Taylor Mazzarella Style Paragraphs

DARIN MICKEY

Darin Mickey is a professor at The International Center of Photography and is a professional photographer from New York. His book “Death Takes A Holiday”, showcases various record stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. These shops are home to mountainous amounts of records from the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s. The records he is photographing, as well as some people who own the stores and various dust covered items, are clearly of a vintage decent. Many of the subjects of the images are dust covered or tattered and laying around in boxes. His photographs are meant to show the viewer the obsession and passion behind the records in question, and the sequence of the photos within the book are meant to encapsulate the nerves of the older men sprinkled between the photos of dust covered boxes and their desire to go back to the eras in which the music was created. His style of photographing involves storytelling, as he has done with other works that revolve around the connection between the viewer and the subjects of the photographs. He successfully accomplishes this because of the sequence of the images. After many images of boxes and shelves, a man appears looking slightly distressed or distracted, and then again the men are followed by more boxes and older technologies. This back and forth creates a connection between the two subjects, and this connection can be felt by the facial expressions of the men as well as the vintage quality to all of the objects within the pictures. All of the images are very static and on the surface appear to be insignificant due to the subject being older but not as interesting as well as the images of the men seem to be taken quickly because of their facial expressions. If I were to replicate his style I would choose to do so by finding a subject matter that holds a minor story that can be expanded upon, meaning choosing something that can appear simple/static alone, but in sequence, has meaning.

AMY BLAKEMORE

       Amy Blakemore is a photographer from Texas who has been featured in many exhibitions (including: Museum of Fine Arts, and Core Project). Her works range from still lifes, portraits, and landscapes and the quality of her images are dreamlike and hazy. The images feel crowded and blurry but not cramped. Although the subject of the photograph occupies the space of the composition it does so in a unique way that creates the illusion that there is more to see by the viewer. Her dreamlike quality is because she uses film and distorts the lens in order to create a haze in print. The subjects of her work also aid to this dream quality due to their suspension in time. Pictures of people are blurry and feel fleeting. This is due to the framing of the image and the haziness of the image. The landscapes that she photographs seem peaceful and at rest even if they contain a living subject. Often these landscapes are suburban or rural with resident apparent if not outright shown. She creates an earthy feeling to her photographs and although she is telling a story with her work that can be ominous, she creates feelings of peace and contentedness with her images. If I were to recreate and add on to her collection I would do so by imitating the haziness/blurriness of her images. This is the most prominent unifier within her work. I would also minimize my subjects to the rural life of state college and the residents within it. This would include cars parked on side streets, or even bunnies in front yards. I find her work interesting because of the nostalgic feeling that they encompass.

       NEIL WINOKUR

      Neil Winokur is a photographer from New York who started out as a mathematician. Later he found a love for photography when he borrowed a film camera from a friend. Although his work first started as solely black and white images, his work now is very different. They contain vivid color and lack the dimension that black and white provides so effortlessly. His images are of a single subject that is posed in a studio. The subject’s photo is taken with a DCLR camera and they are either facing the camera (in the case of the furry friends that he enjoys photographing) or placed in the center of the composition (such as the trinkets and toys that he often photographs). The subjects of his work are not exactly everyday objects but things that are easily recognizable to the viewer and maybe even nostalgic to them. His photographs also include some portraits but these bear in comparison to the amount of toys that he photographs. The uniqueness of his work comes in with the environment of the subject. They are placed against a vibrant and colorful background and are centered, as if they are a still life instead of a live object. He also juxtapositions his portraits of people and animals next to that of plastic toys or food. This persuades me to believe that he is attempting to create a narrative of reality between the photographs and the viewer. If I were to recreate his work and add on to his book of “Everyday Things”, I would set up a studio where I could set up subjects such as foods, or trinkets and could photograph them against a bright and bold background. I could also introduce more portraits into the mix in order to mimic the juxtapositioning that he does so well.