http://brookeshaden.com/
She is a fine art photographer living and working in the Los Angeles area. Her passion lies in creating new worlds through photographs. Her vision extends beyond the realm of the camera, creating images that resemble paintings and speak of an era that is not our own. Each image is a story. Brooke has been said to encapsulate a new way of creating imagery for our time and has "...dramatically restated a new photographic feminist agenda for the 21st century." Her use of the square format and heavy texture work to create a painterly aesthetic is redefining the boundaries of photography. With these tools at hand, she creates new worlds through her images.
I chose this image from Brook Shaden because I am really into alternate realities or fairy tale aspects. She talks about how her work places herself within worlds she wishes we could live in, where secrets float out in the open, where the impossible becomes possible. I really like the two images of the girl in the red cape because it looks like a twist on little red ridding hood.Josephine Wall
http://www.josephinewall.co.uk/
Josephine works mostly with acrylic paint, which allows her to paint quickly, and to create many textured and colourful effects. She has been influenced and inspired by the illustrative talents of Arthur Rackham, the surrealism of artists such as Magritte and Salvador Dali, and the romanticism of the Pre-Raphaelites. This combined with her own imaginative ideas has led to a wide and varied range of work. Her work has always covered a wide range of subjects, since moving into the world print market, she has produced works with a distinct ethnic flavour and images of many favourite stories and fables. Her fantasy work remains most popular, many containing hidden images or faces, which has become a trademark.
I chose Josephine Wall because I am a big fan oh her work. I have several copies of her work. I guess you could say that as a kid her work was my escape from my own reality, much like children books are. I could spend hours looking at her stuff, only to find a few new things, come back and find something else hidden amongst other objects.
Mierswa-Kiuska
http://coilhouse.net/2010/08/modern-mucha/
A collective project by two photographers, ANDREAS MIERSWA AND MARKUS KLUSKA SINCE 1997 They originally worked with still life and now work with a wide range of photography. In this case they was successful in replicating Mucha’s ornate style though when juxtaposed with a flesh and blood person some of his trademark design elements can seem a bit jarring.
Andreas and Markus’ portfolio had something that was often lacking in many photographers books: a clear, universal, consequent and uncompromising picture language. With their strong continous style, they underlined the fact that they themselves considered their work as “cool“ and that they were not willing to yield to often changing superficial trends or would produce whatever the market demanded for.
I really liked these remakes of Alphonse Maria Muchas work. I think that the main reason as to why I am drawn to them is because they have this fantasy element without screaming fantasy. Plus I just did this whole series in color theory that has a girl with long flowing hair like the figure above. It has the princess elements but can also be a different fantasy like character.
Tina Cassati
http://coilhouse.net/category/photography/page/6/
Tina Cassati makes costume, ruffs, hats-, bags- and shoes objects (Salone di Pessa- Recycling Couture Art) into modern surreale photo worlds. Tina Cassati is very inspired of historical and particularly of Elizabethan costumes, eastern clothes, fairy tale, folklore as well as from the picture language of the Renaissance. " LES of COSTUMES GROTESQUES" is an homage to the Fashionartist Elsa Schiaparelli. This was and remains the bird of paradise under that Paris Couturiers. Elsa Schiaparelli, friend of the Surrealisten and Dadaisten and even designer of wondrous works of art from material, imagination and inspiration to surprise loved it to shock, in being astonished to shift.
I chose this image because of the photo manipulation. I like the exaggerated feature in this image. It takes the image to a new height, i think that it gives her images a stronger appeal. I also think that the images a do a nice job of playing off the bird, even though the bird does not appear in all of the images you can see the influence.
Alphonse Maria Mucha
He is most often remembered for the prominent role he played in shaping the aesthetics of French Art Nouveau at the turn of the century. As a struggling and relatively unknown artist of Czech origin living in Paris, Mucha achieved immediate fame when, in December 1894, he accepted a commission to create a poster for one of the greatest actresses of this time, Sarah Bernhardt. Though the printer was apprehensive about submitting Mucha´s final design because of its new unconventional style, Bernhardt loved it and so did the public. ´Le style Mucha´, as Art Nouveau was known in its earliest days, was born. The success of that first poster brought a 6 years contract between Bernhardt and Mucha and in the following years his work for her and others included costumes and stage decorations, designs for magazines and book covers, jewellery and furniture and numerous posters.
Though I like the new versions of this work, I can not help but look at the original. It is clear why some one would want to re create this image. She looks like she is sitting in an alternate reality, one in which she has total and complete control over. Something that most of us dream about.
Nigel Cox
Painting primarily on linen, he builds up thin layers of oil paint, developing depth and detail. The resulting paintings are smooth to the touch and seem to glow with an inner light. "My love of large open spaces and lack of clutter is obvious in my work but I am also fascinated by detail. These opposing elements are merged in my paintings in a style which I call Photorealistic Minimalism.My paintings provide the viewer with a glimpse beyond the clutter of everyday life, conjuring up notions of escape and peace, offering sanctuary from the frenetic world outside." The figures are alone but not lonely; searching but not anxious, anticipating yet calm. They have an inner peace and strength and are at one with their surroundings. The paintings reflect solitude, tranquillity and confidence, giving every day scenes an unexpected and surreal feeling while keeping them solidly within the real world.
One of the main reasons that I gravitated towards this image was the girl to me looked like a character from a childrens novel. One that seem to be in her own world, a world in which is blank and open to whatever she may want to make it into. It also reminded me of alice in wonderland, only instead of finding herself in a new strange world she has found herself in a black world.
Jim Kazanjian
http://www.thephotoargus.com/inspiration/the-haunting-photo-composites-of-jim-kazanjian/
His images are digitally manipulated composites made from photographs found online. Currently, he has a database of over 26 thousand high resolution photos in his collection. "The number of found images I work with in a piece can vary from 12 to 30. On the more complex pieces I’ve used upwards of 50. I generally sample sections from photographs I find interesting and use them as building blocks. I assemble these “blocks” together in Photoshop to create a nonexistent space that mimics a photograph. I do not use a camera at any stage in this process."
This interview with him intrigued me because I found it weird that none of the images that he uses are ones that he photographed. It always astonishes me when people can make something new and interesting from someone elses work, i bet the original photographers nevere would have thought that their work would be turned into something like the above image.
