shannon price: the portrait

Defining Beauty Through Avedon

Avedon, a photographer of women, photographed women similarly to modern day fashion photography. He always glorified the model's bodies as a piece of art and never created pieces that were scandalous or otherwise bashing of women. His inspiration came from his younger sister and soon developed into beautiful, one of a kind masterpieces that have been featured in Vogue Magazine. His pieces are always tried to be recreated by other photographers but they never seem to come out the same.

Self-portrait as Obscure Object or Desire

Jack Pierson's book Self Portrait is a collection of images of other naked men. The idea behind the book is to break down one's self image and how it is shaped by celebrity, media, and advertising influences. Futhermore, Pierson explains the desire for all of these wants and how we will never be someone else.

A Pantheon of Arts and Letter in Light and Shadow

Irving Penn photographed significant cultural figures using rich lighting and he minimized the amount of distraction around the subject. This made the subject the main, and only, focus and interest point in the entire photo. He goes deeper into how choosing what you photograph shapes who you are and what you consider important.

Is That Portrait Staring at Me?

Fiona Tan, famous for her video/photo installations, was always pushing the boundaries between film and photography. Her piece with the prison guards and the inmates was particularly powerful to me. As a viewer, the piece was powerful because the live short video of the people makes them more life like compared to a still image.

A Photographer's Lie

Philip Gefter, the author of the book, commented strongly on the creations of Annie Leibovitz. He stated that her pieces that were said to be part of her personal series about herself, was just a bunch of ego boosting shenanigans. 

Embalming the American Dream

Katy Grannan photographed models. But, she is much different than the others taking portraits. She takes alot of time before hand to get to know her subjects and photograph was is important about the subjects whether it be emotional distress or maybe physical inferiority.