Ali Style Paragraphs

Hank Willis Thomas : Pitch Blackness 

- Hank Willis Thomas is an artist from New Jersey who was born on 1976. He graduated with a bachelors from NYU in Photography and Africana, and completed his masters at the California College of Arts. The focus of his work is to raise questions about the place of African Americans in American culture. In fact, all of his works have these themes of race, consumerism, and pop culture in them. And although he is a capable photographer, it is his frequent use of appropriation that has brought attention to his work. He borrows heavily from advertisements and mainstream images, such as logos, to help provoke thought about his images. The best examples of this are seen in his Branded and Unbranded collections. In Branded, you see prominent American brands combined with violent imagery to create what are basically advertisements about modern slavery. On the other hand you have Unbranded. In Unbranded, Thomas appropriates advertisements starting from the 1960s and simply removed the logos and text. In these images you can see how African Americans have been typecast into certain roles. As I mentioned, his works have strong themes of race and advertising in them. They aren’t subtle, and because of that it's easy for any viewer to form strong opinions on them. 

Larry Sultan : Here and Home 

- Larry Sultan was born on 1946 and died on 2009. He was a photographer from the Santa Fernando Valley near Los Angelos. Though he majored in political science at UC Santa Barbara, he ended up pursuing photography in the seventies. Sultan aims to capture the essence of everyday suburban American life into his works. Almost all of his photos are either in one’s home or in their yard, making the viewer feel somewhat intrusive. He only used natural sunlight, giving his colorful photos a golden hue that is distinctly California. Though his photos may seem like candids from a documentary, he actually meticulously posed and cropped his subjects and their surroundings. This has given many of his works a feeling of subtle narrative. It was very important to him that his pictures were close to being both reality and fantasy. Throughout his career, he only used one camera, a Pentax 6 x 7 with Kodak Portrar film. He developed all of his shots himself, contributing to his distinct look. Whether he was photographing his parents, porn sets, or migrant workers, his style was consistent and distinctly Larry Sultan.

Giuseppe Ripa : Liminal 

- Giuseppe Ripa is an Italian artist who was born in 1962. He graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Milan, where he still lives and works. He first publications came out in the early 2000s, so he is a rather recent photographer. Ripa felt that conventional photography had made us slaves to that type of imagery. He felt that his work should be different. He wanted the viewer to feel as if they had closed their eyes to feel something unique. To do this, all of his images are in black and white, with some of them inverted. The focus isn’t always sharp and there is often motion in his pictures. Many of his photos have no defined subject. I think the best way to describe his style is abstract minimalism. Yet with his odd take on photography, he felt that location was still extremely important. His shots take place in recognizable places from New York City to the Towers of Babel. His photos aim to make the viewer feel mood without there being a clear reason why.