landscape

Foodscapes

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Landscape photography is a wonderful way of sharing natures wonders with everyone. But this type of photography is not for everyone. Often the places which are the most beautiful are secluded or are best photographed in the wee little hours in which most of us are still fast a sleep.

But some people don’t let nature decide when a landscape is ready to be photographed. Ernie Button for example. He created wonderful landscapes using cereal. In his project called Cerealism he uses the common breakfast cereal to create scenes based on their shape and texture. A wonderful and creative way to play with food. It reminded me of the works of Carl Warner. Take a look and get inspired. Perhaps your next meal will be much more interesting.

Ernie Button’s website: www.erniebutton.com

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International Photography Awards 2012

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Normally I don’t use PforPHOTO to talk about my own work. But today I found out that two of my photographs have been awarded an Honorable mention at the IPA, International Photography Awards 2012. Always nice to see something like that. Visit their website to see the winners and the other honorable mentions. Both professional and non-professional photographers have been awarded. So a lot of inspirational work to admire.

IPA’s website

Winner’s Gallery

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Google Road Trip

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The United States of America has and will always be a place that will inspire dreams and capture the imagination of many. The greatness of the land, the nature, the mixture of cultures and way of living, it all makes the USA a great place to travel around in. A country made for an epic road trip.

Unfortunately not everybody will be able to travel around in this vast part of the world. But fortunately Google Maps makes it possible to wander around in neighborhoods and trough the states of the Americas from the comfort of your own home. Doug Rickard undertook a trip that lasted around two years. He looked for places with vivid colors and certain compositions. Many have compared it with the works of Stephen Shore and William Eggleston. Some of the photos even remind me of paintings by Edward Hopper. Rickard’s series’ called “A New American Picture”. He lets us see a glimpse of americana by using a service meant for many things. And like all artist he makes us look differently at what is in front of us. On the screen and on the streets. So next time you find yourself traveling on your computer, think about Doug Rickard’s wonderful photo series.

Doug Rickard’s website: www.dougrickard.com

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Constructed Landscapes

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Photography has long surpassed the field of merely capturing reality. Ever since Man Ray, artist have used the camera like a painter uses his brush. What we see is never truly what is really going on. Take the work of Edwin Zwakman. This Dutch visual artist creates scenes, inspired by real life, and reconstructs them by memory in his studio. Landscape photography with the control of studio photography. The result is amazing. Life like scenes of what seems to be ordinary Dutch places. Perhaps a take on Dutch constructed landscapes. Every inch of it designed and thought of in an office. Controlled like Edwin does in his studio. Manipulation on a wide scale.

Edwin Zwakman’s website: www.edwinzwakman.nl

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Form Integration

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In the series “Habitat” Belgium photographer/artist Xavier Delory looks at prefab houses. House that can be found on the countryside of Belgium. And perhaps even in other western countries. One specific type of houses can be found here, called ‘Clé sur porte’. Or “Turnkey”. From which the definition is” Urban prefab cluster of similar forms implanted in the landscape without any effort of integration.

I look at the photographs and see visually interesting landscapes. Xavier depicts these houses almost as a representation of a social mega-trend. With little adjustments to the houses we see a closed up habitat were we, the individual, live our lives. Perhaps the words “without any effort of integration” says it all. We are all living in a society that builds on individuality by presenting us choices. And in the end the choices made per individual are not so different at all, yet we all feel unique. And all life our close-up lives without really trying to integrate.

Xavier Delory’s website: www.xavierdelory.be 

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Nature at its best

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The wonders of nature have alway been a thankful subject for artists. Dutch photographer Misha de Ridder, a man who lives in the city of Amsterdam, tries to relate to the wilderness, to the greatness of nature and in the end to the nature of his own existence and inevitable death. He does this beautifully with his photography. He is looking for those untouched places. True nature. Nature at its best. For example an extraordinary shaped tree, the shape of a mountain or the different atmospheres and lights that nature brings about at different moments in time. And by the use of a large format technical field camera, a 4×5 Linhof Technica, he is able to really capture those places that lack the intervention of men. The details, the colors, the softness, all are wonderful and does make you look and think twice about us humans, about how you as an individual relate to that overwhelming beauty and perhaps just to take you away in that ever inspiring subject that is nature.

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Personal Space

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Alec Soth, member of Magnum since 2008, documents people and places. He uses an 8×10 camera. Important for him is to photograph a person when he or she is at ease. He said: “My own awkwardness comforts people, I think. It’s part of the exchange.”

The use of a large format camera brings about a softness that corresponds with the photographed subjects. The softness equals the comfortableness of the person photographed. As if Soth has found a way to reduce his own presence  to that of the comfortable vibe a person has in their own personal space. And looking at his projects (Sleeping by the Mississippi, Broken Manual, The last days of W and others) he manages to truly tell a story by creating a mix of portraits, landscapes and interiors. As if we, the audience, get a look into a world we know not much about. A world that only comes about when a stranger is not present.

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