Life, Love and Death: The work of Adam Fuss
Peanut butter and jelly, a common combination of two separate entities, most people have heard of this duo, many enjoy it, but only one manufacturer packaged them together in a handy snack. Much like the tasty treat that is Goobers is the tasty duo of Adam Fuss and Roland Barthes. Two separate men, Adam Fuss and Roland Barthes put together in one reading, complementing and accentuating each other. Fuss and Barthes, they share an interest in photography, they share an interest in the foundation and principles of photography, more over they share an interest in photography that is deeply personal. Fuss takes the camera out of photography. Barthes takes photography out of art. Both men want to get
…show more content…
“The Photograph’s essence is to ratify what it represents” (Barthes, 1981, 85). This idea is the foundation upon which Adam Fuss has built his career. From childhood to his most recent works Fuss has created photographs that are statements of being. These photographs do not hide what they are; they are bold in their content, yet subtle in creation and meaning. The theme of life and death is woven into the whole of Adam Fuss’ work, in his earliest childhood photographs, his early pinhole camera prints and his extensive body of photograms. This theme seeps into his work through the method as well as the material, through the studium and the punctum (Barthes, 26).
If the photograph’s essence is to ratify what it represents, then the photogram’s essence is to ratify what it is. The photogram, by its nature is an index of a thing; there is a one to one ratio between the subject and the photogram. There is no way to enlarge or reduce the size of a photogram because each piece is unique, unlike camera and film photography that can be reproduced without end. Fuss’ early photograms, made between 1988 and 1992, deal with water and its movement, rippling water, a few beads, a bucket of water crashing down on the paper surface and the wake of a snake’s movement. Water is not only a symbol of life, but the water in these photograms is in motion, alive in its activity. An
After viewing these six pictures, I consider that it is almost impossible to feel sad or depressed when looking at Elliott Erwitt work. Finally, the essay will be finished by mentioning a quote of him that I believe perfectly represents what photography is about and how it reaches out to most people: "It's about reacting to what you see, hopefully without preconception. You can find pictures anywhere. It's simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them. You just have to care about what's around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy.
In “Ways of Seeing”, John Berger, an English art critic, argues that images are important for the present-day by saying, “No other kind of relic or text from the past can offer such direct testimony about the world which surrounded other people at other times. In this respect images are more precise and richer literature” (10). John Berger allowed others to see the true meaning behind certain art pieces in “Ways of Seeing”. Images and art show what people experienced in the past allowing others to see for themselves rather than be told how an event occurred. There are two images that represent the above claim, Arnold Eagle and David Robbins’ photo of a little boy in New York City, and Dorothea Lange’s image of a migratory family from Texas; both were taken during the Great Depression.
Winogrand took photos of everything he saw; he always carried a camera or two, loaded and prepared to go. He sought after to make his photographs more interesting than no matter what he photographed. Contrasting many well-known photographers, he never knew what his photographs would be like he photographed in order to see what the things that interested him looked like as photographs. His photographs resemble snapshots; street scenes, parties, the zoo. A critical artistic difference between Winogrand's work and snapshots has been described this way, the snapshooter thought he knew what the subject was in advance, and for Winogrand, photography was the process of discovering it. If we recall tourist photographic practice, the difference becomes clear: tourists know in advance what photographs of the Kodak Hula Show will look like. In comparison, Winogrand fashioned photographs of subjects that no one had thought of photographing. Again and again his subjects were unconscious of his camera or indifferent to it. Winogrand was a foremost figure in post-war photography, yet his pictures often appear as if they are captured by chance. To him and other photographers in the 1950s, the previous pictures seemed planned, designed, visualized, understood in advance; they were little more than pictures, in actual fact less, because they claimed to be somewhat else the examination of real life. In this sense, the work of Garry Winogrand makes a motivating comparison to Ziller's
In his introduction of the paper he grasps the reader’s attention by using emotional words that create a sympathetic image to show as if the photo wasn’t available. Furthermore, rhetorical analysis of the photo is its appeal to pathos for the audience. The photo gets you to feel a sense of distress for the person falling to his death in the photo. The photo also appealed to ethos to a point. It makes you question whether taking the photo was ethical on the photographer’s part.
Uelsmann’s work was not well received in the photography community. His creations were not considered photography; however, he was well received in the art community. John Szarkowski hosted a solo exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in 1967. Uelsmann was considered “iconoclastic” and “set out to convince critics that photography offered alternatives to the conventional “purist” sensibility…” Uelsmann debated that photos could “evoke elusive states of feeling and thinking triggered by irrational and imaginative juxtaposition” (Kay). Uelsmann has succeeded in finding a following among photographers and artist alike. In the past forty years, Uelsmann’s work has been exhibited in over 100 solo shows throughout the US and overseas. He has permanent instillations in museums worldwide (Taylor). Uelsmann’s photos are now revered for their original technical form as well as their surreal matter (Johnson).
The documentary What Remains follows photographer Sally Mann’s life over a span of five years as she balances being a mother, wife and photographer. In the film viewers are able to get an intimate glimpse of Mann’s creative process as she captures various images of her loved ones, landscapes, and even a new series that explores death. In this paper I will discuss Mann’s work detailing the criticism it receives as well as how my experience as a novice photographer parallels hers.
In John Berger’s essay “Ways of Seeing,” he shares his view on how he feels art is seen. Mr. Berger explores how the views of people are original and how art is seen very differently. By comparing certain photographs, he goes on to let his Audience, which is represented as the academic, witness for themselves how art may come across as something specific and it can mean something completely different depending on who is studying the art. The author goes into details of why images were first used, how we used to analyze art vs how we do today, and the rarity of arts. He is able to effectively pass on his message by using the strategies of Rhetoric, which include Logos, Pathos, and Ethos.
The essay will make use of the works of photographic artists who engage in one of the two schools of photography, Pictorialism and Modernism. The artists that will be used for this essay are Paul Strand who has been selected for the Modernist development together with a Russian artistic photographer Alexander Rodchenko and As White remained rooted to Pictorialism, his stance on his methodology and set up in the 1920s and 1930s led to occurrence of the stirring up of quite a number of understudies to handle his visualization style which was fresh and innovative (White, Clarence H., Jr. and Peter C. Bunnell 1965). In the process of talking about the two schools of photography, Pictorialism and Modernism rather than focus on the clash and disagreements that occurred from Pictorialism and Modernism it is more suitable to examine the merits in both the method and styles used in the two schools of
Each one brings something a little different to the table, keeping creativity alive. There is something to be said about an artist who has the ability to strip someone of all things superficial, and capture the root of their spirit. To me, there is nothing more beautiful than a photograph that speaks truth. Photography is one of the best forms of story-telling and the works of Leibovitz, Avedon, and Mark never cease to do just that. The daring traits that all three of these masterminds possess is what gives them the power to create shameless and provocative pieces that are both world-renowned and highly-respected. Without artists like these, the art world would not survive. Among the plethora of repetitive and monotonous works created daily, you need a Leibovitz, an Avedon, and a
Thorough research of the works and techniques of Tina Barney and Elliott Erwitt led me to a simple conclusion: their art is simple and meaningful but, meaning is what an observer makes of it. What does this indicate one might ask? It means that although they both have very distinct ways of taking a photograph their common goal is to evoke emotion in their observers. Elliott Erwitt put it in the simplest terms when he said, “I think you should just look at the stuff and if it enriches you in some way or knocks you out, that’s all you need” (Danziger 89).
A painterly quality with an otherworldly aesthetic is what set pictorialism apart from other photographic practices at the time. This notion of perfection is what really captures my attention. What I find quite interesting is that looking into this aesthetic every man
The violent markings of the photo album and its images, however, produce an equally powerful message that jars the memory as it disrupts and distorts the photographic chronicle of her life and that of her family and friends. The result is a complex visual experience that addresses the use of images in producing knowledge and making history.
The works ‘Blaze’ and ‘Fragment 1/7’ by Bridget Riley and the work Six Geometric Figures (+ Two) by Sol LeWitt all share many aspects of art in common however they are very distinct in terms of the different materials, techniques and the emotions they provoke. Though the artworks can be looked at in different ways, these are all pieces that at first are perceived to mean nothing, but it is evident what the aim of the artists is after an indepth view.
The humanistic-existential perspective is both a reaction to and an outgrowth of the psychodynamic perspective. These thinkers refer to psychodynamic theory as inadequate, many were repulsed with its tendency to break down the "whole" person into discrete components, and, the idea of adapting to one's society, however questionable its values. Most importantly, they disagree that human action is beyond the individuals control, in fact they believe that if we could develop with out constraints, we would be rational and socialized. Humanists and existentialists also think psychology should be converted into a human science, different from psychological theories with more focus on natural science.
In John Berger’s essay “Another Way of Telling,” Berger argues that photographs contain a “third meaning.” Berger claims that the third meaning is personal and relies almost completely on the individual viewer. As a result, no photograph can convey the same message to any two people and no two photographs can convey the same message to any one person. Here, the validity of Berger’s assumption crumbles. All photographs communicate one absolute truth.