Tom Chambers:Photomontages is his way of Life!

Previously,I have talked about some very great photographers who have , and are doing really great work in their respective fields. Today ,let me introduce to one more great photographer-Tom Chambers. Born in Lancaster,Pennsylvania ,he completed his completed a B.F.A. in 1985 from Ringling School of Art, Sarasota, Florida with an emphasis in graphic design and strong interest in photography. It was later in 1988 ,when he devoted himself to Photomontages. And now,when it comes to Photomontages, I don't think there is anybody else who wins the crown ,he is the one who rules this category. His work is really inspiring and it is really mesmerizing to see the effort he puts in each of his work.  

You might be shocked to know that every photograph of his involves almost one month of work sometimes because of his technique. Let me tell you how. He initially sketches a concept or idea that comes to his mind for the image. Then he photographs these images with a medium format camera. This is followed by combining the best shots(getting them is a time consuming job) making it into  a film which is scanned in high quality to be further processed in photoshop. Yes,this is how he creates awesome photomontages which I will talk about now.

Tom Chambers makes a very good usage of his dreams to gather ides for his Photomontages. It is not easy to transform images that you see in dreams into images ,but Chambers' capability of doing that is really commendable. Have a look at one of his images-

It looks as a dream in which a child is commanding the wild black dogs to do actions as per his wish. The child is standing in the fields and dressed in countryside attire, one plausible explanation behind this can be that Chambers was born in and raised in countryside , so he got images of fields in his dreams. Doesn't the picture create a dramatic mood in your mind? Maybe that was the motive of the artist when he created this picture.

See another picture from his works-

Did you notice one common thing between the two photographs? Both contain essentially two elements -one being a child and other being an animal. Again this photograph makes our mind go into the countryside ,where you can see horses and water bodies like a pond. Through his images of the countryside, Chambers very effectively creates a dramatic mood in the eyes of the viewer ,which is what makes his photographs special.

Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison : Masters of Surrealist Photography

Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison collaboratively create surreal works with a sepia tone that are out of league from traditional photography. I would call their work at the interface of being a Model, craftsman , sculptors, photographers and painters. Their work has been featured in top museums such as National Museum of American art and the Smithsonian. Without further ado, I would like to present my summary here.

Robert and Shana began collaborating during graduate school at University of New Mexico. What grew as a necessity of deadlines continued to Roswell, New Mexico as Artist residents. The beautiful amalgamation of Robert's interests in Photography and Theatre alloying well with Shana's expertise in dance and painting is a treat to eyes. In their own words, "photography is the one very last thing" they do. It is just a means to an end since they spend much time in sculpting the scene.

As a student of photography, first of all, I would like to discuss their technique. Their work usually starts with an initial idea followed by discussion and layout. Thereafter, they build the set for photos. Following this, they assemble images, often times backtracking on part of images. Based on self feedback, they move in a particular direction. For instance, look at this photograph titled "Guardian" from their most famous work "Architect's brother" .

Guardian (c)  Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison 

Interestingly, none of the images in "Architect's brother" have been digitally modified. They use a painstaking adapted process called "paper negative process". They shoot various images with photographic aspects such as lighting, depth of focus, etc and collage various images into one image. After going through multiple rounds of paper negative and positive, drawing on them, they arrive at a final image which they further paint on photograph. The multiple washes take the work away from photography, something they feel adds more to their work. 

As per my interpretation, the image depicts a man who is looking down upon Environmentally scarred world which is fallen, barren but magical though. The Anonymous figure is trying to set the fallen world again. The ill fitting suit is a common theme across their images as it comes as a timeless piece. He is very official in pursuit but at the same time not feel right within that package doing things contrary to his dressing.The anonymous figure is the destroyer, creator, scientist and constantly fixing nature.

Another picture which moved me the most is "The Cleaning" :

The cleaning (c)  Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison

Here, this image captures the spirit of trying to mend what has gone wrong. I quote them " these photographs tell stories of loss, human struggle, and personal exploration within landscapes scarred by technology and over-use…. [I] strive to metaphorically and poetically link laborious actions, idiosyncratic rituals and strangely crude machines into tales about our modern experience." The photo above quite captures that intent well.

Another thing that motivated them to choose this genre was the landscape in Roswell, New Mexico. Little did they knew that when Tom Barrow, director at institute in New Mexico said that "This landscape will change you" ; this will turn out to be actually true. This is exemplified well in this photo :

Mending the Earth (c)  Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison

With the Los Alamos laboratoris in New Mexico, they could see the transformation of nature. That triangulation of humans, technology and nature is clearly depicted above.

Recently, they were also commissioned to create 10th mural for the museum at Worcester Art museum series.The 67 feet inkjet mural "These Days of Maiuma" is iconoclastic of remains of grad feast, irreverent display of wealth and the disrespect for environment.

Mending the Earth (c)  Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison

The symbolism and the grandeur left me awestruck.

After Architect's brother, they have also worked on images depicted in color which showcase their work even better. Color adds that extra dimension to their message. Another work from their contemporary art which I find the most moving is "The Summer Arm" 

The Summer Arm (c)  Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison

This beautifully shows how nature, technology and humans can coexist with each other. I am very impressed with their work which can be admired for hours. Specifically, the names of photographs are so mesmerizing and keep the mystery alive. At the same time, the conservation message is echoed very well across all photos. I hope this human kind takes a message from this.

Edward Burtynsky : Changing people's perception towards sustainability, one large format picture at a time

In this post, I would like to present a renowned name in large format photography : Edward Burtynsky . Edward's parents immigrated from Ukraine to Canada. He had the chance to spend his childhood along an untouched north Canadian shoreline and forests which gave him a sense of geological timeline and the fact that "We all are transients" .

He was fortunate that his father bought a used darkroom with all equipment and that was where it all started at an early age. He learnt large format black and white printing and also started a business out of it. Later, he went on to have formal training.

One of the very first photographs he shot was of grass growing.

Grasses, Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada, Spring 1981 , (c) Burtynsky, Edward

He went on to photograph landscapes for a while but the feeling that it would not have a finite impact on the world drew upon and he got into genre of Calendar Photography. Even in the image of grasses above, his predilection towards this timeline photography is quite evident. How the grass re-emerges in spring is much like phoenix rising to a new life from its ashes.

Interestingly, most of his photography has been using large format filed cameras onto 4X5 films. He shifted quite 'recently' to digital cameras in 2007. As can be seen in various photos in this post, he has quite achieved a feat. How he must have shot the following images from high vantage points is in itself a wonder.

He started working on images which make us "Rethink landscape" which we have transformed . The coal mining town of Frackville was the turning point in his career whose surreal Landscape and the insatiable industrial incursion which is disrupting landscape as we progress. He found this theme as his life's primary goal. The below image from his project "Mines" quite summarizes that :

Kennecott Copper Mine, Bingham Valley, Utah 1983 ,(c) Burtynsky, Edward

How we have gone down drilling down depths into mother earth here is simply appalling. The collective appetite of humanity has devoured nature. Through his photographs, he is hoping to engage audience and challenge them with a forbidden pleasure. This resonates and makes people look at it, think about sustainability. He feels that environment conservation activities have followed more of an apocalyptic theme. With a theme of attractive repulsion, he hopes to show a positive movement of sustainability.

That got him attracted to Recycling and sustainability. That took him to Bangladesh in 2000 where he photographed decommissioning of Oil tankers. The below series of images with a rustic them are from his project "Shipbreaking" .

Shipbreaking, Chittagong, Bangladesh,(c) Burtynsky, Edward

Shipbreaking, Chittagong, Bangladesh,(c) Burtynsky, Edward

Shipbreaking, Chittagong, Bangladesh,(c) Burtynsky, Edward

I especially like the symbolism in the second photograph. It's as if the ship is weeping looking into its reflection in pool of tears and thinking about its majestic past and how all big things meet an end.

Another very beautiful peculiarity I realized about his photography was use of mirror-like panoramic images as shown below. I invite you to visit his website to find more phenomenal photographs similar to this. This is definitely one of things I would try out on my next photography assignment.

Shipbreaking, Chittagong, Bangladesh,(c) Burtynsky, Edward

After working in Bangladesh, he shifted focus to China where he found similarity to his childhood Canadian industrial town where his father used to work for General motors. China is one of the biggest examples of sustainability and consumption. The construction of "Three Gorges" dam and the inevitable destruction of cities that ensued in this need for power has been beautifully captured in large portraits captured by Edward.

Three Gorges Dam Project, Yangtze River, China, 2002 (c) Burtynsky, Edward

Three Gorges Dam Project, Yangtze River, China, 2005 (c) Burtynsky, Edward

Just look at this amazing landscape transformation in 3 years ! This truly shows how fickle our creation is. Movement is all around us. How people broke their own homes at this mega scale that more than 10 cities and hundreds of villages have to be flattened out.

His other photographs also show the transformation of China, the urban and industrial renewal in China . This amazing human displacement has caused a huge amount of environmental footprint. A picture is worth a thousand words, I don't want to attempt summarizing his great work; that would be disrespect and I invite you to see his project China as well.

The photos of arrayed factories and production environments were a bit discomforting for me. He did hit a chord of sustainability. We must reduce our appetite for consumer culture. If the demand can, the production will, too. We have to very concerned about global evolution, lives across the world would determine the transformation.

He also worked on WorldChanging.com to depict, impact and inspire people towards sustainability. He feels that there is great resonance between what he is trying to do and there is really great possibility to reach audience with that. Overall , I am of course impressed with his photography and his thoughts on how he is working to improve people's prospective towards environment and sustainability.

Michael Kenna :The master of Landscape Photography

Everybody loves colors.Colors are everywhere.My previous posts had been all on photographers who did color photography.What comes in your mind when I say black and white?You remember those old days when your parents used to show their photographs of their old times or maybe yours when you were born,and you always wished that it would be wonderful if they were in color.While black and white may not interest you,it is the field of work of many artists around the world,and Michael Kenna(born in England in 1953) is one of the greatest artist in this field.When you look into his landscape photographs of around the world in black and white,they simply amaze you.

This great artist after completing his education in London moved to San Francisco in 1980s which kickstarted his jouney into the world of photography. He has worked extensively for landscape photography for almost 50 years and what makes them special is the unusualness that you see in all his photographs. Since I belong to India,I identified the beauty of his photographs in two of his photographs taken in India,as they look so different than actual view that I have seen with my eyes of the places captured by him in India.Below is the 'Gateway of India' situated in Mumbai. I have been there several times but never realised the beauty of it until I came across the photograph clicked by Kenna,which mesmerized me the way it was taken and the view I had never seen before of this place.

Gateway of India, Mumbai, India. 2006 (c)Michael Kenna

Also amazes me is the way artist has captured the black clouds above which contrasts very well with the building,which is only possible in black and white photographs. Other thing that is worth mentioning is the smoke which can be seen far away in the picture. It really enhances the beauty of photo as a whole.The blurry effect that he has made on other things except the building shows the excellent command that this artist has on depth of field.Its really commendable

Another photograph that is worth mentioning is the photograph taken by him of the Safdar Jung in New Delhi,India. I have been to this place and there is nothing interesting as the building is old and dilapidated. It attracts visitors only due to its historical value.again,the way the artist has captured the image simply makes me wonder how does this place look so beautiful in the photograph.

Safdar Jang, Study 1, Delhi, India, 2006(c)Michael Kenna

I was amazed after seeing the photograph.What I found really interesting was the superb reflection of the tomb in water with perfect lighting.Maybe colored reflection of the tomb would have not succeeded in capturing the soul so closely.Did you notice the lone bird in the photograph?Once upon a time,kings who resided in these tombs ensured that not even a bird moves without their orders,now the times have changed.The two walls surrounding the water contrast well with each other too.All in all,this image closely resembles the Taj Mahal and this is one of the other things that I liked about the photograph.

I think Kenna's work is great in his field of Black and White landscape photography.They are really a visual treat to look at.