Vinny Nardella paragraphs

Elad Lassry – On Onions

Elad’s style can be described as simple on the surface, complex in nature, yet clean and balanced. It may seem like nothing but some pictures of onions but when observing them, you can tell he really thought of it. When he places multiple subjects, they are balanced and strategically placed in nature. Even when he cuts into one, the flow, rhythm and balance of the shapes on the inside are visually appealing to the viewers eye compared to things that he could have photographed. He photographs close to the subject on a white background so there is no mistake what he is trying to capture. Additionally, there is no lighting issue with shadows etc. as they are balanced with lighting as well as visually. The biggest thing is that his photographs are not over complicated. There are not a lot of things going on. It is just simply his subject placed correctly and photographed. There are no distractions with lights, colors, or anything extra. While they seem simple, it does take a lot of planning and a complex thought process. It is way more than what it just on the surface.

Yann Mingard – Repaires

His photography in this book is very interesting to me. Right away it is obvious that he uses nature as his focus, and more specifically the forest scene. Something else that I notice as well his that his images are very intimate and give off a very relaxed feel. The colors are extremely natural with greens, browns and grays being used but not in a bright way but rather muted. A big thing that makes these photographs unique though is that they seem to be purposely under exposed. After more research, he completes this look by using a long exposure time and photographing at twilight with a wide lens. Looking at these photos just make me feel as though I am there staring at the forest. Something else that seems unique is that with this low exposure, you see the highlights and shapes of the branches and other details come out more which adds a bit of recognition to things that may usually be missed. This style may seem like you can just go out to a forest and photograph some trees but it is obvious that a lot of camera work and the right setting needs to happen so that it looks like Mingard’s work.

Claudia Rogge – A Retrospective

One of the biggest things that I noticed with Claudia's work is that she tends to focus on the individual and the crowd. Something else that is unique to this artist compared to the other two that I selected is the use of photoshop to manipulate the images and combine them afterwards. Something that attracts me the most is the fact that in each image there is not a single subject, even if the person is being repeated multiple times. The rhythm and flow she gives to her pieces always have my eyes moving and noticing individual things about each thing that I did not notice before. Additionally, the way that she uses lighting is very important to her piece. With the shadows and highlights she forms dramatic pieces that add a dimension to her work that gives it that extra push that makes them great. Each of her pieces is created with almost a pattern or mosaic in mind and that is how she constructs them. That makes it hers because although it is almost structured there is still enough diversity in it to make it more unique than just a pattern.