The Inevitable Big Ups to Larry Clark

I read a statement from Larry Clark where he talks about how he didn't want to photograph kids doing drugs or having sex to make a statement but merely to document what is going on in their heads, which to his mind was just that they only think in the moment. Can't say he's exactly wrong. There is a starkness to his photos that I really dig. The first one is kind of seedy but in a strange way. It kind of seems as if Clark was just photographing the guy and not asking him to do anything in particular, but it also seems like maybe he had the guy pose for him in a certain suggestive manner. The guy in the car is great. I love his expression. Kind of fearful, kind of confused, kind of dumb. It's also pretty great that you can't see outside the car at all. Then the gun/American flag. Two things everyone loves. Again, it's the composition that really makes this one for me. The  way the American flag overheads Larry Clark, how his body is facing you yet his face is shrouded and again how you can't see outside. All pretty cool stuff. 

Abelardo Morell

Of the Abelardo Morell photos, I liked these very much. The horse photo is great, having the other horse at eye level with the prime horse. He's able to get a lot of emotion out of those old horse. Then there are these two very weird photos of a room painted over to have a city scape on it. Something about them is very cool. The picture is able to express and destroy the illusion of living in an upside down city. Awesome. The wine glass is just very aesthetically pleasing with the glass right in the center of the frame, yet the reflection in the glass and the background lines somewhat change the initial perception of the glass. Then of course the lightbulb photo, something about that one is just very weird, I find there is some kind of macabre air about it, can't quite put my finger on it. 

Melvin Sokolsky

The draw of Sokolsky's photos for me is not only the fantastic quality, but the almost subdued way in which the supporting subjects react to the primary focus. The bubble on the water has a delicate quality to it that almost lures the viewer into not being shocked into the gigantic glass bubble containing a cute French Girl. The same goes for the bubble floating over the two garçons. The way that they are looking at her in wonder but very calm wonder and the way that she seems almost to be disconnected from her surroundings (most likely due to the large bubble she's floating in). Then the photo of the girl flying above the suits and ties is great. Doesn't everyone get that feeling at those events? To just do something crazy? Preferably fly above everyone and cackle about things in French? Great touches are the table filled with people ignoring her (those snooty French) and then the people in the back looking at her with these looks of "Ah, c'est fantastique!" but a very tranquil "c'est fantastique."

Mitch Epstein

There is something vaguely menacing about Mitch Epstein's photographs. Particularly in the one heading towards the factories. It looks like you're strapped into a tram slowly and inexorably chugging into hell. And then the one of the New Orleans Police Officer has a great voyeuristic quality of not being able to see the police officer's eyes and yet having him stare past you. It's a weird relation. The gun pointing towards you adds some nice tension as does the off symmetry and lack of feeling entirely centered in the frame. The Grand Canyon one is great. I love photos of things being in really out of place locations and well, yeah, you can see what I like about the other one then. 

Lee Friedlander: Documenting the Great Nothing of America

I was lucky enough to discover Friedlander's work when I was in Minnesota. His photo's are very stark but I find an almost dead pan sense of humor in then. Friedlander is so droll and serious in his photos that I almost laugh at them. I like the mirror shot, though I wish the lighting had more contrast, the self portrait with the lightbulb covering his face is more up my alley. The "Look Smart" photo is wonderfully arranged, with the stop sign's edge hitting a tangent with the edge of the photo. In the photo with the four guys walking/strutting I love how the two closest subjects are leaning away from the camera but almost in a taunting or playful manner.  Then the shot from the car is great, giving a very strange division in the photo. It's cool for not just being a photo of the subject but also containing the artists universe (the car window) and the artist himself and the area behind him. Then the TV/Radiator shot is a perfect example of why I love Friedlander's work. The geometry is great, there is a sense of being almost crouched and crunched into the corner. The room is clearly not that appealing, and yet you have Brando driving a motorcycle towards you. The contrast of the tall thing radiator to the fat cube shape of the TV is great too. 

Slim Aarons and the Titans of Society

Slim Aarons was a combat photographer during WWII but then took the to the high life, moved to California and began documenting the socialites of the time. He says that his career was formed out of "photographing attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places." I'm a big fan of the geometry of photography. The composition of the JFK photo is great. The vertical lines of not only the post and JFK himself, but of the two other people in the background and the palmtrees, not to mention JFK standing under the wording of the cover. The Tennesee Williams one is great with background photo mimicking the bartender transaction. I like the contrast of the background photo having a cheeky priest/monk eavesdropping in while in the real life it appears that the Joe Schmo sitting next to Mr. Williams is clearly uninterested. Then the croquet shot is of course just very pleasing to look at, with the subject's cigarette at a near perfect parallel to the croquet gates (whickets? what are those things called?)

Kalle Gustafsson

Kalle Gustafsson is a photographer from Stockholm. He does a lot of advertisements. I dig the cinematic quality of his photos, many of them being in media res. The top photo reminds me of something out of Rear Window, but with a sinister Swedish twist (always a good thing). The eyes behind Senor Broodster are particularly nice.  Then the one apparently in the a pharmacy or something of the sort, there is a great sense of foreboding, with the woman holding down the sense of 50's sexy/cool. The bottom one is like Sergio Leone shooting for Gucci, I like her body facing you and her face looking to the landscape. 

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson was renowned for creating modern "street photography." I like the composition of his photographs, placement of light, relation of the subjects to the environment and the picturesque quality they have. 

Bob Gruen and the Only Band That Mattered

I have a book that chronicles Bob Gruen's entire photo career with the Clash, which covers their very first show in a ratty little punk club (hanging out with the Sex Pistols afterwards, oh well, we all make bad decisions occasionally) to their final show when they were on tour with The Who and Santana (strange?). These are some of my favorites from that book. Who doesn't love a good rock photo? I feel like Gruen has more than a few times caught that magic millisecond where everything has fallen into place, the bottom photo being a key example of that. I really love the sense of fraternity he captures in many of the other photos. Not to mention all the photo's he has of the guys just goofing around, managing to create a palpable sense of fun in many of the "downtime" photos. The attitude, the lighting, and of course the subject matter earn him a spot as one of my favorites