Astrid Navas photographer style

Book 1:

Real Food by Martin Parr

Martin Parr is British documentary photographer and I think this book is a good portrayal of that exactly. This book consists of lots of pictures of food, and although most people would think of fancy set up plates and good lighting to showcase food in photographs, Parr photos are truly spontaneous and in the moment with its true essence and color. This way of showing food, something most (if not all) of us enjoy, is unique because it is interesting by the way he tends to isolate most of the food items he photographed. As a documentary photographer he is always interested in analyzing society through his photographs and trying to understand it. The colors in these images are all full of reality and saturated in away that may even seem unusual at first. I think the main reason the pictures have this feel is because most of these were taken using a flash and that adds to the oddness of the colors and shadows.

Book 2:

Sign Exchange 1993-98  by Mark Grotjahn

Mark Grotjahn is an American painter and who attended the University of California. When I found out he is for the most part a painter it caught my attention even more than it did initially. He is a figurative painter, and at the time when he began this “project”  is when he found inspiration i the signs that we all see outside different shop’s windows and restaurants and other places with such. The reason this book is titled “sign exchange” is because he believed the best way to truly get the essence of this signs would be by painting them himself and exchanging those signs with the actual sign. These photographs spoke to me because I tend to be drawn to the genuine and the spontaneous, and these are exactly that. Some of these photos are even taken at the very moment a new sign was being place at the window/door.

Book 3:

Society by Bridget Smith

Bridget Smith is a visual artist and photographer who went to school is London. “Society” is a collection of photographs from rooms in clubs in London. The purpose to these photographs is to not only bring attention to the ever-changing economy in London but also to pay more attention to the places you surround yourself with. Every single image shows an empty room and although there are not people present all of these empty spaces feel so full of energy from those who have shared the space. The reason I say this is because of all of the colors and objects that make up the space and something that stood out to me when I read this book is a part where they talk about how although different people from different race and age and others, they (the rooms) all seem to have some sort of similarity; and that may be through the structure of the room itself or the objects that makeup the room, or simply the fact that most of these rooms serve the same purpose. What I thought was interesting about all of these rooms is that they are also shown well lit even though it is not been occupied and even though some rooms are highly decorated and others aren’t, they are all colorful and vibrant.