Cara Wade

Cara Wade graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2004 with an MFA in Photography. Now she is working at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Wade is the Assistant Professor of Photography
Cara Wade’s Mordancage / Insidious Charms collection is very intriguing. In her artist statement she describes what women have gone through to live up to the aspect of beauty. She talks about how women have put themselves through such dangerous tribulations to reach that ideal beauty. Wade says that though she may detest this practice she also embraces it. She works through a combination of technical processes to merge her representations of beauty and a manufactured grotesque. Her imagery both glorifies and chastises while setting up a different definition of beauty.






When I was thinking of what I wanted to do for a project I came up with a very similar concept as Wade. I wanted to capture the beauty of dancers and then basically dirty up the image with textures. As I came across Cara Wade, I fell in love with her images. The idea of beauty does overtake our society, men and women both struggle to achieve beauty. Her work inspires me to explore and try as many different things as possible.




Resources


http://www.platestopixels.com/JAN-FEB2010-main.html

http://www.energygallery.com/2D2/2d2G1/G1artists/CaraWade/caraWade.htm

Richard Calmes

Richard Calmes discovered photography in Vietnam in the 1970’s even though he was lead away from photography by other business opportunities. He began to get back into photography after getting inspired by taking his daughter to her dance classes. Now, in the United States, he is considered one of the most prominent dance photographers. Calmes take a journalistic approach when trying to capture the essence of the studio environment. He received attention for his dance photographs almost immediately after it was shown in the Carisma Gallery in Atlanta in 2006. Calmes is no the Official Photographer for the Southeastern Ballet Association.



Having taken his daughter to dance classes over the years Richard was exposed to all of the work and energy that is poured into being a dancer. Calmes tends to focus on the beginner little students as well as the more advanced dancers. It shows that work is never over. The goal of his performance photography is to get “Bursts of Beauty.” Within the flow of choreography the movements go so fast so that the individual that is watching has no change to take in the beauty of a particular moment. Calmes enjoys taking dancers off their stage and out into environments that wouldn’t normally be in.



Richard Calmes captures the most elegant movements. Ballerinas are the epitome of beauty to me. They are so graceful and talented. Dancers are able to move their bodies in ways I could never imagine. I want to capture their fluid movements and he does this beautifully.


Resources

http://www.richardcalmes.com/

Robert Doisneau

Robert Doisneau lived from 1912 to 1994 and was born in Gentilly, France. At age 16, he took up amateur photography. In 1931 he had a job as an assistant with André Vigneau. During WW II he was drafted in the French army and served until the end. He also forged documents for the French Resistance and in 1948 he started working for French Vogue. He returned to his photojournalistic style and to the streets of Paris in 1951. Fashion photography just was not what he enjoyed. Doisneau sought out to capture the surreal in everyday life.

"In fact there isn't any recipe - that would be too easy - but all these images that are growing old so gracefully were taken instinctively. I put all my trust in intuition, which contributes so much more than rational thought.” –Doisneau



I chose Robert Doisneau to do an artist share on because his photojournalistic style in his photographs catch people in the moment. I think that is the feel I am trying to get with using older photographs of my family. Some of those moments are so raw and have a sense of perfect candidness.

Resources

http://staleywise.com/collection/doisneau/doisneau.html

http://www.leninimports.com/robert_doisneau.html

http://fantastic-dl.blogspot.com/2011/05/robert-doisneau-photographer-france.html

Jhina Alvarado

Jhina Alvarado is from California and has lived in San Francisco since 1994. She is Mexican and Korean. She earned both a Master’s degree in Math Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies. Both were obtained from the San Francisco State University. Alvarado is a self-taught artist. She expresses herself through painting.



Jhina Alvarado works with older photographs; she recreates them in her paintings in her series “Forgotten Memories”. The images are done with oil pants on wood panels including a considerable amount of white space. The images are often cropped out of their environment which added with the white space emphasizes the focus on the individual memory. Alvarado also blocks the eyes out so that the viewer can better put themselves into the image and memory.
She began this series because she hated seeing so many old photographs sold in markets and thrift stores or even thrown away. It made her feel as if people’s memories no longer mattered to them.
I feel that our goal is very similar. We both feel this attachment to those older photographs that once held so much importance to someone somewhere.









Resources

http://www.jhinaalvarado.com/Home.html

http://joanneartmangallery.com/artists/jhina-alvarado/

http://www.google.com/search?q=Jhina+Alvarado&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1138&bih=612

Gerhard Richter

The photograph is the most perfect picture. It does not change; it is absolute, and therefore autonomous, unconditional, devoid of style. Both in its way of informing, and in what it informs of, it is my source. -Gerhard Richter




On what basis do you choose your format?
I choose depending on the way I feel; randomly, in other words. When I haven't done anything for a long time, I always start small, on paper.
Interview with Anna Tilroe, 1987




These are just a few examples of Richter's work. I love how you are able to see some of the images through the paint and I also enjoy the use of color with the black and white images. Even with colored images he is able to make the paint more powerful. His first solo exhibition was at Mobelhaus Berges, Dusseldorf in 1963. It was also the first time that he presented his photo-base painting style.
Richter modernized traditional art through blurred paintings over photographs. By having blurred them then it gives a feel of knowing what is there but not really knowing fully.


You can find these images and more at http://www.gerhard-richter.com/.

Proposal Project 1

For the first project in advanced photo I plan on combining photographs and painting techniques. I have really gotten into painting in the past few months and have always wanted to combine the two practices. I plan on using the colors of the paint to evoke certain emotions about each photograph and keep the colors of the photograph toned down so the two will not be too much together. The subject I plan to photograph is things that mean a lot to me in my hometown. My influence comes from the artist Gerhard Richter. His work is an amazing mix between the two concentrations and it really inspires me to create my own versions. I am not completely sure of the concept behind the photographs just yet but I hope to figure that out this weekend and begin to photograph.

Carol Golemboski

I chose Carol Golemboski's Hairpiece. Her process is very creative. She manipulates each image for up to weeks or months to get it just right. She finds her objects at flea markets and antique shops and then arranges them for the perfect photograph. She uses natural lighting and shoots them with a medium format camera.

After shooting Golemboski begins that manipulation process with the negatives. She will scratch them or use many different mediums like graphite or ink to enhance the photographs. She uses transparent mylar or vellum on the tops of the images covered with charcoal to block the light and it then creates the white marks on the photographs. When she is done with the final prints she then archives them and sepia tones them.

Hairpiece is a black and white print and has a very historic feel to it. It makes you want to know the meaning behind the photograph. The image is very intriguing.