Hamish Fulton’s book “The Way To
The Mountain” has a very distinct style.
The way he composes each image builds to give the sense of wandering. As he walks though Portugal, we get to see striking
images that give a feeling of longing.
The subject of the images is as much about him as it is about the
landscape.
Throughout
the book we see the almost every image is dissected in half with the horizon
line. This makes the image very
flat. Also he uses the roads to lead
your eyes into the image. The roads fill
the bottom of the frame making you look at the road as if you where walking on
it, placing you in the scene in every image.
Next he photographs as if he just saw it and took the frame instantly. He doesn’t take the time to wait for the
golden hour; he presents the landscape as it was at that moment, not how it is at
the time the light would be best.
All these
things are designed to help bolster the subject in the image, or lack there
of. Each image is created to showcase
this walk through Portugal, the ultimate subject being Portugal. How ever the feeling I get from the way the
book is composed is that the subject is his walk, and how lonely the journey
is.
These
combined factors make his images unique to him and how his compositions make
you feel as you look at the image create a forceful and unique style. That fact that he used his walk across
Portugal to create these images, and the feeling of a lonely journey really
unifies his work.
The “Waters
Edge” by Callahan is photographed very differently than “The Way To The
Mountain.” This book has a completely unique composition. These images are more of the minimalist style,
and their beauty is in their simplicity.
The images of the dunes accentuate their curves and the textures of the
sand. Thus, making an other wise simple image very sophisticated. When people are in the images they are the subjects
unlike when they are not. He very
carefully frames the people against pure sand or a foggy solid background in
most of his images containing people.
The subject
in his images is the beach and the people occupying the space. The people who are on the beach as well as
the sand fascinate him as well as the landscape the sand creates. His images are unique because of the
unification of how the people are framed in the images. The great care he takes
in bringing out the texture of the sand and curves of the landscapes are
factors that make Callahan’s work his own.
“Light
Warriors” by Joyce Tenneson was the only book I chose where the images where produced
in a studio. Her images are focused
around the women in the frame. She uses
a black background with a yellowish-brown tint to the subject. The way the women are accentuated in the
images, the light and the clothing, are used to make the women look strong and powerful
in the frame. There is an air of intimidation about the
women through their lack of clothing.
Also all of the women have stoic faces, making them look like
warriors. In addition the women are coated
in a white powder to cover up any imperfections the subjects might have. The subject matter in this book is the women
in each frame and their beauty and power.
Finally what makes her work unique is how she portrays the women within
the book. Along with the way the she lights these women, all these factors add
to the unification of her collection of images.
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