The Photos I just posted are all different. La Louvre is a scenery image while the others are silhouette or portraits. The one thing that ties them all together for me is the fact that they are all every day images. My first post explained that I like art that captures the everyday act and portrays it in a different light. We all lose track of life and take things for granted- these works make you stop and think, showing the real beauty and mystery of everyday life- which is life itself. I like how each artist plays with different lighting and effects in order to give their art a little something extra.

I hope you all enjoy these images as much as I did.

-Rach

This photo is great. It captures an everyday moment in a great image. The strong contrasts darks give you the sense of darkness and thus sleep. The light only subtly outlines the figure making us feel we are watching him in his own moment. This captures a part of this man- and is a very string and incredible portrait of an unknowing subject. This man is portrayed in another light.

The artist is named Maurizio Polese, but the title of the photo and information is in another language- which I couldn't translate. Maybe you can: http://flickr.com/photos/fic82/753806936/

This self-portrait of the photographer Ed Deasy is awesome. By silhouetting himself, the main focus of the work is on the camera itself- his passion. I like the simplicity of the photo. It is as if he is taking your photographer- as he engages you. By blacking out his body, he holds some mystery to his essence, speaking only through his camera.

His website can be found at:

http://www.deasy.com/

Big Camera by Ed Deasy

Self Seeker in NYC by Tatsuya Sato

This Japanese photographer travels throughout the world and is a traveling photo-journalist.
"And through his lens the ordinary becomes extraordinary and poetic. He confers moods and emotions upon everyday subjects or scenes which he captures in a mystery of lights & shadows reflect a perspective of relationship between people, society and the natural world by internal images".

His work has a calming, mysterious feel to it. Capturing people in their everyday lives, he places his own emotion into the photo, showing that although this may be a daily routine, it can be so much more as well. We all fall into the same daily habits, thinking little of the commute to work or the walk to class. It appears that capturing this trivial, daily event, you can step back and look at it, appreciating what is around you. As Tatsuya Sato shows, these mindless activities can be transformed into art.

The website is http://www.gallerytokyo.com/index.html

La Louvre by Robert Gardiner

This photo is from an artist named Rob Gardiner. He works from a pinhole camera- giving it a 1.5-15 minute exposure time. I like his style because he combines a lot of different elements and subjects in his work. He mostly photographs scenery, but there are figures in his art as well. I like how he doesn't stick to only one subject and continues to explore.

This image of la Louvre of Paris was one of the photos that stuck out to me. I saw the Louvre when I studied abroad in France last fall (2006), and so I feel a connection with the subject matter. I like how Rob Gardiner played with the reflection off of the pyramid. Also, he combines new and old- the newly constructed pyramid with the actual building from the 12th century. The combination shows the new-age advancement accompanied by the history that makes the city of Paris truly amazing. I view this picture as a comment on history and how time elapses and changes- how design and art develop and influence each other over the centuries, how the old and the new are both equally amazing.

The web-address is: http://www.nyclondon.com/blog/

'Everything has Beauty- Just not everyone Sees it'

Photography has always interested me... the ability to capture a moment in time or even to capture something else no one sees. I feel that everything has some ascetic quality when shown in the right light. You can take a dirty, gross pile of snow found in some heap in the middle of a parking lot and easily pass by it without thinking twice. If you can really look at it in an appreciated way and find beauty somewhere in the scene, you will appreciate everything else around you. Photography also lets you make a statement on life. Although it may not be interpreted the same, the camera gives you a chance to capture the concept as well as the picture.

I'm taking this class to help me with my art. I can paint and draw, but know nothing about a lens. This will add a whole new light to my work as well as my thought process.

This is what I expect to come out of Photo I... a new way of thought for my art. I don't expect to be a master by all means, but I do expect to be better at a higher level than I am now.

The last two sentences all tie into my personal goals: to use photography to develop my art, and perhaps to find a whole new realm which I am interested in. I want to explore it as deeply as possible.

-Rach