Artist Statement

    My name is Ruth Olive and this year i have been experimenting with all sorts of new photography skills. I’ve learned new editing skills on Adobe photoshop such as lighinting effects, lens flares, de saturation, typography and photoshopping in outside images. It has been a lot of fun and i have learned tons. I feel that I have broadened my horizon and become an all around better photographer.
    In my photos I’ve tried to incorporate styles from famous photographers such as William Eggleston, Eugene Atget, and Annie Liebovitz.  There work inspired me in many different ways. William Eggleston has a very unique style full of color. To pay homage to his work I used high contrast in my photos and tried to capture more of a retro scene.  Eugene Atget was a famous French photography he mostly took pictures of architecture. I was intrigued by his artistic eye and ability to look at building and capture their allure. I went out in the streets of downtown St.Paul and Minneapolis to try and mimic his work in my own way. It was probably the style that came the most naturally to me and I enjoyed doing. Annie Libovitz’s photos were my favorite. Her work was beautiful and mind blowing. All her photos really pop out. She worked mostly with people this was a challenge for me but it was a new skill I enjoyed trying out. Her work used a lot of different lighting techniques so I used lamps and different flash settings. I also edited them slightly on Adobe photoshop with their lighting effect and lens flares tools.
    I hope that my work speaks to people. I want it to stand out and show them what life in my shoes is like. I want my work to capture this era in its best and show off all the glamour and fascinations there are in the smallest things. My photos should make people look and think. I want them to demonstrate not just a picture but i thought and idea that will inspire people to think differently and really open there mind and eyes to the world around them.

Annie Liebovitz

Annie was born October 2, 1949 in Westbury Connecticut. She grew up in a big family of six other children her mother was a modern dance instructor and her father a lieutenant in U.S. Air force. Through out her childhood they moved around a lot. The first pictures she took were in Vietnam when her father was stationed there. She continued taking pictures as she grew up and dabbled in other creative activities such as painting, writing and playing music. She attended San Fransisco Art Institute and in 1970 began work as photographer for Rolling Stones Magazine. She grew as a artist and began to gain popularity as she photographer. She photographed famous rock stars such as John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and bob Marley. They all appreciated Liebovitz for her skill in being able to capture the feel of the rock and roll life style, the way she fit right in with their crazy lifestyles, and catching all the normally undocumented moments. People fell in love with her work because it was so real and out there, she was not afraid to go to the extreme. In 1974 the magazine began to print in color. Annie had never learned how to work with lighting she only ever worked in black and whites but she taught herself quickly. She later published a book called Annie Leibovitz: Photographs, the photographer’s first book, in 1983. She joined vanity fair that same year and was the magazines first contributing photographer. The rock and roll world loved her and she is now known as one of the greatest American photographers of our time.

typography

bestof typography "Connie Wanek"

Homage to eugene atget

This is a collection of images some taken by me and one by Eugene Atget who was my inspiration for the photos in this slide show. Most of the photos here are both me and Eugene's. I picked some of my favorites of his a combined them with mine using adobe photo shop. I cut out objects from my photos and from his and combined them to make the final photographs that you see above.

Eugene Atget

Eugene Atget was born in Libourne France in 1857.  He was orphaned at 7 and raised by his uncle. When he was young he worked as a sailor. After that he attempted to be a actor and was only a little successful. When he was 40 years old he quit acting and got into painting. Then after all of that he finally found hes calling and entered into the world of photography. Hes photos did not attract many followers or fans. Eugene was not well known and went quietly about his work for the thirty years he had left of his life. His pictures capture the beautiful arcitechure in the french town he lived. His photos are all very intense and interesting. I love his work and aspire to capture the same type of surprising beauty his work has. All his picture are black and white or sepia. They are high in contrast and have high exposure. Eugene doesn't take many pictures of people and i love that his work is very urban and am going to do the same stuff with my work.

William Eggleston

  

    William eggleston is a very well know and recognized photographer who was born July 27 1939 in Memphis Tennessee. He was raised in Sumner Mississippi and was said to always be a introverted child who loved playing his piano, always enjoyed drawing and visual media arts. He attended Webb boarding school were he did not exactly fit in among the other boys. He did not so much aspire to follow the typical male southern pursuit like them such as hunting and sports he was always more interested in the arts. He went to three different university's but never earned his collage degree. It was during collage though that he really began to get in to his photography. His work started out black and white but then in 1965 he began experimenting with color. Williams famous photos are full of color and contrast and in the late 60s color transparency film became his main media. In his photography he does a amazing job of capturing the era the photos were taking during. He makes it noticeable through the obvious style and atmosphere in the pictures the places he shoots are very 50s and 60s which gives his work a vintage feel that i like. He takes one picture of everything and goes by what you get is what you get. In his documentary he states that he trys to takes the picture of how he first sees the objects instead of trying to plan things out and making them look staged. The photos that he takes with people in them are usually taken before the person notices in order to get them in the most candid positions. William Egglestons work is of plain everyday things but shown in a way we never really pay attention to. He works makes us notice the beauty and intriguing visuals we have in our everyday life but never really pay much attention too.