Photographer Research - Christopher Boffoli

Biography

Christopher Boffoli is a fine art photographer, commercial and editorial photographer. He began making visual art at an early age but only began exploring the medium of photography in his teens after receiving a camera as a birthday gift. Largely self-taught, Christopher worked as a student journalist in high school and college, eventually founding his own commercial photography company while he was still an undergraduate. His diverse body of work for his Big Appetites work which features tiny figures posed against real food landscapes. In addition to his commercial and advertising work for  brands large and small, his fine art photography may be found in galleries and private collections in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. He currently lives and works in Seattle. 

Why I've chosen him

The reason as to why I have decided to study Christopher Boffoli in more depth is because his work is different to anyone else's that I've seen. He uses miniature characters to create bizarre scenes amongst food photography. He can use the simplest of food items and food setups yet still make them entertaining through the use of adding people. I'd use real people when adding humans to real life set ups and get them to pose in appropriate positions to fit the image. Surreal photography is something that I have found extremely enjoyable throughout the process of my project and after finding Christopher's work I am extremely inspired to do some photographs containing food and miniature people.

This bowl is filled with American cereal. The multicoloured hoops are a lot more attractive to use in a photograph like this than any other cereal because the formal element colour is eye catching. Using normal cheerios that are all beige shades would be boring but simple. Sometimes simplicity is a good thing, however in this photograph it is evident that the character is sunbathing on the spoon, so multicoloured cereal is perfect when representing the season of summer. The beige cheerios would represent the seasons of autumn. Christopher's idea here was clearly well thought about and this photograph of his was well composed and also very successful.

I like in this image that the doughnut is placed in the bottom right hand side of the frame because it allows more of the blue background to be exposed in the photograph. There are four female characters waling around on top of the hundred and thousands. They nearly slightly blend in with this coating of the doughnut but again, seem to be dressed  in summer attire. Therefore, the brightly coloured sprinkles also represent a more positive summery weather again because this whole photograph is filled with colour. It's a positive image and is another entertaining piece from Christopher.

This is my favourite one by Christopher Boffoli. Macaroons are an extremely fun piece of confectionary to photograph either as them just on their own or even with added characters. The characters in this photograph seem to be chefs, as they are wearing large white hats and white overalls. It makes this piece comes across as though these little chefs have cooked these massive macaroons which further exaggerates their miniature size. 

This last photograph of Christopher's is very interesting. The characters are wearing scuba diving costume to make it come across as though they are about to dive into this cup of tea. The teacup hasn't just been placed there in the photograph. It has a teabag soaking in it whilst sitting on a saucer with a spoon delicately placed beside it. This photograph has clearly been thought about which is what I want my pieces to look like when I interpret my own photographs in a similar style to Christopher's. The little characters also have shadows beneath them to convey how they re actually sitting there. If I do a piece like this with humans, I will have to include shadows below them so that it doesn't look like they have just been placed there. 

How he has influenced me

Christopher has managed to influence me immensely when it comes to using miniature people in photographs. I originally began with altering the size of humans with books, but during this shoot (shoot 10) I found that I liked the idea of sweets exploding, which then encouraged me to do some surreal photograph based on sweets and food. I then was influenced by Christopher's work to do some photographs based on food along with adding people to this also. Shrinking people was fun for me in shoot 10, which is why I have decided to develop this idea of mine, and Christopher has encouraged me to do so. Below are my two photographs where I shrunk people to be surrounded by a tea set.

Summary

Overall, I think that Christopher Boffoli is my favourite surreal photographer. He does lots of the above photographs for his project "Big Appetites" that I haven't seen done successfully or fully in anyone else's work that I have studied. He is a very successful photographer because he is unique, and this talent is key to making it in the large photography world. 

Photographer Research - Oleg Oprisco

Biography

Oleg Oprisсo was born in the small city of Lviv in western Ukraine. From the age of 16 he worked as an operator at a photo lab. At age 18, he moved to Kiev, where he began his professional photography career. At age 23, Oleg Oprisco changed from digital capture to film. He's now a 25 year old Ukrainian photographer based in Kiev. He performs very poetic portraits with great emotion and soul transmitted through the image. Each portrait is worked in depth for its staging, whether on the model (makeup and styling), the position, the atmosphere or the set used. A true creativity for each picture. 

Why I've chosen him

The reason that I have chosen Oleg as part of my photographer research is because his work caught my attention. A specific image of his that caught my eye was the fourth one below, where the butterflies have been interpreted in a way that makes them look as though they're escapin from the book that they were created in, His work is simplistic yet detailed, and it is evident that a lot of time goes into all of his photographs. His work will inspire quite a lot of my shoots, especially my exam when I hopefully go into Brighton. Most of his photographs usually contain one model and quite often two. This is the amount of people that I usually like to work with when I need models in my photography. I really admire his style of photograhy which is why I have chosen to study him and his work in more depth.

This picture looks pretty simple and effortless, however there is a lot of attributes in it that make it interesting. The model posing in this photograph has ridiculously long red hair, immediately making her come across as quite unique as her appearance looks as though she's adventurous when you go by the stereotype. She looks tiny when you focus on the background she's centred in. There is a large arch behind her which trails on in the distance, creating that depth approach to this image. The abnormal height of the book pile has evidently been created through photoshop. I like that the pile topples to a side and is nearly twice her height, as this image is really inspiring. I like photographing surreal pieces with books involved because you can be very imaginative with them. It's an overall unique and interesting photograph. 

This is a photograph that inspires me for my photography exam when I hopefully go into Brighton.  I like that the original photograph of the sea travels into the distance as you can see the city line faintly above the water. It portrays depth which has been something I've had fun shooting in this project. It, realistically, would have been impossible for a girl to climb up a stubbly rock that would be far too dangerous to climb without any safety, therefore for me it looks as though she has been photoshopped in with her balloon. This technique has inspired me to perhaps shoot a tall rock and a girl and place it into an image like this one. The coral  coloured balloon stands out against the sea water and creates an effective contrast. Overall, this photograph is fresh and conveys clear thoughts, as relaxing to the sound of the waves has always been extremely tranquil.

This photograph plays with my mind. I originally saw it as an ice cream, constructed of a variety of different colours. I then looked at it again and noticed the woman behind it holding the side. It's a piece of fabric tackling with the wind. The blurred background is effective in this piece because it allows the subject of the photograph to stand out. The colour and pattern (formal elements) make this photograph eye capturing. Although it may not actually be an ice cream, it has given me an idea of perhaps capturing a picture of a whippy ice cream in a cone and working photoshops magic on it. The colours are effective because pretty much the rest of the image are neutral colours. The model is also effective as she isn't looking at the camera, so it allows the viewer not to focus on her as much, and more so on the multicoloured material she's holding.

This is my favourite photograph of Oleg's. I like every aspect of it because it was the main image of his that captured my attention. It was the fact she was holding a book which attracted me the most. Because I took my first surreal piece with a book, it made me want to develop this idea, and Oleg is a photographer along with Joel Robison that has inspired me the most. In this picture,  I like the effect of butterflies flying out of the book. It conveys how the pages she is reading has come to life, or perhaps even the line she's reading. We read books and picture the scenes in our head, however surreal photography allows for these scenes to become physical forms actually appearing from the story, and that is what I admire most about this piece. Moreover, the neutral yellow colours featured in this picture also makes it look attractive because they're not over exaggerated colours, but soft and easy on the eye tones.

How he has influenced me

Oleg has influenced me in quite a number of ways. Firstly, I really like the backgrounds he uses behind his models in his work. They're quite vintage style background as it's clear that mostly buildings are used. These are then blurred to allow the subject of the photograph to stand out. I'd like to start taking some pictures that I can use for the background of my pieces instead of just white backgrounds. Although the white backgrounds may make my photographs look more defined, I feel that a background that links with the subject will be effective in surreall pieces. I have also been influenced by Oleg through his fourth image in this post, I took a photograph that was inspired by this piece which I have inserted below. I really liked the idea of thinks exploding from a book and therefore decided to use sweets as a physical example of the imagination bursting out from the pages. The second picture is of the ice cream I captured in Brighton during my exam, which I edited with multicoloured influenced by the 3rd picture of Oleg's in this post.

Summary

Overall, it is Oleg's surreal approach to photography that attracts me the most. The way he attaches certain things to his images or adds props and extra details in order to create an effective piece is something I have found myself loving recently. The second image of his is something that's made me excited for the exam and photographers who have that effect on me are my favourite.

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.

Photographer Research - Barry Underwood

Barry Underwood

Biography

Barry Underwood is an American photographer who takes pictures of the mixture of the supernatural and the theatrical. He studied Masters of Fine Art, Photography at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He also studied Bachelor of Arts, Photography at the Indiana University Northwest; Gary, Indiana and Bachelor of Arts, Theatre also at Indiana University Northwest; Gary, Indiana.

Why I chose him

The reason that I've chosen Barry Underwood as part of my photographer research is because his photographs are different; they're unique and always stay true to his own style. His pictures represent evidence of light exceptionally well and I pretty much find them all extremely inspiring. The lights that are portrayed in his photographs are usually the main source of colour in his pictures as the background is often a lot darker than this feature, enabling them to stand out. Barry Underwood captures a lot of landscapes in his photographs which are mystical backgrounds for his lights, which transforms everyday scenese into unique images. Using illusion, imagination, and narrative, his photographs explore the potential of the ordinary. He approached his photographic work with a theatrical sensibility, much like a cinematographer or set designer would, and inspires me to perhaps create an image similar to his.

The black and green theme in this photograph in my eyes is a very successful combination of colours as the bright greens bounce off of the black tones, further enhancing the neon green glow portrayed through the lights in this picture. Inspired by cinema, land art, and contemporary painting, the resulting photograph is both surreal and familiar. It suggests a larger narrative, and yet that narrative remains elusive and mystifying. The miniature lights could somehow be mistaken for woodland bugs that you see in lots of animated films such as Avatar. This picture most certainly portrays an effect of space which is why it is so eye capturing yet peaceful to look at.

The stillness of this landscape contrasts with the luminescent, artificial quality of the lights, creating an otherworldly and etherial effect. His use of unnatural light and colour creates surreal landscapes or illusionistic spaces which he insist speak of the human footprint on the planet – our imposition of unnatural phenomena on the natural world, such as pollution, light pollution and bio-luminescent algae. The mist floating in the background of the trees along with this reoccurring theme in the sky is a contributor to the mystical theme of the photograph. The miniature crowd of lights in the grass makes the viewer question this feature.

This is my favourite photograph of Barry's. He has most likely used a torch or a glowstick and had someone run through the trees with it whilst the camera was on a slow shutter speed setting. This setting allows this type of photo to be taken because it captures the movement of the light and then concludes the picture with the lense shutting and portraying the glows route. This photograph is an example of this technique and it has worked successfully in this image. It inspires me to use the same technique but perhaps write a word in the air with a glow stick. 

The main feature of this photograph that attracted me would definitely have to be the dark trees against the pure white sky along with the ocean blue glowing water. By reading the landscape and altering the vista through lights and photographic effects, Barry has transformed this everyday scene into an extremely unique image. I like that the lights perform a reflection on the water as this adds to the depth of the image, as the water reflects the scenery above it. 

How he has influenced me

Barry Underwood has influenced me a ridiculous amount. He makes me want to use lights in the style that he has and make an attempt at recreating a few of his own images in my style. His photos are all extremely different, yet all contain that one feature; colourful lights. I aspire to achieve an assortment of photographs all containing the same feature whilst still looking different from eachother at the same time. 

This picture is what I took on my initial response shoot. I captured it because I loved the contrast of the two different types of trees agaisnt the icy white sky background. This was the main feature in the last photo above that attracted me to it also. I love this idea of having dark trees infront of a white sky because the contrast looks extremely photographicn and eye capturing.

Summary

Ultimately, Barry Underwoods creative use with light is effective in every single one of his photographs. I originally looked at his work with the intention of recreating my own style of light photography, because I studied him at the beginning of the unit with no idea where I was heading. I eventually found my route and discovered that I didn't intend to do any light photography because he became less important as a source of inspiration to me. However, his last photograph against the sky was inspiring and encouraged me to capture pictures against the sky as I explored a range of sky photography as backdrops.

Photographer Research - Jose Antunes

Biography

Jose Antunes is a writer and photographer based in Portugal, working professionally since 1980, for magazines, newspapers and books. From aviation to zen photography, from technology to nature gazing, he has covered it all. Founder, in 2002, of one of the most important photography magazines in Portugal, FOTOdigital, he keeps it alive, these days, in a modern digital verso. He also writes and photographs for multiple clients, both editorial and commercial. Executive editor and photographer, for six years (from 2002 to 2008), of a Portuguese aviation magazine for professional pilots, Sirius, he is a keen aviation photographer, besides loving to be outside, walking along the coastal areas, and photographing what he calls the Atlantic Realm. He leads photographic tours in this area and also in the whole region of Sintra, mixing photography with a look at the cultural aspects of the land, elements always present in the photo tours he leads in his country.

Why I've chosen him

The reason why Jose's photography caught my eye was because a lot of his work conveyed weather, even if it wasn't intentional. His pictures vary from landscapes to close ups of flowers which are all aspects of portraying bitter weather and warm weather. A topic I am exploring in my project is weather through evidence; I am looking at things against the sky and will hopefully shoot landscapes on my holiday so choosing Jose as part of my photographer research will help inspire me in some of my shoots. He takes all of his photographs outside from places he visits and creates tours on his websites for areas in his country for tourists. A lot of colour and sometimes depth is used in most of his photography which are two formal elements in which I enjoy shooting the most. His photographs vary so much that his pieces are always so interesting because they don't all consist of the same theme. 

This landscape photograph was captured in the area of Sintra as part of Jose's tour in west Portugal. He runs these tours for small groups of tourists who just want to focus on photography, and exploring different places and things that they can photograph. Having half of the frame filled with headland crowded with houses/buildings, and the other half filled with the ocean and the sky creates an effective contrast in an overall photograph. There is evident areas of the headland that have been darkened through possibly the curves tool on photoshop, which creates texture; an effective formal element in lots of photography. This piece is my favourite one of Jose's that I want to use for inspiration in my holiday shoot, where I will aim to capture a picture that has similar features to this one.

This second photograph of Jose's is simply of a dark yellow  flower with tiny petals and a thin stem. It has been situated in the right side of the frame to allow the rest of the space to be filled with its blurred background. Having the background blurred is effective in allowing the subject of the image to pop out from the picture. The background has also been slightly duplicated, so there is double of the flowers next to each other, creating depth and all round an interesting photograph. Having the yellow contrast with the pink looks bright and fun for the viewer because there are no dull tones in this photograph. The season of summer is clearly shown through this picture through the use of bright colours, which is why it attracted me so much. 

This photograph is different to Jose's typical outdoor styled photographs. In this piece, he has captured a plane mid fly through the sky, with its propeller blurred because of movement; another effective formal element that Jose has used in this picture. Having the bright blue sky in the background is a strange combination of colours mixed with the black, white, red, yellow and trays on the plane. Perhaps the plane would look more successful in front of a white background. Nevertheless, this photograph was still a successful outcome for Jose because there has been no wasted space and the subject of his image is interesting. 

This is the second piece of flower photography that I have included in my photographer research because it was my favourite one of his that caught my eye the most. Like the first flower picture, he has positioned the flower in the right side of the frame; again effective in allowing the blurred background to be more emphasised. The background of this image is near enough the same colour as the petals on the foreground flower, which creates an impressive piece of photography. Having the yellow pollen directly in the centre of the petals makes this flower so attractive, because bright yellow and bright pink look effective when paired together. Colour, pattern, texture and shape are formal elements that Jose has used in this piece in order for it to look so appealing.

How he has influenced me

Jose Antunes' photography was very inspirational in a holiday shoot of mine, along with going back to edit a picture that I had previously captured. The first picture below is of a flower I positioned in front of the sky, knowing that the background would convey warm weather along with the bloomed flower. Jose always blurred the background of his flower photography and this is why I then went back to my flower picture and blurred the blue sky behind it. It could have been more effective if there was more surroundings behind the flower, however it did work in allowing the white flower to stand out more. The second photograph is what I took when I went on my holiday. Jose influence me to, if found, photograph a headland against the ocean, because when he done this in the first photograph of his I looked at, it was really successful in filling the frame with rock and sea. 

Summary

Overall, Jose's photography is extremely varied and interesting, allowing his pieces to stand out because they're not all of the same subject or theme. His outdoors work is refreshing and extremely eye catching  because of the use of colour as the main formal element. His flower photography is possibly my favourite along with his creative landscapes due to his very interesting tourist areas.