As slopes are starting to open up and it dawned on me that I haven't been snowboarding in over a year, I thought it would be interesting to find some photos of skiers and snowboarders.

I came across Grant Gunderson's website and was struck by many of his images.

I was almost surprised by these images, as they make you want to stand back and say "Wow". I found them to be very creative - it opened up a whole new view of nature photography for me. To me, they also show just how beautiful it can be when human and nature collide. 

Twitter Photographs

I came across an article on The Guardian about a case concerning photographs acquired from Twitter. 

The case is one of the first to address how images shared publicly on social media by individuals can by used by third parties for commercial puposes.

A US jury ruled in favor of freelance photographer Daniel Morel who took pictures of the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and later uploaded them to Twitter. The jury ordered Agence France-Presse and Getty Images to pay a total of $1.2 million dollars for republishing the photos without Morel's permission.

This decision could become a very important to how these copyright issues caused by social media will be handled in the future. 

As an artist, this decision is comforting. I have often been told not to share my works online for fear of people claiming it as their own. 

Photo Critique

1. I enjoy this photograph although I find the odd angle of the ridgeline to be distracting from the main focus of the photograph - it leads my eye away from the rolling fog instead of towards it. The small building in the middle of the frame is also distracting. The colors in the photo are also distracting, as there is red in the foreground and pale blue in background with a vibrant blue in between.

2. I do not find much wrong with the photo. The squirrel's face and hands are in focus, as that is the main subject of the photo and the most important part. I think it's position in the air makes it a unique shot, as well as a humorous one. The log in the middle of the frame that is out of focus is a little distracting. I would either prefer for some of it to be in focus, or perhaps for it not to be included at all.

3. While this photo has very nice and vibrant colors, I find it to be far too blurry. The artist was able to establish a focal point on the large rocks, but the blurred clouds in the background and the shaky rocks in the foreground take away from that. This photo may be better if cropped such that the smaller, blurry rocks in the foreground were not included. The large rock on the left side would then lead the viewer's eye into the frame.

GL Woods

Photographer GL Woods began shooting fashion seven years ago. Interestingly, his goal is not to land higher profile clients but to gain the trust of clients who will let him create the graphic, mixed-media work he has enjoyed since he studied art.

He says, "The whole point is to get your voice out there and not be a hired gun." His unique collages, cutouts and manipulated images were not immediately accepted as suitable for high fashion, but by paying careful attention to how he presented his work, he was able to begin to win over editors.

His fashion clients now include Vogue Mexico/Latin America,  Elle Mexico, W, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Agent Provocateur, Converse and other brands.

Graphic design has always inspired his work, along with photographer like Jean-Paul Goude. This is evident in his creative images shown below

 

 

 

 

I found Woods's story and work to be particularly interesting because of my combined interests in photography, graphic design and fashion.



Photojournalism

I came across this set of moving journalism photos from the month of October and found the following pictures most influential to me.

A vending machine, brought inland by a tsunami, is seen in a abandoned rice field inside the exclusion zone at the coastal area near Minamisoma in Fukushima prefecture. Photographed by Damir Sagolj

Olympic skeleton racer John Daly poses for a portrait during the 2013 U.S. Olympic Team Media Summit in Park City, Utah. Photographed by Lucas Jackson

An unknown individual rides their bike along the river Spree in Berlin, Germany. Photographed by Markus Schreiber

Russ Rowland

I came across an interview with photographer Russ Rowland on photography-news.com

I found it very interesting that Rowland considers himself to be a "diverse" and "eclectic" photographer. He considers this to be his style because he photographs a wide range of subjects. For example, he likes taking pictures of theatre, portraits, landscapes, and street scenes.

He says that the paintings of artists such as Van Gogh, Pollock, and Hopper are the major influences behind his works. Interestingly, he often refers to photographs as "paintings".

His current projects include a book of subways abstracts, a series of landscapes and abstracts entitled "Postcards from NYC", and street portraits.

All of these projects, in addition to others, can be found on his website. 

Some of Russ Rowland's works that I enjoyed are shown below