Photographic Strategies Photographers

Rinko Kawauchi 

Rinko Kawauchi was born in Shiga, Japan in 1972. She works in Tokyo and lives there now as well. While speaking about her art, she stated, “I feel like moving images are more like living, and photograph is more like dead”. This way of thinking led to her displaying moving images and still images on the same wall in an attempt to share the world we live in from different views. I chose the landscape photo of hers below because when I look at it, I am really drawn to the way that the different colored flowers all come together into a spiral like shape with the contrast of the tree in the center. I also feel a sense of calm when I look at this image. In my head when I think about a calm and soothing place, I picture something similar to this photo of hers. The similar color tones in this picture also help contribute to the calm feeling. However, if this same picture was taken of the same field but with much brighter colors, I don’t think the same calming feeling would be present. I also like that the front of the picture is very sharp and clear, and the trees in the back are blurrier. I feel like this change in depth makes the picture easier to look at because the main focus of the image is clearer. This was the photos by Rinko Kawauchi that really stuck out to me the most. 

                                       

Barbara Kruger

Barbara Kruger went to Parsons School of Design for a year, studied at Syracuse university for a year, and worked at Condé Nast publications at age 18.  Barbara also made book covers while working as a freelance artist. While speaking about her work she stated, “One of the reasons they’re powerful and effective is because they present a danger to our relationship to the seen world”.  Her work makes the viewers really think about the connection between the picture and the words and what those two things together are trying to tell us. 

I chose this photo of hers below because it is a perfect example of how the pictures and the words come together to send a message while being able to each send an individual message as well.  When I first looked at this picture, it was interesting to see how well the picture and the words went together to portray the same message.  The longer you look at this image the more details you find in the image that match with the words. For example, the words say, “We have received orders not to move”, and after looking at the picture I noticed the pins holding the person in a position that doesn’t allow them to move, and it also appears that the person is sitting in a position that they are giving in to what they are being told to do. This photo feels very serious because of the darker lighting, the silhouette of the person, and the bolded letters near the middle of the frame.  Barbara’s art really spoke to me but this picture really stuck out to me even more than all of her other work did

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Laura Letinsky

 Laura Letinski used to create still life photography that was influenced by the paintings of the 17th century renaissance era.  Her previous work was designed to resemble the aftermath of a meal. Laura’s work really stuck out to me because it’s very different from other types of work that I have seen before.  I feel like a photograph similar to this one requires the viewer to really think about what the photographer may be trying to say through the image. After doing some more research about her images, I read that her images are supposed to have a more melancholy and frustrated feel to them. After finding this out, I was able to take a deeper look at the photo and recognize that the wine glass was spilled and the fruit was smushed which all contributed to the melancholy feel that the art is supposed to be giving. When I first looked at the image, I only saw food and a wine glass with a white background, but the longer I looked at it the more details I was able to see that changed the meaning of the piece.  Laura's art really helped me realize that anything can be a piece of art. For example, I never thought that a pepper, a wine glass or a fruit could be a work of art until I saw her images. The white background in the image below really adds a brightness to the image which helps the viewer focus on the focus point of the wine and the fruit in the picture.