Ken Rosenthal

Found this at http://www.kenrosenthal.com/homepage.htm

This photograph is from a series called "a dream half remembered." before i realized the series it came from, it made me think of a dream-like state. i was really interested with how the trees made me think them being morphed into people. Ive been working with blur and distortion, so his work interests me to see how he uses blur to create a dream-like photograph.

Alexander Rodchenko

Found this photograph at http://www.mdf.ru/english/search/authors/rodtchenko/?letter=a&page=2

I chose this photograph because i really liked the perspective. the direction of the boat makes my eyes travel  from left to right, throughout the photo. the children's eyes are looking towards the opposite side of the photo, which makes me wonder what they are looking at.

Cindy Sherman

Found her book in the DCAD library. the name of the book is Cindy Sherman Film Stills.

 The book that i found this from, originally made me look at it because they're movie stills. video class has really made me interested in movie stills, and trying to see how i could incorporate video with my photography.  i like how the darkness and grainy the photograph is, yet you still see detail in the staircase. this photograph makes me want to see the next scene, or film still.

Man Ray

Found this photograph at http://www.lilithgallery.com/arthistory/surrealism/Man-Ray.html

What attracted me to this photograph was the shapes the different tones creates. the angle of the head and neck gives these large abstract shapes which interest me. I chose this photo because it relates to the work ive been doing recently. Ive been working with blur and trying to see how different angles of my face and body can give different feelings and moods to my photographs.his work always inspires me because he abstracts women's figures by angles and jesters theyre in, and his work is very experimental.

E.J. Bellocq

This photograph can be found at http://sexualityinart.wordpress.com/2007/09/18/bellocqs-rebellion-remembering-hidden-loves/

This series bellocq did, was about shooting prostitutes. He shot these women however they wanted. i think that the freedom of the prostitutes to do whatever they wanted for the shoot says a lot about the person. I've always been very interested in shooting people, because of everyone having a different story to tell. i think his series really interested me to view it because of that. All of his photographs from this make me ask questions. when i look at this photograph i wonder why she chose to shoot there and if that place was of importance to her.

Paul Strand

Found this photograph at http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAPstrand.htm

i chose this photograph because I like the placement of the men woman. they bring your eye throughout the photograph. they balance each other out in the photograph, though they all look different, as well as their body jesters. im curious as to why they dont have shoes on, or who the woman is, and in relationship to the men around her. i also like the repetitiveness in shapes. 

Walker Evans

This photograph can be found at http://www.anglonautes.com/voc_arts_photo_1/voc_arts_pho_1.htm

this photograph to me reminds me of the reading about "the thing itself." the two men in the photograph are whats interesting about the photograph. the way theyre dressed, and theyre expressions on their faces are interesting. they both have their eyes closed, seem to be sleeping, have their hands on their lap, and have suits on, yet they still look so different. this photograph reminds me of a photograph i took last year. the photograph i took was of two men at the train station waiting for their train, one man with a hat and the other without.. this photograph makes me think of what the two men would have looked like if i saw the two sitting on the train next to each other. 

Helen Levitt

This photograph can be found at http://graememitchell.com/blog/helen-levitt-a-film-back-kim

I love that everyone in the frame is looking at something different. the way they are positioned, and the direction of where theyre looking makes my eyes  travel throughout the photograph. i like that you cant see inside the window, passed the woman. it makes me think of unhappiness. also because everyone's expressions are serious, or not smiling. it relates to where i want my work to go because i love photojournalism, and the cultural side of it, and how people's emotions play off of their lifestyle. to me this shows that.

Francesca Woodman

Found this photo on http://artmarkets.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/francesca-woodmans-drama/

i love the curiosity I have when i look at this photograph. it asks questions, and makes me think. I wonder what the hand is doing in the frame, and why she is not paying attention to it. it makes me think of it as symbolism, like its a demon, or something dark in the presence of the woman, though she is unaware, because she cannot see it. i think this because the fingers are long and seem unhuman-like. i really like the composition, and how the direction of her face brings your eye to travel to the other side of the photograph. it makes me want to see what she is looking at. i really like Woodman's work, its very dark and moody, and i feel that my work relates to hers in that way.

WeeGee

I found this photograph from http://www.amber-online.com/exhibitions/weegee-collection

Though WeeGee shot a lot of crime scenes, and the rawness of what goes on in the real world, I still love his work that doesn't show of that. i chose this photograph for that reason. I really love this, because he captured a moment where the two people were so unaware, or careless of their surroundings. It shows two people in love, or attracted to each other, doing what they want to do, regardless of who is around. When you feel a true connection with someone, nothing else matters, and it doesnt matter who sees. To me, this is what the photograph is saying. i think what relates me to WeeGee's work is that he recorded what he saw, or what was real. Its what i try to do in my work. I enjoy discovering my subject, as it is.

Bill Brandt

All of these photographs were found from his book, Brandt The Photography Of  Bill Brandt. His book can be found in the DCAD library.

Bill Brandt's photography is one of my favorite works to look at. He's work is very diverse, ranging from landscapes, to the human figure. I chose this photograph because the scene is almost ironic. It seems so honest, as if life is always like that, but at the same time it comes of sarcastic, because its not a traditional way of seeing a family eating at the dinner table. I'm not sure how it relates to my work, but in the future I've always wanted to shoot families, and how each family lives a different way.

Brandt found it interesting how mirrors could distort whatever was in front of it. back then, mirrors could abstract the scene in ways that a camera or the human eye could never do. At the time when Brandt was doing this, he got a lot of negative feedback. People were not apposed to the idea of these women figures being distorted. Some of my favorite photographs from his work are the ones where he distorted the shapes of objects and people's bodies. I think its because it gives a dream-like feeling to the photograph. It relates to my work, because its experimental. It also directs me to where I've been wanting to go. I've always loved abstraction, and wanted to find new ways to abstract the human figure, and my surroundings.

Ray K. Metzker

I found this photograph in a book called Ray K. Metzker City Stills. His book can be found in the DCAD library.

What draws me into this photograph is the design aspect of it. i love the reocccuring shapes throughout the photograph. it keeps my eye moving throughout the photograph. It also plays a big part in time, and it being such a decisive moment. i love how the child in white fits perfectly in the black square object. it frames her, making her stand out more than the child in black. I really enjoy Metzker's work, because he tried different things, such as expirmenting with mulitple exposures, abstraction, and street photography. He knew Harry Callahan, and you can see in some of Metzker's work how Callahan affected and inspired him as a photographer. Metzker's work relates to mine, because i love to expirement with my work, and try new things.