Lauren Rheaume Photographer Styles

Judy Fiskin – “Some Aesthetic Decisions: The Photographs of Judy Fiskin”

            Judy Fiskin was born in 1945 in Chicago, but primarily grew up in Los Angeles, California. She studied and graduated from Pomona College and UCLA, and is currently a faculty member at the California Institute of the Arts. Because of her strong connection to Los Angeles, much of her photographic work is from the area. Her images show the “vernacular architecture” of Southern California focusing on their distinct character. Fiskin uses a 35 mm with silver paper to photograph. All of her prints are 2 ¾ inch square with very high contrast. In the book she explains how by adding the high contrast it suppresses the detail of the photograph creating a look that seems to represent a mental image. In each print one building is the subject and it is nearly centered within the frame, causing the viewer to only focus on the main subject. For the most part, Fiskin centers her work around Southern California, but also highlighted in the book are series from other places such as New York and the Jersey Shore. By looking at an entire series of plates, the viewer is able to clearly recognize the differences and similarities between these pieces of vernacular architecture, something of which we do subconsciously every day.

Rocky Schenck – “The Recurring Dream”

            Rocky Schenck was born in Austin, Texas and raised in Dripping Springs, Texas He was first interested in the arts at age twelve. After starting to paint at a young age, he transitioned over to photography and filmmaking. His photographs present a sort of mystery to the viewer. With the clouded and hazy stylization over the original image it looks as if the photograph is a dream. His images are all about discovering the meaning behind them, and how different viewers could have multiple understandings of the same image. Many of Schenck’s photographs are in black and white, but the ones in color still carry over the same mysterious feel. To create this effect, he photographs with 35 mm black and white film, but places elements over the lens to create to distortion and vignettes. After printing the images, Schenck paints the surface with oils building layers. The subject of his images range from landscapes to portraits, but all have a unique story to tell.

Melanie Schiff – “Sun Land”

            Melanie Schiff was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1977 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. She studied at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her early photographs focused on still life of everyday objects, using paintings to help guide her compositions. Schiff typically photographs with a medium format camera. Her photographs overall are best known for their light explorations. As seen in images such as Cannon Falls, Lemon Tree, and Water Birth her use of natural light gives interesting highlights and emotions to each of the photographs. The images are usually of every day scenes or objects, but also tend to incorporate basic geometric shapes. In the photograph Sarah, almost everything in the composition is rectangular in shape, except for the woman making her stand out. Also in the image is the use of natural light as it shines in from the window behind the scene, casting a shadow on many of the objects. Along with these aspects, Schiff uses mainly female subjects in the photographs, and even herself as the main subject.