Jacquelyn Nelson submits Isabelle Hayeur

This work is from Hayeur’s excavation series of urban landscapes. These photos are very interesting to me because of her choice for the horizon line and because the viewer is able to see multiple layers of the landscape. I love that she says that the term excavation can refer to construction because that is exactly what I see when I look at these photographs. Through natural and unnatural causes we have created layers upon layers of our landscape. Also, I feel that these photos capture time and destruction we are causing to the Earth.

Daniel Gonzalez submits Chris Jordan

Chris Jordan is best known for his large-scale photographs of consumer waste. As he has extensively explored this theme, Jordan has been indirectly labeled as a patron of the “green” movement. His photographs seem to form a dialogue with his audience; the world over exists in a consumer-based economy and our relationship to it allows us to identify with his works. He has also focused on other aspects of consumerism; his photographs of deceased albatross chicks from the midway atoll are testament to the harmful effects on other living organisms. Jordan’s compositional strategies incorporate formal elements such as color and shape which structurally organize his photographs. His ability to capture an aesthetic quality from consumer-refuse whilst communicating awareness of its effects is an impressive accomplishment.

www.chrisjordan.com/

Daniel Gonzalez submits Jerry Spagnoli

In contemporary photography many artists are beginning to rely on digital formats to create their work. Jerry Spagnoli is an American photographer who uses both modern and traditional techniques to produce his photos. Spagnoli has been using the daguerreotype process for over twenty years and has produced many interesting works using this method. He has recently helped fellow artist Chuck Close to produce portraits using the daguerreotype process. Jerry Spagnoli’s choice of subject-matter has changed very little over the course of his career. He seems to gravitate towards cityscapes and people. Spagnoli’s creative process has become one that utilizes both ends of photographic ingenuity; traditional daguerreotypes and digital based photography. It seems that his contribution to photography is important because he has proved that long-established methods of producing photographs can still be relevant in contemporary art.

www.jerryspagnoli.com/

Brianna Cristiano submits Margaret Hiden

Margaret Hiden has these lovely photographs about memories and how they fade after years. She has old photographs of the place with people and she has combined them with new photographs of the house as it has sort of decayed and the way she places them together is really beautiful. she lines them up almost perfectly and it just gives us an opening into her world and these peoples lives. These photographs show the personality not only of the people but of the home in which they lived. I am really inspired by her work.

Brianna Cristiano submits Olaf Breuning

I was at First inspired by Breuning by the complaining forest I saw in a magazine but after I looked him up online I really was drawn to the series he did called "the Marilyn's". It seems he is influenced by Andy Warhol and pop culture. What I really liked about this work was that he took something very traditional and he combined it with something that everyone is familiar with. The elegance of portraits of a women laying down is something we have seen in art history for a really long time. The mixture with that and Andy Warhol's paintings of Marilyn Monroe creates an affective spin off of the two works. Many people have tried to copy famous works of art and putting their own style on it and I think he does it successfully.

http://web.me.com/olafbreuning/photos/marilyns.html

Brianna Cristiano submits Estelle Hanania

Estelle Hanania is a french photographer the work that I was interested in was the "demonic babble" It is photographs of humans dressed like shrubbery carrying briefcases and walking together in a group. I like how natural her photographs are she uses natural light and is outside.
I was interested in the idea of her work. For me it is about a group of people blending into nature and being one with the environment. Everyone is busy with their day to day routines and busy schedules that people don't stop to enjoy the beauty of serenity and nature.
http://morepaper.free.fr/page%20portfolio/sommaire/newnew/jdcadnewnew.html

Brianna Cristiano submits Bernard Faucon

I found a book in the library about this guy Bernard Faucon I was really impressed in the way he set up his photographs. He uses these manikins in his pictures and sets them up in really weird environments. I find them humorous because the scene has real people in them as well as these dolls and It just makes me laugh that these dolls are blending in with the real people it takes a minute to decipher who is who. The environments are dramatic I think that is what makes me hold interest. With out the striking background I do not think this work would be as successful. I am not sure whats going on it wont let me add an image. If you are interested in him you should find his book in the library.

Brianna Cristiano submits Yee Ling Tang

Yee Ling Tang is someone I was looking at during our scale project. I was specifically focusing on her work "to lose the idea of dimensions". Her work for me is kind of an outsider looking in. She was from China and America was this unknown scary place. These pictures for me have a sense of curiosity to them. Almost a childlike view on the world. Even though she is much bigger than the people in the photographs the way her body language is being viewed as innocent unknowing. The layering of the photographs gives the image a surreal effect which I think makes these pieces successful.

Raymundo Torres presents Mike Ruiz

Mike Ruiz is one of my top Photographers because of his use of change. As a fashion photographer he changes the image of the subject to something different and interesting, also he is part of the investigation of the glitter.

His works are full of a sensuality and tension that make it interesting for the viewer. There is always an aspect of fun in his work and makes bold choices.

http://www.mikeruiz.com/

Brianna Cristiano submits Michele Monseau

Someone that has inspired me throughout our summer semester is Michele Monseau. She is actually an MFA graduate of UTSA and has shown work here in San Antonio. The work that I was most intruiged by is the work called Gone Again. It shows a dyptich of beautiful place with a man lying in a space where people do not normally lay and a women laying in the same place. It is interesting to me because it is so abnormal is she commenting on social norms? Why is this person laying there are they alive are they connecting with the environment? Her work raises these questions and I believe that any artists who can raise a question to the audience is a good work. It causes the viewer to interact and try to figure out exactly what they are trying to say.

Heesun Park reviews Richard Gere

Richard Gere, we known as him as actor. I was surprised when I see his work. The title " Pilgrim " He had an an exhibition in Korea , I did not see it in person but I saw few of his work from online. When I see his work I can see they are culture very well. He took all pictures in Tibet ‎, and he criticizes China over abuse in Tibet. He said China's government is torturing and killing people in Tibet. His picture are very religious, cultural, and political. I really enjoy his picture because story behind and also give inculcation.

Raymundo Torres presents Grete Stern

Her photomontage are funny, odd and powerful. What captured my eye in her work is the simplisity and the well thought photomontage. It is intreaging to me how she created tis images, how long did it take and how did she do it?

"the images capture the social identi­ty of the women who were the presumed typical readers of Idi­lio, those who would be in a position to submit to the edi­tors texts des­crib­ing their dreams. It is in only some of the pho­tomontages that the subjects are engaged in characteristi­cally womanly activities; in the majority they are seen only in terms of confronting threatening situations: dreams as the site of the rep­resentation of conflict and its attempted reso­lution, even if only absurdly. What is important to underscore here is the fact that in no cases are women seen engaged in activities that would be consid­ered unfeminine by the strict bourgeois standards of Argentina of the day (only in a handful of cases are women directly eroticized, but always in the context of their submission to a male prerogative, as in No. 16, "Sirena del mar")."

Raymundo Torres presents Henri Cartier-Bresson

Photography wouldn't be the same without Henri Cartier. His works are inspirational and informative both at the same time. He shows the instability of a community trough a beautiful picture full of emotion . I enjoy the contrasting images and the frame within a frame aspect of his works.

Raymundo Torres presents Takashi Yasumura

I am quite interested in the dynamical conversation between objects around the house hold and how their oddities separate and joins them.

Also, the simple lines and shapes that are created with the decoration are attractive to me they lure me into a peaceful place, calm and tranquil.

This work aims to express doubts about the quality of "everyday life. "Ordinary scenes, such as familiar places in the house, and the surroundings which we usually don't pay attention to, are no longer familiar sights when presented in photographs. I understand that the quality of everyday life is gone just like an illusion there. The quality I normally notice disappears in the detached photographic time frame, and that very disappearance surfaces a questionable quality of "everyday life" in my mind. I believe that photography is a means to reveal what we do not usually recognize. When I visit people, I wonder why what looks unusual to me are taken for granted as their daily affairs. What are accepted as daily practices among family members often look strange or funny to other people. Through this work, I would like to realize that the quality of "everyday life" in to me is make-believe." Canon -
With texts by Martin Jaeggi and Shino Kuraishi.

http://takashiyasumura.com/site/Takashi_Yasumura.html

Raymundo Torres presents Barbara Morgan

Delicious lighting and capturing emotion trow motion (dance) is what Barbara Morgan does.

Her capturing of living energy and movement was what captured my eyes. The energy, the movement, the space. All well organised with a hint of surprise at the end product.

“Previsualizing is the first essential of dance photography. The ecstatic gesture happens swiftly and is gone; unless the photographer previsions in order to fuse dance action, light and space simultaneously, there can be no significant dance picture."

Brianna Cristiano submits Thomas Barbey

What I found interesting about Thomas Barbey is he does not take the easy way out and resort to photo shop which many photographers do not that it is a bad thing to use photo shop but I was inspired by Barbey because he uses sandwiched negatives. He also uses double exposure for some of the effects he is getting. I really enjoyed the humor in his work. He pieces the different photographs together very interestingly. Each one captivates me in the lesson or story he is trying to portray. These photographs are intriguing because of the surreal way he places them. Each one makes me think of a dream in reality. I posted a couple of his photographs because I wanted to show you guys how different they are and I find them all really interesting. My favorite is the one on the bottom right with the man and the books it is called mind reader. Barbey is trying to say you can not read a book by its cover and you have to open your mind to the experiences that you get everyday in life and learn from them. I think it is really beautifully done the black and white the placement of the books, the man and the buildings are just perfect they make your eye go around the whole photograph.

Raymundo Torres presents Cindy Sherman

Her ability to create oddity in her art work places Cindy Sherman at a high level in the list of my favorite photographers, also, due to her self portraits in movie stills, and character representation. I enjoy the fun and serious work that she does. I believe her work is a comment on how we are not supposed to take our selves so seriously. we must make the most of each moment.

http://www.cindysherman.com/

Raymundo Torres presents Michel Campeau

I was drawn to Michel Campeau's Dark room exploration because of the simplicity of the pictures and the great impact that they have as abstract works of art.

For him this series represent the past and the process of learning. In his web page he explains the memories attached to his darkroom and all the hours spent in it, teaching or printing.

''My investigation, iconoclastic and sacrilegious, scrutinizes the “surrealizing” incongruity of darkrooms and throws the spotlight on the bric-à-brac of plumbing and electricity, the ventilation-system engines, the posted iconography, the weirdness of “planets” envisioned at the bottom of chemical trays, the splattering of silver salts, the wear of equipment and the countdown of timers that defies the disappearance of the panchromatic spectre".

http://www.campeauphoto.com/

Katelynn Skaggs submits Melissa Fleming

I was attracted to the quiet, ephemeral nature of Melissa Fleming's work. She has an interest in the ability of photography to capture the transient, and the unseen. She takes photographs at night of the ocean, an occasion in which one would scarcely be able to make out his/her surroundings but would definitely be able to sense the power of the crashing waves. The photographs, still unable to capture everything, are really beautiful. The second set of images are from her series Sea Change (bottom) in which she uses photo paper held up to the wave break, and allows the sand and water to wash over them. They make for really interesting photograms that transform into these textural, tactile images. If you are unaware of how they were made, you could gain an entirely different sense of scale. Some of her images are less captivating than others, but I appreciate how this artist works.

David Alvarez submits Sherri Nienass

Sherri Nienass's series of work entitled "The Shoppers" caught my attention almost immediately; simply for its reference to consumerism. The 'shoppers', to me, begins to comment on the sociological affects of media and consumerism on our society.

Although many of the images taken from this series seem to fall short of being nothing more than candid shots of random shoppers doing just that; there are a few that capture this raw idea of the affects of consumerism For example, the image of the two older ladies sitting on the bench facing the giant Victoria Secret ads is absolutely one of the most effect images in this series; and by far my favorite. It's slightly humorous, yet the image (to me) seems to comment on the overpowering nature of ads as they begin to invade and dominate our culture.

Daniel Gonzalez submits Todd Hido

Todd Hido is an artist who photographs American Landscapes. More specifically, he takes pictures of suburban neighborhoods at night using available light. His work is similar to Gregory Crewdsons’ with the main difference being that Crewdson creates narratives by the inclusion of figures and movie-like production qualities. Hido’s work seems to lack in any definitive narrative; they are void of people and feel very isolated. Todd Hido often takes his photographs from inside his car; this changes the dynamic and purpose of the work. As he isolates the subject-matter and shoots for long exposures the artist himself becomes isolated behind the camera. The photographs become ephemeral as they capture a moment in time that will never come again. Hido also has other works including portraits but is more known and criticized for his, often depressing, nighttime photographs of suburban America.

www.toddhido.com/