Comments on Photography

Gregory Crewsdon:

Gregory Crewsdon's photography was very interesting and intriguing to me. When you first look at his pictures they look like they have a "fake" or surreal quality to them, as if they are not pictures at all but rather paintings. Gregory enhances his pictures so that the colors are very bold and vibrant, which helps create that surreal look. He uses very strategic lighting in his pictures to get the mood and scene that he wants to convey. Also, his photographs are very much centered around people in situations that are not far from real life situations. The viewer is encouraged to use their imagination when they look at Gregory Crewsdon's art, to imagine what happened before and after the photo was taken.

Teun Hocks:

Teun Hocks' photography also has the sense that some of the subjects in the piece are painted rather than actual photography. His photography has a sense of humor to them, which made me very interested in the story behind the photo. For example, his piece entitled "Untitled (painting at river), you see a painter looking out at this landscape with a river and trees and grass, as if he was going to paint that light, cheerful scene. Then, when you look at his canvas he has a painting of dark mountains under a dark sky.

Jeff Wall:

It is easy to see that Jeff Wall centers his photography around a certain theme of destruction or disarray. Many of his photographs depict someone in a state where they need either help to move on or they need to reorder their lives. For example, he has one photo where it is a room that is filled with destruction everywhere. The room is dismembered and everything is thrown everywhere. There are holes in the wall and tears in the mattress. Then, you have his photography where the destruction isn't as obvious as we think it to be. His picture entitled "Adrian Walker", you see Adrian Walker drawing something and on the table next to him you see an amputated arm with the skin off and just the muscles and tendons exposed.

Cindy Sherman:

Cindy Sherman's work is different from the first three artists that I looked at. Her work dealt more with still-life's, portraits, and self-portraits. Her photo's typically involve some type of fashion that was big back in the 70's and 80's. Compared to the other three artists, her photo's were not as captivating to me because they seemed normal. Her pictures didn't seem to be redone on the computer or enhanced as much as the other three, creating a simple look to them.