Liam Drury's ART 240 Blog

 Ralph Gibson is an American photographer who shot with Leica film cameras. He's very well known for his many books he's made, and his black and white photos in general. Some of his images are rather sensual in nature, taking things out of context and making the viewer take a second look.  This first image by Gibson is of the inside of a rowboat. But something about the shape of it reminds me of a person's legs, almost looking like an anal shot. The way the two hands come up along the side, and the middle of the boat's bow is a bit darker really pushes this, as well as the ball sitting towards the bottom of the image. It looks like a very odd representation of fecal matter, or possibly a male scrotum. This observation is honestly unsettling, but it is what I see in the image. It definitely made me have a double take when I saw it. Something tells me he had very child like humor upon making this. This next image is a lot more tame, nicely composed with a good sense of ne...

       "Not only can art simplify in order to show what matters, but it can also often show us things previously unseen; art shows us more." (Leslie 36) Was the first quote that stuck out to me. This quote however is not necessarily true. Sure, in the most honest and wide range sense can art show the bigger picture, but artist also have the ability to crop out and filter unwanted things from their works, thus displaying a false truth. The use of selectively documenting specific aspects of something in general can be seen as untruthful, or deceitful. There is an attempt to hide something, to write a specific narrative, even without the photographer being conscious about it sometimes.    " Art persuades, in part, by evoking emotions and feelings. The emotional impact of art can influence and communicate just as effectively as spoken, elucidated ideas." (Leslie 39) This quote, I agree with entirely. It's sort of like racing a car with music on, changing how ag...

  Self Portrait Photography is extremely common among photographers. Of course it isn't like just a selfie where you take your quick photo with your arm stretched out. A self portrait defines what a photographer is. It shows who the person behind the camera is, and how they wish to display themselves. I for example, have a poor sense of humor, so I placed myself in front of this water spout in front of my crotch. I figured it would reflect my attempts at being "a funny individual." The top image is a bit more serious. My face is of course obstructed by the camera. Perhaps I just see myself as the camera...

 Paolo Pellegrin's of the construction of the new Audi E-Tron really interested me. How he was able to beautify the process of automobile construction is spectacular to me, especially as a car enthusiast. His images all have a specific feeling to them, a deep sense of contrast, even when capturing in color. He mentions his interest in photography that is unfinished, and I feel like this project reflected that through another piece of art, the automobile. This first image displays the painting operations of the body of the vehicle. It shows the very human like arms spraying, and the beautiful lighting of the paint booth to catch any imperfections of the paintwork on the car. This is probably one of my favorite images. The beautiful bare metal, displayed in an almost erotic lighting. The contours of the body lines are very pronounced by the way the light hits the door, definitely something being done intentionally.  This last image uses reflections, matching colors and shapes, f...

Michael Kenna, an English Photographer is well known for his black and white images, often times taken at dawn, dusk, or night. His images often have very high contrast, while still featuring a wide variety of greys in-between. This image in Japan demonstrates Kenna's impressive printing/processing abilities. The subtle contrast between the sky and snow is still present while maintaining the strong silhouette of the tree. His use of rule of thirds in this image is fairly satisfying. This image is almost painterly in a way, especially with the amount of control he has over shading.  This Japanese city skyline captures the heavy light pollution in a pretty way. Each of the buildings have their own shades of grey, again showing Kenna's outstanding ability to process images in the dark room, as well as his ability to properly expose to begin with. He's clearly in complete control of his prints. The darkest/tallest building is centered near the right third of the frame, nicely s...