holly russell: March 2011

Graphic design by Jurriaan Schrofer = swoon swoon swoon

If anyone is unfamiliar with the website but does it float have a look. Its one of my favourite art and design websites. Good clean, simple layout and rich fascinating content. Such as this amazing work by Dutch graphic designer Jurriaan Schrofer. Swoooooooooon, so so beautiful.

project 1

Digital evolution

So here goes nothing. My first foray into digital photography. I'm a little nervous about this but am determined to get it. Its actually really satisfying to shoot digital if not a little too instant. I am what my father would call a Luddite. Continuously belligerent about new technology despite the obvious benefits. I hereby declare and end to this naive attitude and make a solemn bond and pact with myself that in furthering my digital knowledge i will strive to maintain the integrity of my aesthetic ideals. I hereby promise to not do anything I would consider lame. No lameness. Never ever.

William Eggleston - "I'm at war with the obvious"

For project one of Contemporary Photographic Ideas we were asked to select an artist from a list then make a photographic work in response to that artist. The artist I have chosen is iconoclastic American photographer William Eggleston.

The reason I decided on Eggleston is my admiration for his work and his non conformist attitude. During the mid sixties when the label of art photography was reserved principally for works in black and white Eggleston bucked tradition and chose to work chiefly in colour.   Eggleston is widely credited as a pioneer of colour photography, elevating the medium from a mainly commercial practice to a legitimate art form. In his strikingly composed photographs Eggleston utilises discerning bursts of colour to monumentalise what is ostensibly mundane subject matter.

The sometimes brash cropping and subtly oblique angles in Eggleston's work create a startling sense of alienation between us and objects which on the most part are unremarkably familiar. And yet there is incredible warmth, everything is equal in front of Eggleston's camera and therefore equally worthy of respect. Eggleston is often reffered to as having a "Democratic Camera". The important function this equalising of subject matter performs is that it allows Eggleston to capture difficult and frivolous issues in the same light. Images relating to issues such as race, death and politics are presented in the same way as say candy floss or Elvis's mustard drapes.   By imbuing his images with an almost comical value Eggleston made things digestible at a time when overt explorations of these subjects would have caused many to turn away. This astute relationship between Eggleston and the everyday is perhaps what has cemented him as one of the most influential photographers of the past century.

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Taryn Simon - An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar

Taryn Simon's exhibition "An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar" at the CCP was easily the most captivating photographic exhibition I saw last year. This series explores the psyche of a post patriot act America from the inside out. Documenting numerous secret and restricted sites, Simon raises questions of who does and does not have access to information. These questions seem particularly pertinent in light of the recent controversy surrounding Wikileaks. Her images are serious and candid yet exhibit a cinematic stillness. In this talk Simon eloquently and directly communicates the concepts which inform her work, a skill I hope to develop within the framework of my studies.

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Michaelangelo Anotonioni - Il Deserto Rosso

Claudine Doury

This work is so incredibly beautiful it makes my heart ache. French photographer Claudine Doury effortlessly navigates the sometimes hazy boundary between art and documentary weaving rich arching narratives.