Photographer Research - Joel Robison

Biography

Joel Robison is a 27 year old teacher who has a great passion for photography. He's a conceptual portrait photographer living in Cranbrook, British Columbia Canada. He enjoys creating whimsical worlds where size, scale, movement and function don't play by the rules that we all know. Joel has done all kinds of different projects within his photography. He's done a four 365 days project, two 52 weeks, as well as side projects like "inspired by Disney", "Peaceful food", and a collaborative project with Coca-Cola.

Why I've chosen him 

Joel's photographs immediately caught my attention when I decided to approach my project in a surrealist way. I wanted to look for someone who used books like I have in a post that was inspired by a library photograph I captured. Joel Robison has created some excellent pictures containing books and endless amounts of creativity. I included some of my favourite images in my research log which will also be featured below. The effects in his pictures look slightly vintage which is what I like; there's never any increased saturation levels. He is one of my favourite surrealist photographers as his work has been inspiring for my project.

This is one of my favourite photographs of Joel's because it looks very intriguing. The ripped paper coming out from the book and blending into the body of the models is an extremely clever effect. Someone could interpret this image as a person losing themselves in a book. It's a very simple meaning but also one that is effective when you look at this picture because it's as though he is becoming part of the book he is reading. This will hopefully inspire future shoots of mine as Joel has encouraged me to take some photographs that link with books.

This photograph of Joel's caught my eyes instantly. The formal element depth stands out dramatically in this piece as you are able to see way into the distance. I assume that Joel has originally just taken an ordinary picture of this scenery and then edited in him sitting on the swing. This piece is extremely surreal because it comes across as though the swing is hanging from the sky. Him looking out to the distance demonstrates his train of thought, and he has surrounded himself with a tranquil setting to perhaps clear his mind. He is holding a bottle of coke, which is one of many images featured in his coca cola portfolio. Joel was looking for a way to parlay his passion for photography into a career when a call from Coca-Cola brought things into focus. The offer was for him to tag along, camera in tow, to 89 countries with the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour. This photograph is part of the collection he accumulated when he agreed to this opportunity with Coca-Cola.

I really admire this photograph of Joel's because its one that really inspires me when it comes to doing a photography shoot. I'd like to attempt something similar to this by having someone look as though they're walking up perhaps some aero bubbles. Having the balloons that Joel is travelling on in the foreground of the picture, blurred out, is extremely effective because it doesn't just leave the frame empty. The balloons surrounding the sides of the frame works well with the overall image because it completes it. Joel's editing could be classed as perfect. Every image looks as though it's realistic and it's difficult to tell that it's all been edited in photoshop.

This second version of Joel's book photography inspires me the most. Joel has originally just been photographed sitting in the middle of the field looking at nothing. The book has been edited into this picture to make it look as though he's reading an oversized story. I like the setting that Joel is chilling in because he looks like a very outdoors type of person in this image. I've already looked at this style of photograph in shoot 6 where I shot a picture of someone reading an oversized book. I will now hopefully develop these ideas after looking at Joel's work. 

How he has influenced me

I originally decided to approach surrealist photography with the theme of books because I admired the idea of shrinking people to be as small as books or perhaps even smaller. They broaden your imagination and have the ability to take you to another world, I felt that making these larger than the person would exaggerate how much imagination truly exists in them. After deciding this approach I found Joel's photography which then only inspired me even more. He's mainly influenced me through making me want to attempt photographs in the style that he has, because a lot of his work contains the book theme; it links perfectly with my ideas. Below are the two photographs containing books that Joel Robison inspired me to create.

Summary

Overall, Joel's conceptual portrait talent has had a large effect on my ideas of photography and so far I have found much interest in studying his work. His style appeals to me as a photographer because every image is fun and filled with imagination. He's became really successful for himself which is another attribute of his that is really inspiring.