Final Project

For my final project, I searched countless photographers for some inspiration as I am not 100 percent sure on a specific "Idea" for it. However, I have a few things I look for when I go out to photograph or things I choose to photograph as I am going about in my daily life because it catches my eye. With these in mind, I found three photographers that use some similar ideas in their own works; Robert Adams, Ron Jude and Adam Bartos.

Robert Adams:

Robert Adams was a pioneer in landscape and nature photography as he chose to photograph the American West and it's ever-changing landscape through human interaction. This relates to some of my ideas as a photographer because I myself like to photography human-nature interaction as well as urban-nature contradictions. I enjoy the juxtapositions between brick walls, metal fences and other harsh, man-made structures intertwined with branches, vines, flowers, etc. I specifically enjoy places and images that showcase the idea of nature reclaiming it's own land. For example, when abandoned houses begin to degrade or telephone poles and houses are being consumed by vines. It makes for an interesting comment on the human vs. nature battle. Robert Adams chose to photograph similarly, but instead he showed the land being altered by  human interaction and wanted to capture the beauty and essence that the landscapes still had. Robert Adams also has some of the best prints, I think. He knows how to keep tonality and contrast in harmony even in his night images. Although all of his images are striking, I personally resonate with his Cottonwoods trees project. Trees are something so simple and highly populated, they seem mundane to most people. Yet each tree is unique and I find the textures of barks and the twisting and bending of branches towards the sun to create interesting subjects just to look at.

Berthoud, Colorado 1976 from Summer Nights

Kerstin, Weld County, Colorado 1984

Longmount, Colorado 1973-4 from Cottonwoods

Ron Jude:

I stumbled upon the photographer Ron Jude on the Americansuburbx website and was intrigued by a picture I saw of fire. Upon further exploration, I found many images that I found intriguing. Ron Jude is an American photographer who worked mostly in color. As I read about his work Lick Creek Line, I started to understand his philosophy about this images. He believes that photographs are a false sense of the past and that the more matter-of-fact an image is, the more distracting. He also likes to produce "straight" photographs that he sequences in ways that give the images more meaning. He also likes to create a first-person viewing experience and tries to create images that draws in a viewer and makes them feel as If they are the "character" in his narratives. These were the main reasons I was drawn to this photographer. He made me think about my own views of a photograph and how I don't necesarily like photographs that are flooded with intellectual meaning and hidden messages. I prefer images to have a context, whether it be the sequencing or just a title that makes an image convert into a specific meaning. I also enjoyed the nature and landscape elements that he has throughout his work. I enjoy that he photographs in non traditional areas such as Idaho in the middle of winter where he follows a trapper has he coldly goes about his job. Ron Jude explores"the gray line between documentation and fiction." This quote explains how he takes images in a more documentary setting but sequences them in a more cinematic, fictional way.

Ron Jude from Lick Creek Line

Ron Jude from Other Nature

Ron Jude from Lago

Ron Jude from Lago

Adam Bartos:

The major reason why I found the works of Adam Bartos intriguing is because of his use of color, light and shadow. One thing that has always intrigued me, as well as many photographers, is how light hits a subject and creates shadows. I love looking at my dorm room around sunset because the light is directly across from my window and it creates long, harsh shadows. I also enjoy the subtle shadows an object can cast as well. I am mostly interested in how shadows from one object can appear on a different objects as well as shadows and highlights in less opaque objects such as water bottles, fabrics, etc. Adam Bartos' photographs have some play with shadows and on houses, other urban/suburban landscapes and objects. These images are the ones that intrigued me the most;

Adam Bartos from Long Island

Adam Bartos from Long Island

Adam Bartos from Travel 1980-81

Adam Bartos from Yard Sale

Adam Bartos from Los Angelos
(I mostly just included this because it reminds of the underpass in Grease where they race and I love that movie)

In conclusion:

These three photographers has inspired me to express my love of nature and portraiture for my final project as well as playing with shadows and just photographing the things that appeal to me and it will all fall together through common threads and sequencing. Here's a couple of images I have taken already as a sneak peak.

Websites Used:
http://www.adambartos.com/selection/los-angeles/
http://www.americansuburbx.com/channels
http://ronjude.com/lago
http://www.thegreatleapsideways.com/?ha_exhibit=fires-a-conversation-with-ron-jude
http://media.artgallery.yale.edu/adams/landing.php