Postmodernism was essentially a move away from modernism. While modernism showcased structured and non-manipulated images, postmodernism was a departure from those methods in photography. Unlike modernism, postmodernism embraced the idea that if you looked hard enough, the truth would eventually break down. Not only that, but truth was seen as an illusion because there is doubt. Originality no longer exists. Authority was no longer trusted because it was believed that those with authority were more concerned with staying in power. Postmodernism is like a rebellious teenager, challenging all past idea’s about what traits photography had to have to be considered “art.” This style also dealt with questioning reality, decoding hidden messages, doing things differently, appropriation, taking something old and making it new, and creating a false reality. Postmodernism has a lot of similarities to pop art, installation art, and Dadaism. There were a lot of pieces in the Emily Fisher Landau exhibit that had traits of postmodernism in them, but one piece in particular stuck out to me.
Gregory Crewdson’s “Untitled” (Beckoning Bus Driver) grabbed my attention immediately. The scene seems to be shot a little after sundown. There is a small home in the foreground, and a red barn in the background. The house has lights on inside, the front door open, and a large window. Through a large front window the curtains are pulled back showing a family inside. A man sits in a large reclining chair; next to him a young girl sits on a striped couch. Both are faced away from the window, a slight glow on their faces indicates a T.V. in the room out of sight. There is a cement path outside the house that leads to an empty street. A young girl stands on t...
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...s bus driver even out at night? There are no other children on the bus, so where does he plan to take her? Is he even a bus driver? When is the family going to notice she has gone outside alone? Or will they be glued to the T.V. till she’s gone? The scene holds a lot of questions, and scarily, it’s a scene that is very familiar.
Crewdson has led us into his fantasy world, engrossed by the beautiful lighting and fantastical scenes. His photographs keep viewers constantly thinking, questing the truth. He challenges the conventional way of operating by using every imaginable kind of production technique in a single “frozen” moment while still trying to capture the “prefect” image. It’s these cinematic details that make his images even more persuasive. This photograph was never captured in real -life, but it has qualities that pitch the human eye to its own reality.
In society we are surrounded by images, immersed in a visual world with symbols and meaning created through traditional literary devices, but augmented with the influence of graphics, words, positioning and colour. The images of Peter Goldsworthy’s novel, Maestro (1989) move within these diameters and in many ways the visions of Ivan Sen’s film Beneath Clouds (2002) linger in the same way. Both these texts explore themes of appearance versus reality and influence of setting, by evoking emotion in the responder through their distinctively visual elements.
Have you ever been at the beach safely shielded by a dark pair of sunglasses and just watched? Being a silent third party to a father screaming at his seven-year-old daughter for putting the inner tube in the wrong place. People watching has for a long time been one of my favorite activities as third party you are able to see people for what they are, unbiased by already having known the person. Eugene Richards’s book has made me look at my hobby from an artistic vantagepoint. He’s made me start to think that one day I would like to be one behind a telephoto lens capturing those moments that people don’t think anyone else saw. Richards photographs have made me relies that photography is more then a point a shoot process.
Postmodernism can be defined as a rejection of the idea that there are certain unequivocal truths or grand narratives (such as capitalism, faith or science) and as a belief that there are multiple ways of understanding anything, whether it be it culture, philosophy, art, literature, films, etc, or even television... Television reflects the mass-produced society we live in and certain shows exhibit many of the archetypes of postmodernism that have become prevalent in other art forms. Postmodernism can be useful for understanding contemporary television it can help us to relate to the ever-changing world we live in. Television shows like ABC’s Lost (ABC, 2004-2010) dabble in matters of intertextuality, questioning of grand narratives and, amongst others, a manipulation of time through use of flashbacks, flash-forwards and, uniquely to Lost, the flash-sideways.
Taking into consideration Roger Ballen’s opinion, that when the viewers take a look at a photograph they ought to experience that instant existed in time; that it is genuine. (Amison 2014: http://www.gommamag.com/v6/?p=1922) One can derive that regardless of the pain expressed in the image that it belongs to a life of the subject in the photograph - it is merely a moment within their life and even though it is crammed with narrative, it is only one fragment of the subject’s life. It’s like something occurred or is about to, yet in the particular instance, nothing is taking place; it is captured eter...
Crewdson received a Bachelors degree from the State University of New York-Purchase College where his passion of photography became a career choice and his study. In 1988 he graduated from Yale University with a MFA in photography. As a photographer he put together these huge elaborate scenes that took days to create only to take photographs of them. He would utilize movie production techniques to construct elaborate stages that gave a sense of surrealism and told a story that was open ended for the viewer to conjure up using their own
Most photographers have a statement in mind and look for a picture that expresses it. Erwitt observes what life wants to say and then records it so others can hear. For me this is what photography is about. I believe a scene should inspire you not be staged. Like Erwitt’s work I try to take pic...
Gregory Crewdson is an American photographer. His photographs feature elaborately staged, surreal scenes of small town and suburban American life.
Photography, among many things, is a medium used to further the connection between a reader and the story. It does this by drawing the reader into the world of the photograph, and allowing them to experience the realism of the scenario. This connection has amplified the level of communication between humans, namely, in the field of journalism. In the article “To Tell the Truth: Codes of Objectivity in Photojournalism” written by Donna Schwartz, she discusses the methods employed by photojournalists to manipulate photos in order to give the desired effect, or connection. These methods, along with others from “Critical Media Studies” written by Brian Ott and Robert Mack, will be used to analyze the following photo to show how they create the
Janet Fish is an American still life artist who works in a variety of mediums. She can be considered a realist, though by no means photorealist. However, the artistic liberties she frequently takes regarding color and light, as well as her individual style, negate this description. Her art is more full of life with these fun elements than a still life is typically considered to be. Janet Fish’s oil painting, Provence, manipulates the effects of light, the vividness and lucidity of color, and the implied texture of glass to create a sense of movement, vivacity, and unity.
Crewdson’s distinctive style is that his works concentrates predominately on the use of narrative and the openness of the narrative to the viewers. Gregory Crewdson also works visually concentrate on the use of light, coulor and composition. Crewdson’s photograph, usually takes place in a small-town in America, in that small town that he choices are usually where he finds the people that will be in the photograph.
All Hoffine’s photographs are acted out live so the viewer to feel their sense of vulnerability. The actors and crew he uses for his pictures are his friends and family members,
Post modernism is a very difficult concept to define. A French philosopher once defined post modernism as an "incredulity toward all meta narratives," which basically means a skeptical attitude toward all claims of absolute truth. Post modern writers use elements and techniques that provoke the reader to question their reading experience and scrutinize their own personal understanding of life and the values of their society. There are excellent examples of post modern writers using elements of post modern writing, such as irony, magic realism and fragmentation in the short stories read in Ms. Reynolds's English 4U class. The use of post modern elements in these short stories forces the reader to further their reading experience by going more in depth into the writing and figuring out how the story is significant to them and their view on the world.
This film is a multi-genre film— science fiction and film noir— which creates a very unique stylistic world. The film is characterized in the science fiction genre with flying vehicles— police cars and advertising blimps—, the futuristic city with congested streets, and advanced technology—picturesque billboards, Voight-Kampf machine, picture phones, and voice activated photo analyzers. It also depicts the movie genre of film noir with its low-key lighting consistent throughout Bryant’s office and Deckard’s apartment, the claustrophobic framing with various characters—the overcrowded nightclub—, heavy shadows caused by venetian blinds in Deckard’s apartment, and the rain soaked landscapes during the night.
The different art movements are created as a reflection of the type of response to the existing or older art movement. It does not necessarily mean scrapping the old to make way for the new. In art, the new movement always takes with it part of the past, but what makes it distinct is the new and fresh perspective that it brings to the table that wasn't present or appreciated before. If anything, the chronology of art movements is testament to the growth process of the world of art, proof of how the art has been evolving ever since. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism are two art movements that happened in succession, and the characteristics of and existence of Post Impressionism reflects how Post Impressionism is a reaction to the earlier Impressionism and how Post Impressionism, despite its efforts to introduce something new still retained many important characteristics found in Impressionism.
Post impressionism is a term that is used to describe a group of late-19th century and early-20th century artists whose work helped art transition into a new era. These artist defied the naturalism of the Impressionist to explore color, line, and form. This rebellion led to the development of Expressionism. Generally, the approaches were so varied that it is difficult just to focus on one artist and their technique.