Photographer research

David Hockney


David Hockney has often been regarded as a playboy of the art world. He has had lascivious relationships, and he has run among strange and crazy artistic circles. Yet he has always retained a sense of stability in his life through his constant and tireless devotion to his work. Hockney is an artist that has always enjoyed success and praise, facing little to no hardship in his career. What is interesting about his life is not the problems he has encountered, but the strides he has taken to bypass much human suffering and malaise.

I like this piece, I like the composite effect of the multiple photographs, and the way the eye is led down the avenue to the building at the end. The trees and the opening of the avenue give a double frame-in-frame effect, which is enhanced by the vignetting of the photos on the level of the bases of the trees. This piece reminds me of futurism due to the blockiness of the image and the colours used. The whole thing gives the impression of 'moving forwards'.

http://www.davidhockney.com/bio.shtml



John Shaw


John has been a professional nature photographer since the early 1970s. His work has been published in many publications and books, including National Geographic, Nature's Best, National Wildlife, Audubon, Outdoor Photographer, and many others. In 1997 he received the first-ever Outstanding Photographer Award given by NANPA (North American Nature Photography Association).  Nikon chose him as a featured Legend Behind the Lens in 2002, while Microsoft designated him an Icon of Imaging in 2006.  He has been part of Epson's Stylus Pro fine art print makers group since 2001.

What I like about this photo is how the eye is drawn first to the moon, then to the red mountain which leads it to the top-right corner, next, back down the dark areas and then to the left of frame. From there, the eye is taken by the cloud and the grey mountain back to the moon, full-circle around the whole image. Judging by the colours, it would appear that a filter has been used to bring out the contrast.


http://johnshawphoto.com/Index.html

Review

Today I will be reviewing the Walking Dead TV series, which is based on a series of graphic novels. It's about a man who wakes up in hospital to discover that there has been an outbreak of zombies. The first couple of episodes deal with him searching for his family and coming to terms with the reality of what's happened. I felt the action was well-paced and didn't drag, and the characters weren't over the top. The story line stayed on track, and stayed with the characters. My overall judgement is that it is very tense, with good acting and effective special effects. A good example of this is when two characters leave a safe spot to hijack a van and had to go through a street full of zombies. They covered themselves in a zombie's blood to hide their own smell, but then it started to rain which washed the blood off them and they had to run down the street and climb over a fence to escape. This scene also showed the humanity of the characters, as before they cut up the zombie they looked in his wallet to find out what he had been called. The acting was very good, and I cared for their safety.