photography research project

loretta lux

loretta lux is a german fine art photographer who is known for her surreal portraits of young children. i find her work very interesting, as she crosses the boundaries between photography and painting and uses both to create her pieces. it is often hard to tell which part of her images are photographs and which are painting. i find her photographs rather disturbing as the children are often made to look disturbing. in particular, the expression on the girl above's face is very interesting as she looks disconnected and her features do not seem to match the girly innocence of the outfit she is wearing. the composition is also very effective as the bland background and plain white dress ensure that the viewers attention is directed to the girls face and expression. i believe that lux uses surreal images and plays with emotions attached to children in order to stir up uneasy feelings within the viewers of her work. 

annie leibovitz

annie leibovitz is an american fashion and portrait photographer based in new york. she is most famous for her residencies with both rolling stone magazine and vanity fair. leibovitz's photographs are based heavily in the world of fashion and the celebrity, and her career working for two of america's premier publications mean that she has become famous for her portraits of modern celebrities. one of her most famous photographs is a cover she shot for rolling stone magazine in 1980 (above). it was the last professional photograph ever taken of john lennon before his assassination only five hours later. the picture is very emotionally moving, as it is clear from the pose that lennon and his wife yoko ono were very affectionate and close with one another. it also communicates another side to their relationship, that lennon is very attached to ono and clings to her like a baby. when recalling the shoot leibovitz is quoted as saying "you couldn't help but feel that he was cold and he looked like he was clinging onto her." 

sally mann

sally mann is an american fine art photographer famous for her black and white portraits of her children. i was drawn to sally mann because of the stark tones of her work. she uses black heavily in her compositions, using it to communicate themes about death and decay. the photographs also look very dated, and are often slightly yellow in hue to indicate age and growth. i find the compositions with her children very interesting as she does not deliver a standard family portrait instead challenging ideas of how a child should be presented. i also like the series of self portraits she produced whilst recovering from a broken back (pictured below). i find the images to be very disturbing and it is evident through the composition and use of colour exactly how distressed and upset mann was feeling when she captured the images. i think than mann's photographs are a lot more raw and gritty than either leibovitz's or lux's and are much more focused on delivering messages about human emotions and feelings.