Carly Blonski - Style Paragraphs

The first book I choose is called “Massimo Vitali Landscape with Figures”. Massimo Vitali was born in Italy but studied photography in London. He started out in the field of photojournalism but then begin to be a “Concerned Photographer.” His photos capture the public, particularly Italians and the normalities of life. He made observations about how society has a standard it portrays, and people mimic in it. All of his photos, are taking from an upper angle looking down upon the scene. It feels as though he is observing but in a slightly judgmental way because it is taken looking down upon the people. Vitali’s photos have a pastel or lighter color palette to them, however, the club scene photos are more dark than the rest. This lightness in the color of the collection, also makes it feel as though it is a little over exposed, in an intentional manner. I find the pieces to be interesting as you see that the people are just doing ordinary things but captured on the camera. Alone, I don’t believe the pieces would be a strong, but together they are stronger, because they show how people shift and move giving the pieces motion and a dynamic quality.  

The second book I choose is called “Local Objects” by Tim Carpenter. All of his photographs are created in a black and white style. The photos are also captured using a wide angle lens as everything is in focus down to the details. Majority of his photographs are of either a mostly- natural landscape (cow and crop fields) or everyday objects in a neighborhood or town. It is interesting because it is similar to what you say everyday as walking but the still photography is taken from a perspective you may miss while in motion and it highlights some of the things that people find as ugly or flawed such as cracks in the sidewalk. Tim uses these things like the crack to draw the viewer’s eyes to other parts of image, taking advantage of how peoples’ eye follow lines in the images subconsciously. He also finds ways to emphasis parts of the photos through the use of contrast. Majority of the skies of backgrounds of the images are light in color with the subject popping out darkly among its light background. His photographs are all created while he is outside as well. Taking photos outside and being observant of the little things around me and where it can lead your eye, are aspects that i will follow to replicant his style.

The last book that I choose to check out is, “Aperture” by Harry Callahan. Harry Callahan is an American photographer, yet he never received any formal training or photography schooling.  He, like Tim Carpenter, also creates all of his final photos in black and white. Harry’s photos hold an even heavier contrast than Tim’s work. There can be portions of a picture that is completely black but then have the light shine in and stand out against the dark. I really like his photos where he takes a picture of an area where people are walking and overlapping them. It makes me think about how even though so many things are the same in the pictures, the setting and the fact that people are walking, none of them are exactly the same as time has changed them and people have progressed beyond that scene they were a part of simply moments before. Even the multitude of faces of the lady in the one piece her face is changed in the photos as time and experiences affect and change her, where she’ll never be exactly who she was at an earlier time.  He will also have people in his photos as the main element and let the smooth form of humans to contrast stark and sharp backgrounds.