Evan Baines Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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cmcleod wrote:
Evan,
I appreciate your interest and look forward to more thoughts like this.
First off, there is no studio backdrop. Granada, with its bleached white walls, offered a unique opportunity to photography these subjects as if there was a studio backdrop. The basic ingredients for these portraits are one light, hand held, and a camera also hand held. And I hope to keep this consistent. As you will see from the Granada series, different backgrounds were used depending on where I met the individuals and in one case Ive chosen to include more of the environment. Just a clarification.
Thanks for the clarification! It looked enough like a studio backdrop that I assumed it was, in conjunction with the light. This further illustrates the dangers of critique before the rest of the series takes shape
cmcleod wrote:
To shed some light on the bigger questions at hand. I have no idea how long this project will continue. How long will I continue to make pictures? The point is, there is no end point. Its designed to be ongoing and Im excited to see what it will look like in 5 years.
For me, it is a project that travels with me. There are a few places that I see myself traveling to regularly for various reason. My plan is to always build at least one day into my travels to accommodate this project.
I brought up the question of depth because without YOUR well-developed perspective, the series will essentially be an unusually well-executed set of tourist pictures. What will set this apart is going to be your voice: you are essentially using these people you choose as raw materials in your description of the place. This description only becomes interesting when you have a strong and unique vision of what you are describing. I've heard it said somewhere that Salgado often refuses to photograph people until he has lived with them for a time and comes to love them...
cmcleod wrote:
I am familiar with the works of Avedon and Penn and love them each for different reasons. Avedon's work seems to be confrontational. I feel as though I am challenged by the subject as if they are saying "I dare you to get to understand me". Penn's work, on the other hand, is successful in inviting the viewer to to learn more about the subject, which could be attributed to his use of props. I was not familiar with HONY or W.E. Smith but look forward to spending some time with each. As far as the road to success or failure with projects like this, I am not yet sure. ...Show more →
Confrontational is one good way to describe Avedon's American West work. He himself described it as a struggle between the subject's desire to plead their case and his desire to express his vision, where ultimately Avedon was the one with control.
If you haven't seen the "Small Trades" project by Penn specifically, it has VERY direct comparisons with your current project. He attempted to catalog working people from 3 cities in their uniforms and with their tools/props, but in a studio setting.
W. Eugene Smith's Pittsburgh project is considered one of the most successful failures in the history of the medium.
HONY is a new thing, and online as well as in a new book that has gained some notoriety.
Again, I'm excited to see your continued progress with this, and hope it gave some food for thought!
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