Artists Log - Amy Spanos

Amy Spanos

I chose Amy Spanos  because I really like her work, it's creative, freaky and fun to look at, she uses a variety  of formal elements to bring here photos to life such as colour, tone, lines, reflection, depth and basically anything she can find in the area. I really like her work because of how freaky it can be but then beautiful at the same time, the themes that she uses such as serial killers to abandoned hospitals and forests are what I find simply fascinating.  

Gerrard Schaeffer

The image above is part of Spanos' serial killer week, this is based on the work of Gerrard Schaeffer who as you can guess hog tied his victims, but what is so great about this picture is the tone, it's dark and mysterious. The bloody body in the middle with a glimpse of light just floating by it. I think she has taken the likeness of Schaeffer and visualised his killings in a creative, scary and life like way. The use of form really makes the victim believable. The compassion of the model is great, especially when there is a light shinning right above her.  

Halloween Part 4

Amy sets herself many projects and above is her 2013 Halloween project which consists or mysterious deaths. The use of the environment around the body is very clever the way everything leads to him, the lines on the ground, the doorway, he is clearly the centre of attention. The use of depth and colour really shows the creepy aspect which she is trying to get across. 

The Sublime Stare Of Solitude

This was taken in an abandoned mental hospital, and if that isn't creepy enough the clothing and use of formal elements really makes this photo freaky. The use of depth through he windows gives you the feeling you're in the middle of no where, along with form in the chair and tone of the entire image really grabs you by the throat.

Trying My Best To Let You Go

This photo uses colour with the green around the edges and brown in the middle giving you something to focus on. The photo is like a fantasy land, the way in which the person is sitting is weird enough without the random bubbles but what this photo does is really cool in the way it increases the idea of forests being magical and mysterious. 

I really like Amy Spanos' work and would love to interpret the weirdness and a variety of creepy and mysteriousness into my photos.

She has influenced my work as within our studio sessions I have often thought about Amy's studio work and how I can relate my work to her own, using the images of studio portraits by Amy Spanos I can try and incorporate that into my work, as I have been doing. I would like to incorporate her weird and wonderful imagination into work including the dark corners of it because that is what makes her work so incredible. I definitely feel that after researching this artist I have incorporated some of her themes in to my work, for example in a lot of her photos she creates fear but in an intriguing way, it just makes you want to know what happens after the photo is taken;

Even though the photo on the left is part of my Mapplethorpe collection I feel as if it has elements of Amy Spanos in it, I chose the photo on the right to compare, as you can see the composition is very similar, both have a lack of colour and a strange sensation of horror. You can see the similarities quite clearly and I like to think that Amy Spanos has inspired me greatly when creating something weird and a bit scary. 

As a summery I really like Amy's work, I find it pleasing to look at, as well as creative and fun. She can take serious matter and make them funny or interesting, she tried to get you involved in as much of the background of her photos as possible. She is an incredible artist and deserves a lot more recognition, she is my all time favourite and one I will refer to time and time again, as I really want to add bits her her to my own work.