Artist Log - Ellen Von Unwerth

Ellen Von Unwerth

Unweth's work is strange, she works with loads of people especially celebrities. She focuses on making people look attractive, making them seem sexy and important even. She's interesting in the way she does things, making even the weird sexy but overall her work is incredible and great to look at. I chose her because her work is surreal in a way that it almost is real, she takes extravagant real life situations and turns weird and wonderful. 

Here Keira Knightly and friend pay tribute to one of two movies, either the popular Pirates of Caribbean or the more political thriller V for Vendetta, both films are incredible and she gave great performances so a tribute to either films wouldn't be bad. The way Unwerth takes this concept of masculinity from facial hair and applies to a girl is rather extraordinary, she is still able to make the women look sexy.   

Unwerth once again using her skills to sexualise her model, this time it's Emma Watson (well known actress). In way it shows that celebrities are also people as Emma is sorting out her make up in the morning but at the same time she still looks incredible overemphasising the way that celebrities always look 'good'.

Unwerth manly photographs women but here she has taken the time to photograph Christian Bale (Batman), here he is shown dressing smart but with a t-shirt on. This is different from what Bale would usually wear, he is usually in a suit or at least looking very smart here on the other hand not so much yet Unwerth still makes him look attractive. From this image we can see that smart casual doesn't actually look too bad, maybe through this photo Unwerth is trying to show this. 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and friend are again made to look attractive by Unwerth, she creates the atmosphere by making both models seem attractive and perfect for each other. She's trying to create a real life setting, this could show how people are mesmerised by TV (Levitt holding a TV remote), to the point where they ignore their loved ones, even something as primal as sex. So as a species we are destroying ourselves almost, ignoring basic instinct in order to be brainless for a while. 

I really like the way Unwerth takes her photos, they seem so clean and simple when really there is depth within the photos and I would like to incorporate that into her work. 

I feel as if Unwerth can influence my work through the compassion of my work, she takes very good portraits and I really enjoy how she takes people, I would very much like to take her style and possible recreate a piece or two just to get a feel for the different ways she takes photos and I wish to incorporate that into my own work. I have then gone on to take similar photos, using themes which have helped me to develop my composition and atmosphere of the photo taking the lighting into thought. 

I still really like Unwerth's style and I feel as if it's very surreal but it shows celebrities as real people and find it extraordinary how she can show those two very different atmospheres at the same time. To summarise her work is incredible and will continue to influence my own with creating a setting or a scene within my work, the reason i like her so much is because she can do that. Almost every photo she takes looks as if it's been ripped from a film and that is what I'd like to do. 

Artist Log - Erik Johansson

Erik Johansson 

 I chose Erik Johansson as he is a photographer very into his editing, I really like this as it separates him from other photographers who only do a small bit of editing. Through his incredible editing skills he has created some amazing photos that look simply phenomenal, each photo is unique and have a bit of the weird and crazy Erik in them because no one else could think let alone make his ideas come to life. 

I like this photo because I believe it's the one of the first photos you should view before look at Erik's other work, this is nice and calm, very little light, it has a nice feel to it. I really do like this photo as it shows the editing skills of Erik as well as the photography. In this photo I really like the way Erik uses the light from the doors as the only source of light in the photo, the rest of the picture has a dark tone and gloomy atmosphere but the light from the doors can represent safety of a sleep walker perhaps or fear of the dark. 

This is an amazing photo, it's as if the would is falling into it's self, it's an amazing concept and Erik makes the idea come to life. His edits always feel realistic and powerful. Colour is used a lot in this photo as the majority of it is green, it gives quite a warm feeling but also some danger. This photo could represent how our countrysides are being changed, the way the land is falling looks quite mechanical leading me to believe that the reason its falling away is do with manmade reasons.

This photo is bright but has  dark sense to it, the clouds are grey and the overall tone is quite dark, this leads me to believe that this photo is about travelling, the women holding the bags adds to this idea. As for the bubble I believe it's meant to symbolise safe traveling possibly by plan. The grey clouds show turbulence and the bubble the plane. 

This is an incredible image as, the editing is just simply incredible, the two houses are almost directly opposite each other. The tone of the image is dark and cold, this adds to the photo as it is quite clearly cold, the photo does actually make you feel a little cold, it is a powerful image that uses some of the formal elements to create an atmosphere that com ease out of the photo.  

I would like to use Eriks' editing abilities in my work, it would take a long time ad a lot of effort but with the way his photos have turned out it seems to be worth it. 

Erik's work is still fun to look to look at and that's how he has influenced me, I want fun and exciting photos and i try my best to deliver that idea across my one work as well. I believe that if i can work on my editing skills i can create some phenomenal pieces such as some of Erik's, and if i can't get my editing skills to that standard, I'll do my best to create a surreal atmosphere with the camera itself. I feel as if Erik Johansson has helped me to develop my depth skills and has gotten me to think more about what I'm doing, getting the correct composition to make a good photo.

To summarise Eriks' work, I believe him to be a great artist and someone that everyone should look at for a while, its beautiful and unique, that is what makes Eriks' work so special and amazing. His work is simply incredible and he is one of my favourite artists, I really love the way he can create an atmosphere and that's why ill continue to love his work.

Artist Log - Paul Harries

Paul Harries

I find Paul Harries work really amazing, it surrounds bands that I like in an interesting way, using tone and form along with selective colour and loads more of the formal elements he makes band members come to life in front of you. Working with magazine company's such as Kerrang he's made his make on photography with 3 slipknot exhibitions and his personal work. I really love his work and find inspiring and amazing to looks at.

This photo is of Corey Taylor from Slipknot, I really enjoy this photo because i believe it was taken at the exact right moment, there are no distractions, its just the front-man at his insane best. The use of selective colour brings the jumpsuit out and in your face, the formal element colour is black and white here, it's clear crisp and an accurate representation of the fear the Slipknot masks endure.

Harries uses a lot of colour and that's what makes his work unique, above are the members of Green Day, all in black to show their equality of each other. Photographed onto a white background just leaves you with the crazed members. Each member of the band is in black, not only that but Harries has also used lighting and angles so that the hair of each member seems to look black, black and white are the main colours of this photo and it just makes it stand out a little bit. 

The use of tone brings a dramatic atmosphere to the Linkin Park front-man Chester Bennington, it's deliberating making you stare and analyse the tattoos. I really like this photo but it makes you think about the meaning behind then, the memories and feelings he has behind them really fit in with the dramatic atmosphere created by the use of tone.

This Pretty Reckless lead singer is complimented with Harries use of colour, once again he's used black, black clothes, background, make-up really brings the artist to life and as if she was standing in front of you.

I would like to use Harries use of colour in my work, to be able to sense colour and use them at the right time in the right way.

Harris has influenced my work as, it is clearly shown that his portrait work can be very useful in my own work. His portraits are rather remarkable as I believe his compassion to be incredible, he can perform great compassion on location and within the studio taking a group portrait and as a single person. I feel as if his work has been incorporated into my portraits, I tried to use similar composition.

I still really like Harris' work as I still love the music and they way that not only does he capture the artist or the band but the genre they define. I find his work to be inspirational and simply incredible, i like the photos he takes because of the people inside them, the bands are incredible and they make me love his work even more. 

Artist Log - Yuri Yasuda

Yuri Yasuda

Yuri Yasuda focuses on people in a really fun way and this is why i chose them, the creativity used to change people is amazing, playing with makeup and colours. Yasuda uses a lot of formal elements such as colour, form, movement. I like Yuri's work as I find them to be fun, the choice of people is really cool, using make-up to alter their appearance. 

In this photo i really likes the way make-up was used. There is also use of colour, white in this photo camouflages the girl to the wall and brings out her hair and bow tie as well as the make-up. I really like this photo I think it's amazing to look at and is really quite cool. 

In this photo there is a lot of colour used, pink, blue and black. the blue in the background makes the girl sit on top of the photo, there is also use of depth with the building in the background increasing the effect of colour on the girl making her even pop out of the photo.

The photo above is a weird one for Yuri Yasuda as usually there are people in their photos but no this time and that is way i chose it. There is use of form on the boots and in a weird way depth, using the boarder to make the boots feel further away. The flower adds the one sense of colour to the photo.

Above is a photo of Yuri's that uses movement, with the man in the foreground rushing around it adds depth to the men in the back ground. The use of one rectangle of colour is strange but works in this photo.

I would like to use Yuri Yasuda's eye for colour, picking out those specific bits of colour to introduce life into there work is extraordinary.

Yasuda has influenced my work as I like to think I began to think about colour and where it's placed rather than just having it involved. Although I would like to take some of the concepts such as the skull makeup and other portraits in that style.

I have began to grow less fond of Yasudas work, I still admire the way the makeup is incorporated into their work but I feel as if it's not what I want to do as much I thought in the beginning 

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.