Contemporary Photography Project

Stephan Ringer

stephan Ringer is a cinematographer and photographer born in Dallas, Texas. He was born in 1984, making him 36. His work is stunning, but unfortunately because he was so young, he has little info about himself. He has worked for Condé Nast Traveler and Yolo Jornal. His inspiration is not said anywhere, the only thing I could find was this quote which is beautiful, ”The sun was about to set, and my fingers were sticky with pineapple and mango as I boarded a Zodiac to return to our yacht, moored a few hundred yards off the Costa Rican coast. I’d been smuggling fruit from the cooler all day during our expedition into the Lapa Rios nature reserve, unnoticed by the rest of the group, who were riveted by our guide’s sightings of toucans, macaws, squirrel monkeys, boa constrictors, and iguanas.”

Clara Hranek

Clara has almost no information about her life (I assume she is 18-20) She started shooting in 2018 and was born in New york. Her inspiration was passed down from her mother. her mother started a magazine called “Yolo Jornal”. I absolutely love this journal, it is for photography and it has a lot of Greece and Italy, my favorite places. this is where she got her inspiration from, Clara said her mother had “an obsession of Greece.” She as well fell in love with Greece and photography just like her mother.

Contrast

Clara

Differences

Clara's photos are a little lighter than ringers, more informal balance as well. She uses a person/people living their natural lives around the sea, and she is trying to communicate the European life aesthetic through her photos. Stephan uses a higher horizon and lots of leading lines. His photos are less about the person and more about the background, a little more centered.

Ringer is trying to communicate the beauty of Europe through his photos.

similarities

Both photographers use lots of high key lighting, informal balance, angle down, far distance. The subjects are usually female, leisurely going about their day unaware of a camera. They both shoot in Greece seaside and capture Greece lifestyle beautifully for the viewer.

Critique

Clara

I really like how she shows an entire lifestyle with photos. They are all so balanced and modern. I love how the subject is also unaware of the camera. I think she could use a little more diversity. I’ve always had a weird attraction to the European coast, and this just feeds it. Her photographs are definietly my life goals.

Stephan

I love his unique angles. He shoots from unexpected places, and his subject is always a bright and sunny place… it really makes the person looking at the image want to be there. Same with Clara- he could use more diversity, he shoots mostly white people. His photographs remind me of my childhood for some reason. I think that's what I thought Maine looked like to me when I was young and sheltered.

Photos inspired by...

In these photos, I used a high horizon, informal balance/formal balance, unaware subjects, high key lighting and far distance just like Stephan and Clara. The subjects I used were also on the coast and living their lives.