Jul 25, 2013 | art history, painting, photography
Thomas Eakins lived from 1844-1916, and spent the majority of that time as an artist – painting, photographing, sculpting, and teaching others the craft. He was an American realist painter whose style is remembered for its loose, rich color. Eakins used photography, still a relatively new technology at the time, to study the details of a body in motion as it travels through space – a practice now regarded as one of his most important innovations.
“Strain your brain more than your eye… You can copy a thing to a certain limit. Then you must use intellect.”
-advice to his art students; quoted in Lloyd Goodrich, Thomas Eakins (1933)
Photography
Motion study: Male Nude, Standing Jump to Right, 1885.
image source
Motion Study: George Reynolds, nude, pole-vaulting to left, 1885
image source
He explored the heart of American life through portraiture, but didn’t receive recognition until late in life because of his role as a controversial figure when it came to the sexes. His studies of the male nude were often regarded as homoerotic, and later made him a major figure of art historical sexuality studies in the 1990s.
He insisted on teaching men and women the same way, using male models in female classes and vice versa, but was also accused of abusing female students. The scandals cut his success short, and his influence in the history of art was only realized after his death.
Painting
For more info about Thomas Eakin, see the artist’s Wikipedia page.
Jul 19, 2013 | interviews, photography
Sarah Rosado uses dirt as a medium, perfectly molding piles into compelling shapes. Each design seems to play with the fact that the material it’s crafted from comes from the ground, either morphing into plants and animals as natural as the ground itself, or running the opposite way and becoming objects of pure human-made materialism. Her work is so whimsical and clean, the mulch laid is against a pure white in contrast so sharp it’s harmonic.
Sarah’s artistic creations started with pencil on paper, but quickly turned digital and now she works in photography as well as design. All of her work emphasizes keeping all types of interpretations open, so that each image can mean as much as possible.
Read what Sarah had to say about her work in the interview below!
Where do you get the dirt you use in your photographs?
I get the dirt for my photographs by scooping dirt from the ground in the parks.
For you, what is it about dirt that makes it the perfect medium to create from?
The challenge to me is tossing this pile of dirt on the table and bringing it to life by carefully shaping it into the selected object. It’s a great medium as the dirt sways anywhere you take it. Of course, it’s not easy, it takes practice and having the artistic skill to draw is helpful in maximizing the output of the image.
How much of the creation process happens after the photos have been taken, and how much of it happens before? (do you make the shapes perfectly out of dirt or edit the shape to perfection digitally later?)
The creation process is uniquely custom made. Everything is handmade using different tools to obtain the desired shape and accessorizing with items found around the house. After that’s done the photo is taken. There is no cropping, or digital enhancements before or after. It’s all real.
What’s your favorite (or a couple of favorites) photograph you’ve created? Who are your art idols?
My favorite photographs are the smoking revolver, little duckling and the tuxedo which I had lots of fun creating. It’s hard to choose a favorite among so many great artists.
See more of Sarah’s work on her website.
Jul 15, 2013 | photography, surreal
The jaw-dropping effects that photo-manipulation technology allows for kind of takes my breath away. Especially the works by Erik Johansson, a photographer and retoucher from Sweden who’s currently working in Berlin. He sees photography as an outlet that allows his ideas to be fully realized, trying to make each image look as realistic as possible.
“I don’t capture moments, I capture ideas,” he says. “I get inspired by things around me in my daily life and all kinds of things I see.”
Watch Erik’s TED Talk for more:
For more of Erik’s work, see his website.
Source: Visual News.
Mar 15, 2013 | photography
Dave Engledow is recording his daughter’s childhood in a way more creative than most, but then again he is a professional photographer. He calls this series World’s Best Father, and manipulates pictures of him and his daughter doing dangerous things together – the kinds of things people call Child Protective Services about as soon as they’re out the front door.
Keep an eye out for his not-so-deserved World’s Best Father mug that makes an ironic appearance in every scene.
His tiny daughter Alice always has the most adorable expression on her face, while Engledow’s is purposely overdramatic and hilarious, wide-eyed in wonder or weeping like a sad clown might. He endearingly calls her by her full name, Alice Bee, on his Facebook page and writes, “I love photography, and (to paraphrase Garry Winograd) my main drive to shoot is fueled by my eternal curiosity to see what the world looks like in photographs. I am fascinated by light and shadow, form and shape, lines and composition.”
Alice always looks like she’s having a good time though, except in scenes where she’s forced to do chores or fulfill her father’s expectation to raise an Olympic swimmer. Her bright blonde hair is always styled to fit the part too – tied up in cute little buns and ponytails on top of her head, and extra wild when she’s on the loose.
The manipulation on the photos matches the detail put into comprising the scenes too, often with a shiny surreal sheen over them that somehow just makes the scene look more realistic. In one photo he’s scolding her through an iPad even though he’s right across the couch, but Alice doesn’t care because there’s no way she’s eating those peas.
Images from Joe’s Daily, and the artist’s Facebook page. Like his page to keep updated on Alice’s new adventures.
