body within a space giving the sense of mental confines and self doubt. The images are haunting with an uncanny element of longing and self-conscious desire.
(Source: emilyportmann.com)
Francesca Woodman.
Through double exposure and long-exposure blur, Woodman obscures herself in her photographs. In a literal representation of madness and the desire to disappear, Woodman creates beautiful, surreal images all featuring herself. The artist killed herself at 22 by jumping out of her New York City loft window. Her images are renowned for being the “Sylvia Plath of Photography”.
Carrie Mae Weems.
Although I am obsessed with all of Weems’ work, there is a special place in my heart for her The Kitchen Table Series. I think what gets me about this series is the simplicity; The ability to convey so much from one scene, one location, one family is amazing.
(Source: carriemaeweems.net)
Lisa Kereszi.
Kereszi’s photographs depict a juxtaposition of burlesque dancers and empty interiors of strip clubs. She entitled the series, Fantasies, because she wants to convey the creation and action of fantasy.
I was interested in how Kereszi talked about her work, specifically the reaction of the mass audience. I must say, I was surprised by what I read. She stated in an interview:
“I heard a couple of comments that I wasn’t supposed to hear about the women in this book being ugly. Someone said something like “Oh, they’re naked ladies, but they’re ugly.” And I was shocked when that was relayed to me. I don’t think that at all, but I could see why a regular guy who is used to this air-brushed, silicone implant thing - that’s what they want to see naked today. That wasn’t the case when burlesque was queen in the fifties. So it’s a different kind of guy, I think, that likes this world, and a different kind of person in general. Living in New York and being an artist, you are not really aware of the real world. And this seems much bigger to me than I think it really might be; it is a subculture, it is still an underground thing even if it is popular. The people that are making it popular on TV are Carmen Electra, who looks really skinny and beautiful and perfect. She doesn’t seem to have the same charge that these women have.”
Awesome.
(Source: photoeye.com)
Mary Ellen Mark.
All of Mark’s work is sensational, but as of right now Ward 81 is my favorite. The series features a women’s ward in the Oregon State Mental Hospital. One line in the prologue really struck me: ”The women on this ward are considered dangerous to themselves or to others.”
Mark has this ability to show humanity in the strangest of places, forcing the viewer to invest and connect with her odd characters.
(Source: maryellenmark.com)
Ashley Kauschinger.
Kaushinger’s series focuses on the childhood notion to create a mythical place in one’s mind. In the series, Avondale, she weaves a place of fantasy and memory in an ethereal manner for the viewer to enjoy and indulge in the childish pleasure of myth.
(Source: ashleykauschinger.com)
Lise Sarfati
Her work focuses on the the relationship of photographer and subject, and as her bio states, she creates “A vision in which the individual is environment, a map outlining a perilous cultural geography.”
The images are vaguely reminiscent of Cindy Sherman’s untitled film stills in the way she gives the viewer a female character to connect to and draw a narrative from. She names all of her photographs after the woman pictured, and separates them into series by location, allowing the audience to focus on the connection between woman and place.
(Source: lisesarfati.com)
http://picturesofmymother.com/
There is this amazing tumblr that blogs pictures of submitters’ mothers. It seems as if they have stopped updating, but it is still a cool collection to run through. The photographs range from family portraits, to prom photographs, to quick snapshots. Some of them (actually, most of them) are really beautiful portraits, alongside some nice stories.
I like that there is a digital collection of mothers. There’s something really touching about that.
Uta Barth.
I can’t believe I have not posted about Uta before! Her photographs are absolutely stunning. She uses light, and color (or lack thereof) to give a minimalist approach to photography. The way she catches light through a window and into an open room is impeccable. Also, I love the way she has small details be the focused thing in the frame. Often she will have the corner of the wall, or ledge of the window be the focus of the shot, while everything else is blurred. It creates this intese abstraction, while simultaneously keeping a composition. It’s absolutely amazing.
(Source: tanyabonakdargallery.com)
