Portrait Photography: The medium of portrait photography offers the viewer a true picture of the subject and with portrait photography being the new medium replacing portrait paintings, it became more available to the masses, not just the wealthy anymore. Here, the portrait of William S. Burroughs was taken by Annie Leibovitz and is a true representation of its subject since his face is at the forefront and darkness surrounds him. It's interesting to note that Leibovitz viewed her work, photography, as a part of her personal life. She writes in her book “I don’t have two lives. This is one life, and the personal pictures and the assignment work are all part of it.” This is perhaps the reason behind the success of her portraits. She is able to take someone else and capture such a personal aspect of them. Leibovitz was continually pushed by her former partner, Susan Sontag, to improve her work and she even inspired Leibovitz to expand into photography of world events and encouraged a visit to Sarajevo in 1993 during the war to document the tragic events.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/annie-leibovitz/life-through-a-lens/16/
Decisive Moment: This picture is a perfect example of snapping a photograph at the right moment. Henri Cartier Bresson knew the importance of the decisive moment and here, just as the man is jumping over the puddle of water, Bresson takes the photo just before the mans foot lands so we can see he is elevated above the ground and a perfect reflection is mirrored in the water below. This decisive moment idea was derived from text from the 17th century Cardinal de Retz "There is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment." Bresson took this concept and applied it to his work, creating candid photographs and understanding that it was up to him to decide the perfect shot at the right time. Bresson has explained his transition from painting to photography: "The only thing which completely was an amazement to me and brought me to photography was the work of Munkacsi. When I saw the photograph of Munkacsi of the black kids running in a wave I couldn't believe such a thing could be caught with the camera. I said damn it, I took my camera and went out into the street." Bresson was a pioneer of photojournalism and documented people, places, and events around the world for Life magazine for three decades.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cartier-Bresson
Manipulated Photography: In opposition of looking for the decisive moment, Jerry Uelsmann has opted for creating art with photographs already taken. He calls this work "post-visualization" and creates pieces combining nature and the human figure or looking for images that may work together. Here the woman's face completes the curve of a mans fist and the viewer is left wondering if the woman fears this fist. With the age of digital photography and computers around us, Uelsmann still uses a darkroom and older techniques while creating his work because he believes these mediums help his creative process. Uelsmann is was a teacher of photography and continues to make his own work, but has always been inspired by his own imagination and wanted to share from within images that are unfathomable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Uelsmann
Casting: Casting as a medium allows an artist to create work through a mold, with the resulting piece left after the mold is broken away. Luis Jiminez's Steelworker above is an example of a fiberglass casting. The text helps explain that Jiminez intent with his work is to not only create sculptures reflective of the American culture, but also use modern materials of our culture like fiberglass. He is an artist who worked within his time and in the future his work will be studied and seen as an influence of the world around him. Clearly, from the video we can see that other influences of Jiminez's work is the help he gave to his father who was a sign painter and from my own perspective I believe the colors in his sculptures are derived from those vibrant signs and the vibrant colors found in Mexican culture as well.
Earth Art: The creation of earth art has a unique quality all of its own; it is able to change and transcend along with the nature around it. Above, Spire by Andy Goldsworthy is an example of earth art out in the elements of nature around it and Any understands the changes that his work includes and says "Each work grows, stays, decays – integral parts of a cycle which the photograph shows at its heights, marking the moment when the work is most alive. There is an intensity about a work at its peak that I hope is expressed in the image. Process and decay are implicit." Perhaps Andy's love of nature came from being a laborer on the farms around his home at a young age. He wants to work with nature as a whole and tries to limit his use of machinery in his work if he is able to.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Goldsworthy
Carving: Carving is a subtractive process and while working with stone or wood, an artist must understand the different types before beginning because wood and different types of stone pose different challenges with the medium of carving. Above, Pieta by Michelangelo is one of his finished carvings. The medium of carving sculpture employed by Michelangelo is undoubtedly linked to his residence after his mothers death. He stayed with a stone cutter and his family and with this he explains "Along with the milk of my nurse I received the knack of handling chisel and hammer, with which I make my figures." As an eager student, Michelangelo gave a gift of a wooden cross to the church in exchange he would be able to study the anatomy of dead bodies which was otherwise forbidden. This may have helped with his success in creating sculptures of the human body.
http://www.michelangelo.com/buon/bio-index2.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo
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