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Archive 2014 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

gregfixit
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p.3 #1 · p.3 #1 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Nice set. It's difficult to pick a favorite but 7 & 8 stand out for me. I like the contrast between the dress-skin-eyes and the cracked earth. The way you use color and texture is brilliant. Your ability to pose and compose just adds to that brilliance.
As I see it the guns are props. And props are for the client and/or artist. Looks like it was probably a fun shoot. (Pun not really intended)

Apr 21, 2014 at 07:32 AM

rdl65
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p.3 #2 · p.3 #2 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Boringly Beautiful is how I would describe your photography. By this I mean, Do You ever take a mediocre photograph? I have yet to see a photo from you that is not exceptional.

The first time I ever saw your work was when you posted photos of your daughter in a series called Snow Queen, on this sight. I have been a fan of your work ever since. And now I see your a 2nd Amendment supporter also, I know your my favorite photographer. Keep up the great work.

Dutch

Apr 21, 2014 at 07:59 AM

alakemae
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p.3 #3 · p.3 #3 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Very beautiful

Apr 21, 2014 at 08:06 AM

JimmyJames
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p.3 #4 · p.3 #4 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

I do love the faux fisheye and low perspective in #2.

Apr 21, 2014 at 08:11 AM

sanjayg
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p.3 #5 · p.3 #5 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Fantastic ... love all of them. You are an artist, Lisa. Anyone can take pictures with good gear but your artistic vision shows in most of your pictures.

One more thing I notice is this set has so much variety, simply amazing.

Apr 21, 2014 at 08:15 AM

ICE B1
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p.3 #6 · p.3 #6 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Once again, these are stunningly well executed, Lisa. Of course it helps that your technical expertise is among the best in the world, AND that your daughter is stunningly beautiful.

I'm 59 years old and I've been shooting over 40 years, but when I grow up, I want to be able to make images in the same class as yours.

The pretty-girl-with-gun genre is always interesting, and it's always interesting to see how others try to craft it. My personal preference with ARs/semi-auto handguns runs to the Sarah Conner-style costuming... if I had any advice to offer with this set at all, it's that her wardrobe would have been perfect with a thumb-buster in a western rig, and lever-action .30-30.

Thanks for posting these!

Apr 21, 2014 at 08:27 AM

CRATER
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p.3 #7 · p.3 #7 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

I love all your shoots. The contrast between "innocent" and bad ass is not pulled off with simply by having a young beautiful girl/woman holding her weapon of choice with a rainbow. I love the concept but it should have better execution. (no pun intended}
All your other groups of shots look like you already had an exact shot in mind before you even got in the car to get to the location. This set looks like you were winging it. And it's more beautiful than anything that I have ever shot. I love your stuff

Apr 21, 2014 at 08:42 AM

joekraft
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p.3 #8 · p.3 #8 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Funny - of all the things in the world, egg beater is also what I first thought of last night, too. That and a dyson vacuum.

Shappy wrote:
The images are nice but I am trying to understand how the gun relates to the image. Is it a cultural thing to stand in a desert with a firearm? Wouldn't it be just as incongruous for the subject to be holding an egg beater?

Apr 21, 2014 at 08:57 AM

4meNex7
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p.3 #9 · p.3 #9 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

ICE B1 wrote:
Once again, these are stunningly well executed, Lisa. Of course it helps that your technical expertise is among the best in the world, AND that your daughter is stunningly beautiful.

I'm 59 years old and I've been shooting over 40 years, but when I grow up, I want to be able to make images in the same class as yours.

The pretty-girl-with-gun genre is always interesting, and it's always interesting to see how others try to craft it. My personal preference with ARs/semi-auto handguns runs to the Sarah Conner-style costuming... if I had any advice to offer with...Show more →
I have a 45-70 Sharpes, "Quigley down under" and a few 44 cal 1861 cap and ball thumb busters that Lisa can borrow.

You're right in saying Lisa's work is among the best. Amazing to me is that she has mastered her skills in a relatively short time.

Apr 21, 2014 at 09:06 AM

canerino
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p.3 #10 · p.3 #10 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Shappy wrote:
The images are nice but I am trying to understand how the gun relates to the image. Is it a cultural thing to stand in a desert with a firearm? Wouldn't it be just as incongruous for the subject to be holding an egg beater?

I agree with this completely. I saw the gun and thought "why?". It's placement in the scene seems very forced.

Apr 21, 2014 at 09:21 AM

Jason_Brook
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p.3 #11 · p.3 #11 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

canerino wrote:
I agree with this completely. I saw the gun and thought "why?". It's placement in the scene seems very forced.

Agreed, it strikes me as tacky. And this is coming from someone with a lot of....wait....I lost all of my guns in a terrible boating accident

If she was holding a coach gun, mares leg, or any lever action it would work a lot better.

Apr 21, 2014 at 09:33 AM

picajun
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p.3 #12 · p.3 #12 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Beautiful shots Lisa. Every time I see your shots I'm humbled and challenged to try to take mine up a level.

Apr 21, 2014 at 09:38 AM

ICE B1
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p.3 #13 · p.3 #13 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Shappy wrote:
The images are nice but I am trying to understand how the gun relates to the image. Is it a cultural thing to stand in a desert with a firearm? Wouldn't it be just as incongruous for the subject to be holding an egg beater?

Interesting question, especially about culture. The U.S. is unlike anywhere else in the world culturally. Assumptions are made about U.S. culture from media presentations; all of them manufactured. There's the popular opinion of the culture of the "old west." There's the jazz culture, ethnic cultures, racial cultures, rural cultures that vary by region, urban cultures that vary by city, and a host of subcultures that come and go through popular emulation.

That said, what makes this genre interesting to some is the breaking of stereotype. If there's an AR-15 in a portrait photo, we (at least in the U.S.) would likely expect it (stereotypically) to be in the hands of a male uniformed soldier. In the "old west" settlers all had long guns; shotguns, black powder rifles, .45-70 trap doors, or lever action rifles depending on the era... and one would expect to see a long gun accompanying someone into the desert of that era.

And you're absolutely right... an electric eggbeater would have been just as incongruous. As would a grand piano, refrigerator, electric stove, electric lawn mower, couch, or big-screen TV. But they all would have had a very different impact from what we see here.

So... what Lisa has done is to juxtapose a pretty young woman costumed in a style reminiscent of Disney's "Pocahontas" in cowboy boots (a stereotype and incongruity in itself) that, in the desert, is an incongruity of its own, and then chosen further incongruently by giving her a modern-style rifle,and handgun, breaking several other stereotypes. It's complex and interesting on many levels.

So, does this work? I have to say that, IMHO, if incongruity was her intent, it does work.

Apr 21, 2014 at 09:55 AM

elliotkramer
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p.3 #14 · p.3 #14 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Since you used the derogatory term "drivel," let me add the following - Anti gun is Pro freedom. More guns = more crime, more suicide, more death, more domestic violence against women, etc. These are the facts. You are entitled to your opinions, but these are the facts. Chances of defending yourself with a gun - very low. Chances of getting injured or killed with your own gun - high. We have an extraordinary health burden in our youth associated with firearms injuries. Over 7,000 children are hospitalized or killed due to gun violence every year, according to a new study published in the medical journal Pediatrics. An additional 3,000 children die from gun injuries before making it to the hospital, bringing the total number of injured or killed adolescents to 10,000 each year. That's more people than were killed in the Iraq and Afghan wars combined. The 2nd amendment does not mention guns. "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." It says "arms." We are not allowed to have hand grenades or C-4 or nuclear weapons. We are simply allowed to bear arms. What does that mean? Who knows. Where do you draw the line?

This is not drivel. Responsible parents should not introduce a lethal device to their children.

Apr 21, 2014 at 10:01 AM

John Webb
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p.3 #15 · p.3 #15 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Gorgeous work and a beautiful daughter, favorite probably the 7th followed by 2nd and 3rd. Love the processing and the warm tones you were able to draw out of the images. Again well done.

Apr 21, 2014 at 10:03 AM

4meNex7
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p.3 #16 · p.3 #16 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

canerino wrote:
I agree with this completely. I saw the gun and thought "why?". It's placement in the scene seems very forced.
Why? Maybe it is what a client may want. A professional photographer's job is to satisfy the customer. If the customer chooses to hold a firearm, or a bow and arrow, or fishing rod or sit on a horse, it is entirely the clients choice. Is the fact you see it as forced because of a dislike for firearms? I did not see it as forced. I don't like horses, should I discredit a fine image because of my likes and dislikes? Lisa is in the business to earn money. When she steps out of the box to explore areas that clients might like her work is questioned, If the firearms were not in the images, loads of posters would reply with glowing words, while some would say, "gee the same old stuff". If Lisa keeps getting her head poked at every time she sticks her head out of "the box", she may not try anymore. That would be a great loss to this forum. Personally for me the images with the firearms are not forced. For me images with and eggbeater would surely be forced and out of place. My intent is not to fuel the "firearm" issue. We can't always like the content of an image, and we should take them for what they are. I don't feel it's my place to judge the subject matter. JMHO

Apr 21, 2014 at 10:07 AM

Sharona
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p.3 #17 · p.3 #17 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Several years ago, my oldest and dearest friend lost her 24-year-old nephew. He was found, wrapped in a blanket and duct tape, stuck in a closet in his apartment. As the story played out, he and his roommate were messing around, and Jake (not real name) was accidentally shot. Jake was a longtime hunter; he and his dad enjoyed that past time and Jake had all the requisite gun training. Yet, Jake is dead. Jake's dad nearly died, too. He drank himself into oblivion, lost his job, nearly lost his home and his life. His life was completely shattered when he lost his best buddy. He can no longer work, and barely scrapes by. He is nothing but a shell. This could happen to any parent. Even those whose children are well trained in handling weapons.

I saw the photos and comments on Facebook, and had planned to just ignore it all. I was actually stunned that these photos weren't a joke. I thought the photographer was having a laugh with her daughter holding that large rifle. I was wrong. The right to bear arms, train your children, I won't deny that and I won't judge it. But some sensitivity on this subject, and in your responses to people - when children at school and shoppers at malls are being gunned down by people who are unstable but have access to guns - is definitely warranted in my humble opinion.

These photos, as ART, are open to interpretation, and not everyone will interpret them the way the artist does. On Facebook, there was a photo of Calista, lying on the ground face up, eyes staring blankly into the sky, with her holding the gun pointing up into the sky. The title of the photo: Daydreaming. A lot of people were scratching their heads, wondering what the heck a teenager, holding a gun, staring into the sky, might be daydreaming about. Many suggested suicide. All anyone got from Lisa were snide comments, about it being the artistic right of the photographer, guns don't kill people, people kill people... These were questions by people who totally love Lisa's work and were confused about the photos. They really didn't SEEM like Lisa's style.

I would very much like to hear from Lisa on what the artistic vision was. I agree that the gun photos just look forced. I don't see any artistic statements about this set, and many people have asked. All I hear is I believe in my 2A rights and I am the photographer, therefore I have the right to photograph my daughter with a gun. Sure, you do. But what was the artistic vision behind the photos? I would love to know.

And, I'm sorry, I know the photographer isn't interested in this part of the discussion, but when images are posted, commentary is fair game. As my mom taught me, you gotta take the bitter with the sweet. And I will edit to add that I have always enjoyed and have been inspired by Lisa's work and often post complimentary things in her posts.

Edited on Apr 21, 2014 at 10:29 AM · View previous versions

Apr 21, 2014 at 10:14 AM

Lisa_Holloway
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p.3 #18 · p.3 #18 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

Thank you all for the comments and thoughts here. I figured it would get mixed reactions. The guns were purposefully introduced into this series as part of my play on contrasts. I love how they came out (and so does my daughter). I respect that not all will share the same feelings. I even debated posting them here but though that since they were a bit different from what I usually do - why not. On another note, this shoot has propelled me to make a change that's been eating at me for a very long time now. I am going to finish the client sessions that I have on my calendar and then I will no longer be taking any further client sessions. Photography has slowly become a drudgery for me. I want my fun hobby back. And I felt that spark again while out shooting these images for MYSELF and want to reclaim that.

Apr 21, 2014 at 10:19 AM

MazeRunner
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p.3 #19 · p.3 #19 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

I like the framing and post, but I'm just curious (I have nothing against citizens owning guns): what was the reasoning behind including the guns? Because although it gives a different look, it could've been anything else, such as a bow and arrow, a lasso, a guitar, a vintage camera. Were you trying to make a statement by including them? I really don't think a gun makes a female any more masculine (since I do know women who own guns and shoot).

*Just picking your brain, if you would allow me/a few of us to.*

Edited on Apr 21, 2014 at 10:33 AM · View previous versions

Apr 21, 2014 at 10:22 AM

Lisa_Holloway
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p.3 #20 · p.3 #20 · My Stunning Daughter - an experiment in contrast and juxtaposition

I've already stated what my artistic vision was behind the photos, Sharon. I wanted to play with contrasting elements. A juxtaposition of a pretty, feminine, almost flower child girl and the harsh elements of the cracked earth and the more 'masculine' element of the guns. Kind of a good girl with a bad side look.

Apr 21, 2014 at 10:23 AM

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