Experimental PhotographyTask 1

Catherine Giggal

Bagrad Badalian

Bagrad Badalian is an Armenian experimental photographer that resides between Paris and Brussells. Badalian’s work has been displayed mainly in exhibits, where the audience can view his unique photography style that focuses on a sombre tone, which has been established in order for it to make a profound effect upon the audience. Badalian became a photographer in 2008, where he created his work within a studio that featured low-key lighting, which aided Badalian to include his signature theme of darkness into his work in much more depth. The work of Badalian would be classified as ‘contemporary’, as it uses a range of different lighting techniques with the significant use of mixed media, such as ‘reflective body paint’ on the subject that is featured within the photograph, which is effective, as it adds a sense of vibrancy onto the image itself. Badalian created a contemporary photography book entitled ‘Matter Beyond’ in 2011 and held an exhibition of his best work at the Covart Gallery in Luxembourg in the same year. Badalian’s work is also categorised as fine art, due to its presence in various art galleries.

John Stezaker

John Stezaker is an English photographer that creates historical pieces of art, using vintage photographs in order to compose his final pieces. In 1973, Stezaker graduated with a university degree in Fine Art from the Slade School of Art, situated in London. It would also be classified as a traditional form of photography, as the element of mixed media is used due to the fact that Stezaker utilises a ‘collage’ effect that are combined by using several existing photographs in order to create the illusion of a surrealism, as though the two subjects in the artwork are together as one, in a sense. Stezaker’s work has been displayed in several art galleries such as the Salama-Carro gallery in London (1991) as part of a solo exhibition and has been bought by art collectors. Stezaker is represented in London by the contemporary art gallery ‘The Approach’. His work has been viewed as extremely influential and in 2007, Colin Gleadell wrote in The Daily Telegraph that Stezaker “is now being hailed as a major influence on the Young British Art movement”. Stezaker’s work is simplistic, yet effective and unique, which is why it has been praised by many.

Melinda Gibson

Melinda Gibson is a London-based photographer, who uses a contemporary style to complete a work piece. Gibson utilises images from books and incorporates them into her own photographs, almost making a ‘cut-out’ effect. Gibson obtained a degree in photography from the London College of Communication. The photographer also exhibited her work in London and after graduating, she worked alongside notable photographers such as Wolfgang Tillmans and Martin Parr, whilst experimenting and perfecting her own unique photography style. Gibson’s mixed media style has cemented her as a respected photographer. The audience member can interpret the message of each photograph in their own manner, creating an ambiguous element to the photograph in which they are focusing on. Gibson said (on her photography style) “'By slicing, cutting and de-contextualising the images I start to gain a greater appreciation of the works; I start understanding why and how the these images have been created”.

My brief analysis of a photograph (Melinda Gibson)

This particular photograph is rather unique in the sense that it has a cut-out element to it, which makes it rather effective. I think that the message behind the image is unique and interesting, as the subject of the photograph contains an image of a picturesque, mountainous area that significantly contrasts with that of the city background. It shows that the silhouette subject desires to be elsewhere in a sense. It makes the audience feel for the anonymous subject, as they are initially stuck in a frozen frame and want to escape to their own, personal paradise.

My brief analysis of a photograph (John Stezaker)

This particular photograph is unusual, as it utilises the technique of mixed-media to combine together two images together, which are both diverse, but still capture the same sombre emotion as each other, which makes the piece as a whole highly effective. Stezaker uses two individuals as the main focuses and combines their shared sense of solemnness together to show that we as humans can experience the exact same emotions even though we can be very diverse as people. We all share something in common, which is what I think Stezaker is trying to promote through this specific piece.

My brief analysis of a photograph (Bagrad Badalian)

This particular photograph is rather effective, as it displays an image that could possibly be taken using scanography, where the subject looks almost trapped or in despair, but we cannot detect the facial expression of the subject, as it is masked by the grey paint, which is significant, as grey connotes dreariness and unhappiness, which is what the subject is feeling. I think it is interesting how Badalian has used these effects to display emotion, with using a set colour scheme, as well as hand movement, which contrasts to that of Stezaker, however, I think that this effect is equally as effective, as the viewer is able to determine how the main subject feels, even without viewing their facial expression or through means of audio, which shows that a visual aspect can speak louder than words.