Photographer Research - Simon Norfolk

Simon Norfolk was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1963 and educated in England, finishing at Oxford and Bristol Universities with a degree in philosophy and sociology. Norfolk wrote a book called For Most of It I Have No Words: Genocide, Landscape, Memory it is about the places that have witnessed genocide. Norfolk is similar to Gilbertson as they both favour war themed photography but Norfolk differs in that he is not in the action like Gilbertson, but he focuses on the aftermath of war, or genocide in this case. Norfolk takes images of destroyed structures, live bombs in elementary schools, memorial sites for the lost. Norfolk also extends his contemporary photography into the technologies genre.

Afghanistan: Chronotopia - A bullet-scarred outdoor cinema at the Palace of Culture in the Karte Char distict of Kabul.

Afghanistan: Chronotopia - The interior of the destroyed Presidential palace at Darulaman.

Israel/Palestine: Mnemosyne - The tailplanes of destroyed jets proudly displayed at Hazerim Air Force Museum.

The Supercomputers - Designing Nuclear Weapons.

Photographer Research - Ashley Gilbertson

Ashley Gilbertson is an award winning, Australian photographer who is best known for his photography of the Iraq war. Gilbertson worked on photo essays ranging from drug addiction in Melbourne, to war zones in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Gilbertson's photographs are very much eye catching as they give you a perspective of war that alot of people cannot see. We are given close up photographs of soldiers shooting and explosions going off that allow the viewers to gain an understanding of what war is truely like.

The following images are from Gilbertson's project titled Iraq - Whiskey Tango Foxtrot which abbreviated is WTF.

A U.S. Marine slides down a bannister in Saadam's palace.

An American soldier curious to see the face of his enemy, which is a rare occasion.

Marines running for cover after accidently being fired upon from friendlies.

Photographer Research - Montalbetti & Campbell

Denis Montalbetti & Gay Campbell are unique photographers with a distinct style. They take their photos, but take it much further by editing them to create bizarre but original image. Montalbetti & Campbell are specialists in photographing people and the pair use their combined talent to create unique portraits and their own style of work. They photograph leading personalities such as political leaders to celebrities, and they have created a numerous amount of commercial advertisements. Their work is recognised and sold internationally and is also within the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

Arnott's Tim Tam "Dangerous Liasions" Campaign

Nick Tosches - Author - Entertainment Weekly Magazine

"Blessed Are The Chic" Campaign

Photographer Research - Raphael Mazzucco

RAPHAEL MAZZUCCO is a Canadian fashion, art and music photographer. His style has become iconic with brands such as Victoria's Secret, Guess, L'Oreal, Ralph Lauren and Bergdorf Goodman. Mazzucco uses a seductive style for his influential photographs. He began photographing with Calvin Klein and has now succeeded in photographing for major publications such as Vogue (French and Italian version), Marie Claire, Playboy, Vanity Fair and Sports Illustrated to name a few.

 Mazzucco's work is described as "hot" romanticism, it is a sensitive mix of the erotic and organic. 

Victoria's Secret

Marie Claire - Australia

Guess - 4 Aces

Contemporary Photography - What is it ?

 As this assingment is purely based around contemporary photography I thought finding the meaning of it was a good place to start...

Contemporary photography in it's simplest form is modern photography.

Modern photography is creating something other than the traditional portrait or landscape which these days often means unusual and abstract photographs.

The concept of contemporary photography is to convey a message to the viewer through creative use of line, form and colour. These photographs should stimulate the viewers mind as there is usually a message behind the abstract image. Contemporary photographs can specifically include computer generated/manipulated images.

Contemporary photography does not only relate to the style of the photograph but what the photograph is of. You can take contemporary photographs of contemporary things - often contemporary issues which can include war, technology, urbanisation, globalisation, ethnicity, culture, poverty, peoples emotions etc.

Photographer Research

Choose a minimum of four contemporary photographers to research for your workbook and as a lead-in to your practical assignment.

Some you may wish to explore are:

Roger Ballen
William Yang
David Lapachelle
Simon Norfolk
John Claridge
Montalbetti & Campbell
Ashley Gilbertson
Raphael Mazzucco

Any of the photographers listed on www.lensculture.com

Any of the photographers listed on www.bandwmag.com

Complete a separate blog post for each photographer and include either images as examples or provide a link to a website containing images.  You should include a brief biography as well as an analysis of the photographer's work.

I have chosen:
Montalbetti & Campbell
Raphael Mazzucco
Ashley Gilbertson
Simon Norfolk

Research Workbook Guidelines

This sessions project is:

Theme-create a portfolio of images that investigate a contemporary issue. The number of photographs is up to you.

Your photographs are to be presented digitally. The format is up to you, so consider carefully what manner of digital output to might like to explore.

1. Explore the theme and technique as presented. Some websites you might like to explore are:
a. www.lensculture.com
b. http://www.ccp.org.au/
c. http://www.bandwmag.com

2. Choose at least two of the artists listed, and one other not listed and analyze their work in your RWB. Remember to talk about their work in terms of technique, content and context. Choose 6 images from each photographer’s portfolio.

3. Complete proposal in your RWB of at least one page documenting your ideas, references, inspirations and techniques you will be working on

4. Begin shooting, processing, manipulating and laying out your work.

5. Complete a 500 word artists statement outlining your work, its technique/s, subject matter and concept. Refer to your proposal and inspirations in your statement.

6.Present the completed artist statement to your teacher so you can discuss some of the ideas you are going to try and the techniques you will be using.

7. Present your work to the class over the projector- your presentation should last no more than 15 minutes.

8. Submit your work digitally to your teacher no later than 4:00PM Wednesday of week 8.