BIGGER PICTURE

MY REFLECTION ON ARTISTS' WORK
SAM TAYLOR-WOOD
Sam Taylor-Wood underwent a photography project in 2005 called 'Bram Stoker's Chair'. It involved a series of portraits (presumably self-portraits) capturing either herself or a model jumping from a chair and seeming to start levitating.
The photographer has captured an image of a model jumping, and seemingly levitating, off of a chair. This is an example of constructed photography- the concept had to be produced in the editing stage of the photography process. Sam Taylor-Wood clearly made this photo, which is to say that it wasn't captured naturally.

The 1922 silent film 'Nosferatu' was
undoubtedly Taylor-Wood's influence for
this piece of photography work

I think these photos are brilliant. They present a different and unique way of taking a portrait and display lots of creative talent. The way the chair casts no shadow emphasises the woman's shadow, at the same time as creating an eerie, but strangely visually appealing, atmosphere. The 
shadows are a clear nod to the 1922 silent film 'Nosferatu'. The juxtaposition of the woman and the precariously balanced chair combine to produce an unsettling series of photos.
The choice of backdrop is simple and provides a clear space in which to fill up with shadow.
To the left is a picture of how the model (or Taylor-Wood herself, if this is indeed a self-portrait) suspended from the ceiling in a harness. This provides a solid explanation for how Taylor-Wood went about capturing the required effect for her work. The chair, I imagine, was probably glued and/or wired to stop it from falling over. However, another way of achieving the effect with the chair would be to prop it up against something. However the chair effect was produced, the wires and harness were edited out using Photoshop, providing the final image effects of levitation.
I personally think these photos are fantastically produced and work exceptionally well in achieving Taylor-Wood's desired effects.










GREGORY CREWDSON
Gregory Crewdson is renowned for his cinematographic style of taking photos, which, unlike many, makes the photo look like a still from a well-budgeted film. The particular photograph I am looking at is taken from his 2008 series, 'Beneath the Roses'. The image itself is called 'Untitled (Maple Street)', pictured right. It depicts an American suburban, cracked road, with familiar houses on either side of the road. On the road, there is a waiting vehicle (probably a taxi) with one door open, seemingly waiting for someone. In the foreground of the photo, a woman wearing white shirt, brown skirt and grey hoodie can be seen holding a blue item of clothing of some sort. To the right of her, there is a large tree with many green leaves, that fills up a lot of the space in the photograph. It is just in front of a well-lit porch with a swinging chair.
Crewdson has created an atmosphere that has a sombre quality to it- with the dark lighting and the expression on the woman's face, which suggests an inherent sadness. The lighting adds to this effect. The subtle use of light in places, and the glare of light in other places masterfully produces the atmosphere of the entire photograph. As we cannot see who is behind the wheel of the vehicle in the road, an ominous feeling about the car is created. Who is the person? What are their motivations? Crewdson masks these things with shadow.
To create the bright, white light in the background, behind the vehicle, an HMI (Hydrargyrum medium-arc iodide lamp) could have been used, as these provide a very bright blast of light. It emphasises the rays of natural light.
This photo has a high cinematographic quality to it, which is a reflection of how much effort Crewdson puts into his work. The documentary film 'Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters' recounts his career over a period of a decade and really looks in-depth into how he manufactured this photograph, and others. His photography usually is created with the help of a full-support staff and a budget worth $100,000s of US dollars.
From this photo, it is hard to gauge what sort of emotions Crewdson wanted to convey, however it is clear that it is thought-provoking.



ARTHUR FELLIG
Arthur Fellig was an Austrian-born American photographer who captured photographs of crime scenes and urban life in general in New York City in the 1920s - 1960s. He earned his nickname of Weegee, due to his very quick presence around crime scenes soon after they happened. The name is a phonetic sounding of a Ouija board (board that supposedly enables you to talk to spirits).
These photos to the right (and below) portray a dark, gritty presentation of 20th century New York. Fellig doesn't hold back with his photography, and displays everything as he saw it. This means there is an unfiltered view of what happened.

This was a photo he took of two recently caught
criminals who attempted to hide their faces with
their hats. At the time, it was rare for reporters
to get this close to the caught criminals.

A lot of his most renowned photographs were taken with basic press photography equipment of the time. This included: a 4x5 Speed Graphic camera, set with an aperture of f/16 and a shutter speed of 1/200, flashlight bulbs and a home-made darkroom in the back of his car's trunk. This produced most, if not all, of his photographs.
His photos were sold to the newspapers, as Fellig was usually first on scene- even beating the police. His speedy arrivals to the scenes of the crimes were a result of him being one of the few authorised to own a portable police radio. Another reason why he was on the scene was because he worked a lot in nightclubs (as a photographer), so he heard gossip and also listened to broadcasts. This, coupled with the police radio, gave him access to knowledge of most crimes.