Kacee Rigsby submits Diane Saginer

Diane Sagnier is a photographer that uses natural light in her photos beautifully. She has many different collections some in fashion, some in portraits and some that make statement pieces such as the two photos I will display below. These statement pieces tell us more in each photo. The femen piece is women taking back their power that men have taken away from us.

In the femen piece she has desexualized these women by making it about strength. So as much as she is a wonderful photographer she also has a message she is putting out into the world. Each of these photos is taken beautifully, with great lighting and such clarity that bring out important details in each photo.

She uses light in different ways to highlight faces and or parts of the human body to make for beautiful photos. She seems to have a way with people, so in turn they are that much more comfortable with her and can let their true personality show in these photos.

http://www.dianesagnier.com/?page_id=64&cat=portraits

Kacee Rigsby submits Sylvia Grav

Sylvia Grav uses photographic manipulation to create dream like and or nightmarish photos. Her photos show more than just dreamlike or nightmare states, they show the emotion one might feel when stuck in said situation (walking through a living nightmare or stuck in a dream). 

Most images I see from this artist are done in black and white which give the dreamlike state a much more real representation. It pulls you into the photo as if it was happening to you, and can make you feel the terror one might feel if trapped in a nightmare. The black and white also brings out the dark and light elements of each photo beautifully, and feels as though it may not all be a bad thing.

In some photos she manipulates bodies to where they look bent and or demonic, which adds a deeper feel to the nightmare quality. Looking over her work it makes me think maybe these people started off stuck in dreams that were pleasant but the more they freaked out about being stuck in a dream it slowly became a nightmare. 

https://www.flickr.com/people/silviabmx/

Chris Gamez submits Anna Gaskell

                           

Untitled No. 4 (from Wonder series)               Untitled No. 6 (from Wonder series)

                                                Chris Gamez submits Anna Gaskell

Anna Gaskell is an American artist who focuses primarily in photography and deals with a range of similar themes and subjects. She mainly focuses on narratives and themes around preadolescence girls and fairy tales, which is most exemplified by Gaskell’s Wonder series.

Wonder is a series Gaskell created and displayed in her first solo exhibition in 1997 and focuses on different girls, all portraying Alice from Lewis Carol’s novel, Alice in Wonderland. The reasoning behind the use of multiple girls and different sized images is so Gaskell could portray Alice’s rapidly altering body size and forms through her journey. Another reasoning is how in Gaskell’s narrative, all the girls exist in a narrative timeline where there is no past or future event, only the present being witnessed by the viewers across multiple images.

The use of a fairy tale as a narrative along with recreating said narrative is fascinating to me. It’s always interesting to see how each artist’s depiction of a different idea, and the way Gaskell depicts Alice’s adventure and transformation through the photo size variations is not that unique, it is quite effective for a visual medium. What is unique and even original is the use of different models portraying the same Alice.

Another interesting variable is her concept of a narrative stuck in a single, present moment. While this may not be easy to read, this was Anna Gaskell’s first exhibition and she has grown as an artist since then. With some reworking and a clearer emphasis on the reasoning of multiple Alice’s present together, this series could become an even more unique series that is quite unique on narrative perspective.

Overall, Anna Gaskell has captivated my imagination with her unique exploration of time, narrative, and overall depiction of recognizable characters and stories. Her depiction of young women is unique and adds an element of creepiness.

Website: https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/anna-gaskell