New Artist Discovery: Rob Prideaux

Just found out about this new artist through a little Yahoo! article. This artist, Rob Prideaux, has a new body of work called "Smoke & Fire". He lights gasoline on fire midair, then takes the photo. I love fire and think it is beautiful and fascinating, and like to depict it often in painting and photomanipulation. Check him out!

Rob Prideaux

Photograph That Isn't a Photograph

Bedford Reading Response

Bedford argues that authorial intent is still very important and that in photography it is sometimes very hard to identify. Artists such as Demand that put a long and arduous process into their work, with photography only as a concluding document that signifies the work, get more recognition than those who do many 'invisible' adjustments. No framework for understanding photography currently exists, so many art critics do not understand exactly how to critique a photo. They must look at it superficially, which does not necessarily show the edits and thoughts and process that the artist put into it, because photography is inherently lacking in what often is revealing about the artwork - the handiwork. Without the ability to understand the authorial intent behind the artwork, photography will continue to be viewed harshly and without true understanding by art critics. Upon development of this framework, it can receive the recognition it deserves and take its place among the other mediums of contemporary art.


Dear Mizter Bedford,

I wuld liek to offer you a nice toasted bagel wif creem cheez

Luv Batman

Old and New

'Waiting', Spring 2011

This photo was part of a project for Introduction to Photography titled "Secret Object". This black sphere was my object. I more or less just tried to find interesting places to put this fairly ordinary sphere. This was taken outside of Morgan in the winter. The contrast of the black and the white snow is exciting for me, and I enjoyed the amount of detail I could get in the snow, and the action of the falling snow in the background.

"Fierce Grace" by Tony Stromberg

I'm strongly interested in domestic and wildlife photography. I am a hardcore animal lover, and capturing the life, beauty, animation of animals is something I strive toward. This photo immediately caught my attention. I love horses, and this profile is gorgeous. It captures the movement of the horse's mane in the wind, out in the field, or on the prairie. This is beautiful to me - elegance and life even in the horse's still posture.

Response: Is Photography Over?

"Is Photography Over?" Published by SFMOMA

Though I wish some of the artists responding had been less technical in their opinions (looking at you, Walead Beshty), I think different examples given were interesting. The Copperheads by Moyra Davey, explained in George Baker's response, was particularly interesting given that it gave me some enlightenment into the meaning of a photographic body of work in a way that I could understand and appreciate. Generally it seemed the artists agreed that photography isn't dead in the sense that no one will do anymore photography, but that photography is destined to change and return and be revitalized, and that process is something to embrace and rejoice. One of my favorite responses was by Philip-Lorca diCorcia, who provided some profound insight into what photography is today. One quote by diCorcia that I particularly enjoyed:

After years of questioning the nature of photographic truth we have arrived at a place where truth is measured by the degree of the lie and the only thing positive is a double negative.

This quote is representative of what many of the respondents said: That much of photography today is an attempt to see what cannot be seen, to reveal more than reality as a photo is meant to reveal. I enjoyed the thought, because it gave me some ideas about where I might want to go with my photography this semester - do I want to stick to the real, the classic purpose of photography? Or do I want to play on the idea of what's not there?


Also, to Brooks, I apologize this is more than 7 sentences.

A Couple Artists I Admire

Two artists definitely worth checking out, both personal friends.

Gary Mitchell of Dayton, OH - http://www.garym.com/

Travis Little of Indianapolis, IN - http://www.travislittle.com/