Abelardo Morell

 Abelardo Morell was born in Havana, Cuba in 1948. He immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1962. He attended the college of Bowdoin and got his MFA from Yale University School of Art. He later in life was a professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston from 1983-2010.

One of his works that really stood out to me was this one below:

 I like this work because it portrays a city, but it is being shown upside down on the wall. I assume he did this by using a camera obscura-- a darkened box with a convex lens or aperture for projecting the image of an external object onto a screen inside. I like how the city scape takes up the entire wall. I think have the chairs and table is interesting too because it makes it feel like you are sitting there enjoying the city view. I think it was an interesting choice to make the city upside down though, because I know it can be upright too when using a camera obscura. 

Another photo of his that stood out to me was this one below:

I can tell that Morell was very interested in using a camera obscura. But it is the objects and screen in which he uses it to make these photographs interesting. This photo seems to be done in Washington D.C. He must have made a camera obscura in his hotel room (which this seems to be a hotel room) and I think that is so interesting. I like the setting and I like how he consciously picks certain areas to take these photographs. The objects in the room also create a different feeling and vibe to them with what he is doing with the camera obscura as well. 

Over all, I really like his photographs and I think they are all interesting.

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Hiroshi Sugimoto is a Japanese photographer born in Tokyo, Japan, who specializes in architectural photography. His first major exhibition was in the United Kingdom which was part of the Edinburgh International Festival. His art series was titled, "The Architecture of Time". This consisted of more than 30 large scaled images. 

One of my favorite images from that series is this one below: 

I like this photo a lot because of the lighting and how he chose to make it blurry. I think if the photograph was in focus it would not be as interesting. I think it being blurry gives off a different type of emotion and can allow the viewer to figure out why he made this choice that he did. The lighting is interesting because it obviously is a cross, but it illuminates the entire room and I think it is very beautiful. The lighting makes it shine almost like a path straight to the cross. 

The next photo that I really find interesting from this series is this one below: 

This photo is of the Twin Towers in New York City. I think this photo caught my eye because I know the towers are gone now. It is a dark and mysterious photograph that is again blurred. This gives off an ominous feeling and or a memorial feeling. I am not sure when this photo was taken, but looking at it now gives off a sense of  reembrace for the towers. 

All of Hiroshi Sugimoto's photos are mostly blurred and dark and I tend to really be drawn to those. I love black and white photography and I enjoy all of his photographs. 

His technique of blurring his images is something I would like to try in the future to see what type of emotion and vibe I can give off from this being an intentional choice.

 

Alec Sloth

 Alec Sloth is American photographer who is best known for his Midwestern United States photography. Sloth was very shy as a child so photography helped him step outside his comfort zone by photographing people after being influenced but the work of portrait photographer Diane Arbus. Sloth says he gets nervous photographing people, so most of the times he is attracted to people like "hermits" and "loners". 

One of his photos that caught my eyes was this one below: 

I think this photo caught my attention because of the subject in the photo. The subject tests the "norms" of people. I assume this person is seen as a "loner" or "different" because they are a male with long hair dressed in female clothing. I think Sloth captured them beautifully in the chair alone in this room. The lighting is all natural it seems and it really brings out the subjects features. I also like how the room is very empty besides the chair. The subject also does not make eye contact with the photographer and I think that is speaking volumes in the sense that they are a "loner" and "different" to other people.

Another photo that really stood out to me was: 

I think this photo stood out to me because of the unusual objects in the mans hands and around him. He is also wearing a suit which is odd attire for his setting. The background of this photo seems to be like an abandoned area with scraps all around him. He is holding a palm tree leaf and maybe a bible? This could be assumed to be holy items in his hand. This photo also captures how Sloth likes to capture "loners". To me although this man is in a suit he does not look very clean and he seems he could be a "hermit" type of person too. I like how Sloth takes unusual but interesting photos of people.