Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Scott Hazzard
This doesnt really look as good as Scott Hazzards but its close enough for me.
I felt like i had to use the street sign. It didnt go as perfect as imagined, but it still looks a little wacky.
Thursday, 14 June 2012
Scott Hazard write up
Scott Hazard born in San Diego,
California has made quite a name for himself.
A graduate of both architecture and are, Scott emerges the two together
to construct his own signature work.
The process to which Scott achieves
his photo’s is unique in itself. These
pieces of art are composed by layering images or pages. Once the layering is done the images or pages
are torn with concentric holes that add both depth and texture.
Scott’s photo’s use a series of
interesting methods to draw in and captivate the viewers. The transcendent passageways leave us
wondering just what is at the end and allows our imaginations to run wild.
Scott Hazard’s art work is
displayed in a variety of galleries throughout the USA from ‘The Second Street
Art Gallery’ in Charlottsville, VA to ‘The Atlantic Center for the Arts’.
It is the kind of Art that I
would hang in my room. At night when I
would stare into the picture just before I shut my eyes for my nights somber
and wonder where the porthole will take me tonight…….
Picture 1
This picture has a repetitive
feel to it. The feel however is
compromised by the piece of wood that holds the frames together. Clean and crisp is what we see, the perfect
box or is it. It creates the illusion
that there is something lurking beyond the frames but what we do not know.
Picture 2
Where does the tunnel end…..we
have no idea. As we look up in the clear
blue sky we are able to see a clean, crisp and calm porthole. An
escape perhaps from the world we live in to where we don’t know nor do we care
at times.
Photo #3
Perception is that of smoke
billow from a chimney on a gray gloomy day in an industrial city. Though it may look calming and natural is it
really? Where does the smoke go once it
leaves…..are we harming something far off in the distance for our own
satisfaction?
Stanley Kubrick write up
When you hear the name Stanley Kubrick
what comes to mind first off is not photographer but rather filmmaker extraordinar. Though Stanley Kubrick produced many famous
movies from Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001 Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and
the Shining to name only a few. Kubrick
did not start out as a filmmaker.
Stanley Kubrick was born on July 26, 1928
in Lying-In Hospital in Manhattan, New York.
Stanley was the first of two children born to Jacques (Jacob) Leonard
Kubrick and Sadie Gertrude Kubrick. Both
of Kubrick’s parents were Jewish but were not a religious family he never had a
bar- mitzvah and he never attended a synagogue.
As a young boy he was not at all
interested in what was going on in his local neighborhood. Then the teenage years came and Kubrick was
your typical teenager hanging out with his friends, playing baseball and
chasing girls. His friends saw that Kubrick
was a talented guy. Kubrick’s father
taught his young son how to play the game of Chess as he felt that it would be
something that Kubrick could take with him.
When Kubrick was thirteen years old his father bought him a Graflex
camera. It was that Graflex camera that set
off Kubrick’s fascination with still photography.
Kubrick was considered to be a poor
student by his father the successful Physician in the community with a meager
67 grade average. (That would be a C+
which I don’t really think is all that bad).
Kubrick often skipped classes to attend the matinee in town to catch a
double feature. Kubrick’s father knew
that his son was capable of much more and was disappointed at his failure to
achieve excellence in school. Despite
his father encouraging Kubrick to read he had no desire to do so but one thing
his father did allow was time for Kubrick to take photography to a whole new
level. Kubrick was chosen as the
official school photographer for one year while in high school.
When Kubrick graduated in 1945 it wasn’t
easy for him to get into college/university.
Remember Kubrick had poor grades and on top of that there was at that
time a great demand for the admission of soldiers during the Second World War,
his hopes for a higher education were bleak.
In 1946 Kubrick enrolled in evening classes at City College in New York
(CCNY). To help pay for his education Kubrick
would play games of Chess for money.
Looks like the game of Chess he learned as a young boy from his father
came in handy in his later years.
In 1945 Kubrick sold a photograph to
“Look” magazine for $25 of a broken-hearted newsvendor and his reaction to
hearing of the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Not long after the sale of that photo Kubrick
was hired by “Look” and became the youngest staff photographer in the history
of the magazine. While working at “Look”
Kubrick married his high-school sweetheart Toba Mertz in 1948 however, the
marriage was over after just 3 years.
During this time in his life more and more he began to frequent film
screenings at the Museum of Modern Art and the cinemas in New York City. He stayed with “Look” until 1950 at which
time he left to pursue his dream of filmmaking.
Over Kubrick’s career as a filmmaker he
never forgot his roots as a photographer and would use the skills that he
acquired as a photographer to enhance each of his films. Kubrick felt that he was successful with the
scenes that he photographed because of his early years as a photographer. Being a photographer was Kubrick’s ‘set up to
movies’ and when it comes to filming well knowledge of photography is
essential.
Kubrick went on to marry wife #2 in 1955 an Austrian-born dancer named Ruth
Sobotka. That marriage ended in divorce
in 1957. Then in 1959 Kubrick married
wife #3 Christiane Harlan a German-born actress. The couple had two daughters together and
one-step daughter that Christiane had brought to the marriage. The two were married for 40 years until
Kubrick’s death in 1999. Kubrick died on
March 7, 1999 just days after reviewing a final cut of “Eyes wide shut” for his
family and the stars who appeared in the movie.
Kubrick died in his sleep of a heart attack at the age of 70. Many people believed that he worked himself
to death with the long hours he put in to get his final movie out.
Kubrick’s photographs are currently on
display at The Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Belgium until July 1, 2012. Over 10,000 negatives were viewed with only 200
photographs making the final cut to be on display. While I was in Belgium during Spring Break I
wanted nothing more than to see this exhibit unfortunately time didn’t permit
it but hopefully one day I too will be able to take in this amazing exhibit of
my favorite photographer.
SCHOOLING
Columbia University – New York
City College – New York (evening classes)
William H. Taft High School – Bronx 1946
Awards
Kubrick
never received any awards for his photography however he did receive awards for
filmmaking and those films all were shot with cameras. He received too many nominations to quote but
he did receive the OSCAR for 2001 Space Odyssey (1968) for Best Effects: Special
Visual Effects.
Equipment
Graflex
Camera – his first camera from his father.
Modified
Leica 72 (1955)
He
wasn’t really around for the Photoshop age so his work in photography was all
done with film.
When
I observe Kubrick’s photography work I see a man who was a visionary. Kubrick had the ability to reveal the dark
and twisted side of everything. An
example of this would be the glare that is shown in the shower with Rocky Giaziano;
his eyes have this dark emptiness to them that keeps you captivated.
When
I ponder the strengths and weaknesses of Kubrick’s work I would have to commend
him on his keen eye for detail. Weakness
in Kubrick’s work is a difficult one for me.
I would have to say that the fact that he ended his photography career
in Black and White and didn’t continue into the color film to me is the biggest
weakness that Kubrick had.
When
I view a Kubrick photo, I know immediately that it is one of his. Kubrick is able to capture facial expressions
and shadows in the strangest of places.
He was a man that could literally bring a photo to life. His
photographs almost seem cinematic with some being so dynamic and dramatic they
almost seem too good. Real everyday
people captured in real everyday situations are what I find to be impressive. You
ask yourself so many questions when you simply just look into the photo. You simply get lost in the moment at least I
do.
Quotes by Stanley
Kubrick
“If it can be
written, or thought, it can be filmed”
“I never learned
anything at all in school and didn’t read a book for pleasure until I was 19
years old”
“However vast the
darkness, we must find our own light”
Photo # 1 = I Hate Love taken in 1950 in New
York City (printed in Lipstick)
Ironic that a female at that time would write
such a message
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Photo #2 = Rocky Giaziano taken on February
14, 1950 in New York City
His eerie glare has me wondering just what is
going on in his head.
Photo #3 = Circus Woman with roller-skating
monkey taken in 1948 in New York City
The feeling of a Charlie Chaplin movie comes
to mind…..with a monkey on roller skates
Photo #4 = Betty Von Furstenberg taken in 1949
in New York City (studying her lines)
The women looks comfortable and at peace with
everything
Photo #5 = New York Subway taken in 1946 in
New York City (Escalator going up)
Where is he coming from or going to as New
York is a huge city
Photo #6 = Boxer Walter Cartier taken in 1948
in New York City (during one of his fights)
Raw emotion of physical damage
Photo #7 = Stanley Kubrick taken in 19 (self-portrait taken by himself)
Vulnerable yet strong
Thursday, 31 May 2012
Justin Quinell is a British photographer
and an expert on Pinhole photography.
Pinhole photography is an easy type of imaging that doesn’t use a “real”
camera or lenses. What Justin uses is
simply a dark hollow object with a hole at one end and at the other end a piece
of light-sensitive material.
The biggest thing Justin discovered by
taking this type of photo was to Quit Smoking!!
When he seen the backside of his teeth he was horrified.
Justin is a freelance pinhole
photographer. He discovered pinhole
photography about 20 years ago and has been going strong ever since. To add to Justin’s credits he holds a degree
in Fine Arts and works part-time in Europe giving lectures. Justin has also published two books.
Justin is married with two children and
lives in the UK.
Friday, 25 May 2012
Black and White (friday photo)
I'm pretty sure we were supposed to find a black and white photo online, but i really liked this picture i took so i used that.
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Shiny Object with reflective Surface (Friday Photo)
It's kinda blurry, but i saw the empty gas can i was like "perfect".
Monday, 21 May 2012
Hannah Maynard
You might one day be asked…..Who was
Hannah Maynard? Not as easy of a
question as one may think.
Hannah Maynard was a woman of independence
and amazing character. Hannah was born
in England in 1834. She met and married
her husband Richard Maynard in 1852. The
two sailed to Canada where they made their home in “Bowmansville” now known as
the Province of Ontario. They later
moved to Vancouver Island with their 4 daughters.
Hannah had learned a great deal about
photography while living in Ontario.
While living on Vancouver Island she purchased camera supplies,
photographic supplies and studio equipment.
Hannah decided to set up shop.
Hannah later became one of BC’s 1st Professional
photographers.
Hannah loved nothing more than to experiment
with every new photographic technique known.
Hannah developed her own unique and surreal vision. Hannah was a mother obsessed with her
children and loved nothing more than taking their photos. She had images of her children’s faces
crammed intone montage. One area Hannah
led in innovation was to try and photograph figures in motion. Hannah decided to sit herself on a bicycle in
a stationary position to make the illusion of movement.
Hannah enjoyed photographing landscapes
with her husband Richard. Hannah’s
passions were for much more. Hannah
loved adventurous work like photo sculptures, multiple exposures, and composite
images and of course cut and paste montages.
Hannah spent her life doing what she loved
raising her family and taking photographs.
Hannah died in 1918 in Victoria, BC.
Hannah may have passed on but her determination in innovation lives on.
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Multiple exposure
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
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