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Artists
Brian Ulrich was born in january of 1971 in Northport NY. He graduated in 2004, from the photography columbia college chicago. He is now a professor in rhode island. Some of his art is held by private collectors, and has been displayed in multiple are shows. The first Art show he attended was in 2004, the year he graduated. A lot of his art has a common theme of displaying consumerism in america. The picture above is from a series he did called "Dark stories, Ghoustboxes, and Dead Malls 2008-20012" and is called "Rolling Acres Mall"(2009). In this series a lot fo the pictures portray empty or abandoned malls. These pictures all have an eerie feeling sense these places that would usually be busy are empty. In other series like "Thrift" (2005-2008) Portray a more nostalgic feeling by showing items left in piles of thrift stores. Lastly I would Like to take note of his "Retail" (2001-2006) series that has pictures that show consumerism the most. Many of the pictures have a gross amount of products and give of a sort of fake feeling, since the pictures portray stores.
Janieta Eyre was born in 1973. She is a british photographer, and she lives in toronto canada. She studied philosophy at Toronto University, then magazine journalism at Ryerson Polytechnic University and photography at the Ontario College of Art and Design. A lot of her art has a very unsettling feeling, along with a lot of detail. the pictures she takes are usually edited to have two of her and a lot of her pictures are very unique. A big inspiration for her that she shared in an artist statement says "I was a Siamese twin at birth. My sister Sarah died during the 43 hour surgery that separated us. Much of my work concerns itself with the phantom sensations that have remained with me since our separation." You can see this in a lot of her work with her being in the picture twice, representing her passed away sister. In pictures from ehr series "Incarnation' I feel like this idea of her deceased sister still being with her is portrayed the most with almost all pictures showing her and another her that is most oftenly looking away from the camera.
Compare and Contrast
Brian Ulrich-
In the picture of the pink mall that is run down below is one of my favorites. It uses techniques like:
informal balance
low key lighting (more in the front of the picture)
leading lines (where the wall and ceiling meet, the counter of the abandoned store, neon lights on the ceiling)
Rule of thirds (this one could be debated, but the panel that is falling out of the celling)
Repetition (tiles of the store and flooring)
Janieta and Brian's art are very different, with very different subjects and even how they edit their photos. This has made it hard to compare them, but one thing that I feel like they both have in there work is a use of informal balance. In both of the pictures I used here you can see a lot of shadows, which leads me to believe these pictures have very similar lighting. In a lot of Brian's work it is very bright and vibrant, and even though a lot of Janitas work is black and white, the work that is colored has very high contrast. The bright colors they have in there pictures would be something they have in common.
Janieta Eyre-
In this picture you can see on the left Janieta twice in the picture, one of her turned around, and then on the right you can see the one that was turned around away from the camera turning towards it. SHe uses techniques like:
Informal balance
Low key lighting
Leading lines (the floor leads your eyes towards them)
Straight on (the camera is very straight on)
Repetition (both sides of the picture uses repetition through the flooring, and since they are together the repetition of the pictures next to one another, being broken by her turning around)
Janitas photos are all very clear, with not much blur in any of her work, but In brian's work you can see some blur in pictures Like the women in the grocery store buying meat and cheese. In a lot of Janitas pictures she also does use pretty high key lighting, even if it is in black and white, which is similar to Brian's work, which is mostly in stores with very high key lighting
Critic
What do you like about this photographer's work? (think compositionally, subject matter etc…) Why?
I like a lot of this artist's work from the Dark stores, Ghous Boxes, and dead malls. A lot of them give off a very empty feeling that I really like. I really like the empty mall setting and the very minimal amount of things. Looking at a setting that is usually full of people that is empty is a very interesting thing to me . I also am quite a fan of some of his pictures that center around consumerism in the retail or thrift series. They are well made and are unique pictures that make you think about the bulk of items sold at stores
What do you not like? Is there anything that makes you uncomfortable? (think compositionally, subject matter etc…) Why?
There is nothing that I would say makes me uncomfortable, but I like some of his other works that portray consumerism because they do portray the gross amounts of products that are sold. There was one that stuck out that had a family looking at a wall of tvs that was just hard to look at. It really shows the gross amount of products sold at stores. It makes you think about how unnecessary some of it is and how stores feel so fake.
Are there any connections that the photos bring up in your own life?
definitely. I see the amount of consumerism on a day to day basis through photos or just going to the store. a lot of the stores he showed look like ones i've been too and the fake feeling they give off is very familiar.
What do you like about this photographer's work? (think compositionally, subject matter etc…) Why?
I like this photographer because of the obscurity of her photos. I think that the reason she is doing it is pretty cool and how it has influenced pretty much all of her work really says a lot about how it affected her. there are Some questions I want to ask her about her work like why do a lot of the pictures have two versions of her but one is facing away from the camera, you can see this a lot in incarnation
What do you not like? Is there anything that makes you uncomfortable? (think compositionally, subject matter etc…) Why?
I would not say that it makes me uncomfortable, but one thing to note is the nudity she uses in some pictures. I tried not to pick any of them because I did not want to present them because it might not be okay with some people, but they were some of my favorites. She feels really exposed,a dn if you are willing to be that exposed for a picture it must mean a lot to you and have a lot of meaning. One picture that made me a little uncomfortable was the one where it was a women and a baby, and the women had a bunch of alcohol next to her
Are there any connections that the photos bring up in your own life?
It does actually bring up a little bit in my life. When I was younger, like 7, my mom had a miscarriage at about 2-3 months. I don't really think about it much anymore, but her art made me think of it once I found out it was a portrayal of her lost sister. It makes me think how that could have such an effect on someone when you feel like it was your fault. I also just think that the art is pretty cool even if it does not directly have a connection to my life.
Inspired Work
Brian Ulrich-
Janieta Eyre-
Artist Statement: In my pictures I tried to recreate some fo the ones from the artists I picked, but with my own sort of twist. I think that I did a good job with the Janieta eyre pictures, But the Brian Ulrich ones could have been better. The problem I had with his pictures was that where I took my pictures had a very yellow tint, which is not like Brians work, But I think I was able to edit them to make them work. For the Janieta work I really tried to use the informal balance. It was hard to recreate janietas work because it is very unique, but i think it turned out okay.I think that I was able to capture some fo the feelings that are given off by there works and i am proud of my end result.
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