For
my first blog post, the mentor that I have chosen to write about is Elspeth
Diederix. When researching this photographer on her website, http://www.elspethdiederix.com/
, and observing the content of her pictures I found a lot of inspiration.
Much
of my current artwork revolves around using found objects in my sculptures and
videos that represent non-physical interactions between people and creating
discussions around subject matters that are not easily brought up in everyday
life. My goal is to encourage dialogue about things that are sometimes
difficult to discuss by creating these pieces. Additionally, I often manipulate
the appearance of these things and how they are normally used through video and
sculpture to help challenge the viewer in what is being represented. So, when
beginning my search for photographers who would inspire me in the new realm of
photography, I searched for artists who included objects or things within their
personal work. I came across Elspeth Diederix in my search and many of her
photographs helped me realize that it is possible to continue the content of my
own work in a different medium, photography.
In
further researching the content of Elspeth’s work and the meaning behind it, I
read her artist statement. One of the lines about her work read “through her
photography Diederix is looking for the moment in which everyday phenomenon
loose their ordinary appearance, the moment in which they show their true
selves.” The similarity of this line to my own art struck home.
I
knew I wanted to use one of Elspeth’s photographs to talk about for this first
blog post because I felt that it would help inspire me in my first weekly
assignment, in taking ten photographs.
The
photograph that I chose to write about this week is from the year 2008 and it is
titled, black bowl. In this picture a
ceramic black bowl appears to be full of water. Inside, floats what seems to be
a white egg. Also, the black bowl is sitting on what looks to be black leather.
The lighting is high contrast, with large areas of dark shadow and others that
are extremely bright from the light source that was used when taking the
picture. This picture exemplifies the artist’s ability to “shake us out of our
worn and preconditioned ways of perceiving” (quoted from her artist statement).
Her photograph caused me to think about the underlying surface of things, in
this particular photo, this white egg that hides just beneath the surface of
water. Aside, from having a nice composition and good lighting, the content of
this photograph caused me to think about the everyday objects differently than
I normally would. So much so that I thought less about the “things” in front of
me but instead what message or concept they could be representing. Additionally,
the photograph had a somber tone, which lead me to think about things being
simple and beautiful beneath shallow surfaces and dark surroundings. There is
an unseen beauty to this photograph because of its simplicity and content.
Moving
forward within my own work, I hope to accomplish some of these possibilities in
my own way. Also, I will be looking at more of this artist’s other work to encourage
and find inspiration in the search for what I want to photograph and how.
The
photograph I talked about, her artist statement, and her other work can be
found on her website:
Additionally,
the other two mentors that I intend to write about this semester are Dudi Ben
Simon and Anna Krachey.
Photo Of Week:
Photo Of Week:
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