Category Archives: portrait photographer

Feb 25

The story of the girl in Mary Ellen Mark’s iconic photo

mary-ellen-mark-001

Amanda and her Cousin Amy: Mary Ellen Mark photographed Amanda Marie Ellison, 9 (right), and Amy Minton Velasquez, 8, in Valdese, North Carolina, in 1990.

(Courtesy of Mary Ellen Mark Studio and Library)

A good photograph can speak volumes about its subjects, yet still leave you wanting to know more.

The acclaimed and prolific American photographer Mary Ellen Mark, who died May 25 at the age of 75, was known for her humanist portraits: homeless children in Seattle, prostitutes in India, a family living out of its car. In 1990, she took one of her most memorable shots, titled Amanda and her cousin Amy.

“This photograph raises a lot of questions and leaves me with a slightly uneasy feeling,” says Jeff Jacobson, a New York photographer and a friend of Mark’s. “That, I feel, over and over again is the hallmark of her best work.”

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Dec 5

Amazing (non-digital) dreamscapes by JeeYoung Lee

Resurrection

It’s amazing to witness an artist who embraces one of their greatest limitations, turning it instead into one of their greatest advantages.

For Korean artist JeeYoung Lee the question was how to utilise her small studio space in Seoul measuring  just 3.6m x 4.1m x 2.4m (11.8′ x 13.5′ x 7.8′). Instead of finding a new location or reverting to digital trickery, Lee challenged herself to build some of the most elaborate sets imaginable for the sake of making a single photograph.

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Sep 8

Photographer explores resemblance in family members

(Twins: Alex & Sandrine, 20)

Ulric Collette is a French-Canadian photographer who shoots quirky family portraits. In his photo series ‘Genetic Portraits‘, Ulric photographs family members and then crops each image in half, then positions the different halves side-by-side to create a single portrait.

The resulting composite highlights the similarities between the two people photographed, and demonstrates just how fascinating genetics really are.

Interestingly, if you view each half of the images individually, you can clearly observe how different each person is, but when viewed together as the composite image, you notice so many similarities.

Here are more images from this intriguing series…

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Jun 5

Instant and forever – surreal Polaroid art by Wendy Bevan

This is a selection of images from Inventory: 10 Polaroid Years, an exhibition featuring London photographer Wendy Bevan’s archive, currently on show at The Cob Gallery, London.

Wendy Bevan is known for her surreal aesthetic, and a tender, sympathetic portrayal of the feminine form, working exclusively in Polaroid film.

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May 18

Brad Pitt’s black and white portraits of Angelina Jolie

What do you make of these monochrome photographs by Brad Pitt?

W’s creative director Dennis Freedman wanted a different perspective for the magazine’s feature of Angelina Jolie, one of the most photographed women in the world. The answer couldn’t have been more obvious and ambitious…

“I was surprised that Brad accepted the challenge,” said Freedman as Brad Pitt showed interest and enthusiasm in shooting the portraits himself.

Captured on rare tech pan film, Brad’s portfolio ‘One Week’ showcases private moments in the Jolie-Pitt household in Provence, France.


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