Tomaso Clavarino
Tomaso Clavarino is a photographer and director based in Italy. His work is mainly published in media and magazines like Newsweek, The New York Times, Vogue, The Washington Post, Der Spiegel, The Atlantic, Vice and much, much more. His gallery representation is in Italy called studiofaganel. That gallery only represtents 11 artists like giulia lacolutti who is a documentary photographer, Roberto kusterle and Martina Zanin.
Clavarino published a photographic book called “Ballad of Woods and Wounds” which is a collborative piece with an Illustrator called Patrizio Anastasi. It was published in 2020 and the book is currently in the collection of the Artphilein Library in Lugano. The book is a project stemmed from the effects of COVID-19 and not having “a chance to breath”. It is a “personal narration” of Clavarino going back to his roots and reflecting on the tension that has become a part of the ever-moving life.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
These are some of my favourite images from that book. I find the dramatic and dark shadows very intriguing as it makes me think about the unhappy and tense parts of daily life in the pandemic. On the other side, the highlights symbolise the happy and contempt feeling that Clavarino must have felt going back to his roots and reliving that part of his life.
There is a sense of loneliness to these images, again relating back to the feelings due to the pandemic. Brad Feuerhelm on ASX describes the images as “beautiful” but they do contain a “threat to them” or that may be the feeling of “solitude”. These words make me think back to an old story I know called the Maid of Cefn Ydfa, it’s a tragedy- similarly to the pandemic the Maid was trapped indoors unable to see loved ones. This story is an old story from my hometown- therefore you can say that I have also gone back to my roots.
This work from Clavarino reminds me of the work of Robbie Lawrence, they have the same dramatic shadows and they both tell a story of some kind.
There is another piece of work from Clavarino which I like called “Padanistan” it has a feeling of disorientation and loneliness. To the left is my favourite image from that collection- it stands out to me as the subject is quite interesting as it can be interoperated in many different ways. I interpret this image as someone reaching towards something or someone (out of frame) but not quite reaching it again looping back to that lonely feeling.
I want to be able to apply some of the techniques that Clavarino uses to create this lonely atmosphere in my images as I feel like that atmosphere fits the story I am telling- it also catches people’s eyes more often, perhaps loneliness is something everyone can relate to or understand.
Robbie Lawrence
Robbie Lawrence is a Scottish photographer London based who draws inspiration from the Dutch Masters when juxtaposing light and shadow. He mainly focuses on documentary photography and portrays truth and honesty. He says, “it’s important to not focus on what could go wrong.”
In an interview for an article by Its Nice That, Lawrence says that he was interested in the idea of “using a photograph to back up the writing and that image being responsible for telling the whole story.” And he wants to create an image which “tells as much of a story as possible”. That is what I intend to do with my images- I don’t want to be narrative but symbolic and metaphoric like Lawrence is in his images.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
The image above is one of my favourites of his work. There is something very emotional about this piece- there is a sense of loneliness but also content with that feeling. The shadows that cover the side of the woman’s face does play around with those emotions. The highlight on her features however suggests that there is still some hope! The setting of this image reminds me of a church so maybe she is looking to God for either comfort or support; or something else entirely, it’s all up to interpretation. Although I do want my images to be interpreted different ways I am still going to add some background information about the story so it’s not just random interpretations- like this image as Lawrence has provided no background information about this image on his website.
Similarly to Clavarino’s work Lawrence uses shadows and light to portray emotions- I want to be able to adapt this technique to my own work. I want to add minimal text to go with the images, I want people to be able to read the images like you can with Lawrence’s work.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
This is another piece by Lawrence, it is completely different to the one above, but I find it very unique. This is because the whole image is out of focus purposely. This can create quite a disorienting atmosphere but there is something in this image that causes me to be drawn to it- there is a sense of security almost. I might use this technique in my images- maybe just as an experiment, minus the bright colours. However, I don’t think it will work well when creating the correct atmosphere for the story. I just included this image as I find it very unusually pleasing.
Vasantha Yogananthans
​
​
​
This work by Vasantha Yogananthans is what inspired me to take the “journey through time” look on the brief. This work is an ongoing piece which is called "A Myth of Two Souls", it is a study of old Indian lore. The images below are from volume 7 of this series (called Afterlife) which is a story of "Sanskrit epic Ramayana" which is Hindu lore based on the exile of Rama. Reading about this story made me think of the old stories that I know- which led me to the Maid of Cefn Ydfa. Brad Feuerhelm says that "Yogananthan takes his audience on a journey of the story" which had finalised the idea in my head- I was going to do a Journey through time, take people on a journey through history by portraying a centuries year old story. I want people to be able to connect to the past.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Most of Yogananthans images in this project has a solid black background and very dramatic highlights- this is interesting as it eliminates most distractions from the background. I think I would to take this technique but adapt it slightly to what fits my work. For example make the image's background dark but not blacked out. This would hopefully portray a sense of disorientation, like it does in Yogananthans work. This is because there is nothing in the background, the subject looks like he's in the void which can be disorientating.
The second image in the slide is a photomontage which catch my eye. It is very different to all the other images in the project. It has very vibrant colours which pop out against the other dark images. It makes me think about my idea and whether I could make a stand alone collage or photomontage which portrays the story in a different way but still as effective.
The last image on the slide has its background edited, so now it is an unique colour gradient . This image is interesting as the background colours are dull and the blue colour on the subject is quite vibrant- it causes the subject to stand out against the background, it's like he pops out of the image. This is curious as it makes the viewer to think about the nature of a photograph and how it can appear to be popping out.
What if I could take this unique idea and use it in my images? Perhaps not as dramatic as Yogananthans but still as effective. It could help me allow the feeling of loneliness or love to pop out against the chaos happening in my story.
​
​
​
​
Ed Ruscha
​
I researched Ed Ruscha, not because it images physically link to what I want my images to turnout like but because I want to be able to experiment with text on top on my images. Ruscha successfully places text on images which still allows the photos to still stand out and not be lost to the text. The text in these images, I feel, adds more depth to them- more personal connection as some people find it hard to connect to images while others find it hard to connect with words. By combining the two can expand the audience and allow people to create their own understandings of the images.
What I like about Ruscha work is that even though there is text on top of the images there is still not a direct meaning to his images- they can still be interpreted in multiple different ways depending on the person. Again, this is what I want to achieve in my images- multiple interpretations. This is because it allows people to engage more with the images and look at it for longer for five seconds.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Ruscha was born in Omaha, Nebraska but moved to Oklahoma City. He first made paintings which caught the attention of the Pop art movement of the 1960s. Ruscha had a foot in all creative processes: Photography, painting,drawings, prints, artist’s books, and films. This is interesting as all this work must inform the other.
From looking at Ruscha's images I realise that there is a simple rule he follows. Simple font, short phrases. Ruscha almost never writes a whole long sentence on his images- just a short phrase. I want to be able to follow these rules when I experiment with text. i think he follows these rules so the focus isn't taken completely from the image- he wants the image and text to work in harmony. I also feel like if the fonts were wacky or childlike it wouldn't feel as professional or it wouldn't give the images such a crisp finish. The text always matches the background too- whether just white or tinted to create a similar colour to the background, again this helps give the overall image a crisp and satisfying finish.
Minor White
​
​
I was drawn to Minor White's work due to the dramatic contrast between the shadows and highlights. It creates a very moody atmosphere which I what I want to achieve in my images for the Journey brief. I thought about how increasing the blacks in an image can create, not only a dark image but a dark mood. I feel like the darker the shadows the lonelier the image- I feel that this is somewhat true in White's images as he lived most of his life hiding his true self as a closeted gay man, which can be a very lonely existence and he may have chosen to help combat that feeling by portraying it in his work.
White once said "At first glance a photograph can inform us. At second glance it can reach us," This quote really stood out to me because it is only when you truly look and study a photograph to you actually understand what it is telling you.
White's images are very abstract- as seen in the images above. It's almost as if he focuses more on patterns and textures rather than subject. My favourite image is the second one in the slide- the one with the hand resting on tree bark. I am fascinated by human form but it was actually the shadows and texture in this image which inspired me. For my journey brief I want to create a moody atmosphere like this image and I think the only way I can achieve that is by creating black shadows like White does. The texture in this image also is very eye catching, I will also interpret that into my own work as I believe that texture and patterns can tell their own stories.
This image is also my favourite as it does relate to the quote from above by White. At first glance at this image I was just focused on the shadows and texture and how I could use that style in my work. At second glance I looked more carefully at the image, the image first struck me as lonely because of the dark shadows but then I realised the hand has a ring on so it made me think why would this man be lonely? Then I looked more on the positioning on the hand and I think the image has a more longing atmosphere than lonely which raises many more questions about the story behind the image but there are no answers.
The Maid of Cefn Ydfa
Cefn Ydfa was an impressive residence owned by William and Catherine Thomas had two children, a son who died in infancy and a daughter Ann. When William died unexpectedly in 1706, three-year-old Ann suddenly became a desirable heiress.
Wil Hopcyn was a tradesman – thatcher, tiler, plasterer – who met Ann when they were both in their twenties during some maintenance work at Cefn Ydfa.
It is said that she would send the servants away from the kitchen at dinner time so that she could talk to him. After all, he had a reputation as a silver-tongued devil, witty, articulate and romantic. This ‘ripened into deep and passionate love.’ Inevitably such emotions could not be concealed forever and, also inevitably, they outraged Ann’s mother. A rich heiress and a plasterer? How could that make sense?
​
The relationship was forbidden.
​
Naturally they met in the woods around the house, ‘where the young people poured out their unavailing love.’ But these meetings couldn’t remain secret and Ann was confined to her room, whilst her mother promoted marriage to the favoured suitor, Anthony Maddocks, a solicitor. His father was a trustee with some responsibility over Ann and some believe that he made use of this position to engineer a marriage which would enable the Maddocks family to absorb the Cefn Ydfa estate. But then, it would be quite easy to question Wil’s motives too – marriage to a wealthy heiress would not have harmed the finances of a local labourer.
​
Love will find a way through and, with the help of a servant, Ann Thomas still corresponded with Wil – using the hollow of a large tree as a post box where letters could be lodged.
​
Again, their secret communications were uncovered. Writing materials were taken away from Ann and the story has it that she wrote to Wil on a sycamore leaf, with a pin dipped in her own blood.
​
She then ‘trusted the precious love-token to the mercy and charge of the wind that wailed around her room in the hope that the record of her love and suffering and constancy should reach his eyes.’ They never arrived; the Welsh weather as unreliable as always.
Some say her maid didn’t take the messages but burnt them.
Either way Wil, hearing nothing from her, believed he had been rejected, love sacrificed for property. Ann heard nothing from him either. Perhaps it was time to move on.
​
Of such misunderstanding is tragedy born.
​
So she married Anthony Maddocks on 5 May, 1725 and two years later Ann gave birth to a daughter who died – just a few days before she did.
Wil had gone to work in the docks at Bristol after the marriage and in June 1727 he dreamt that Maddocks was dead. The dream, however, was a bitter deception. He returned to Cefn Ydfa to find that Maddocks was still alive and thriving, but that Ann was wrestling with fatal illness.
​
When she cried out for her one true love, Anthony abandoned her. Her mother brought Wil to her and Ann fell into his arms.
​
She died in his embrace.
​
Her remains were interred in the chancel of Llangynwyd church with her father and brother. Anthony married a new heiress.
Wil Hopcyn lived for a further fourteen years, but he never married. He died when he fell from a ladder whilst working in Llangynwyd on 19 August 1741 and was buried close to the western yew tree in the churchyard.
​
He had, nonetheless, expressed his heartbreak in a poem, sung to a haunting Welsh folk-tune, ‘Bugeilio’r Gwenith Gwyn,’ which roughly translates as ‘Watching the White Wheat.’ In it, Wil declared his undying love for someone who had abandoned him for another. Her beauty, which he had watched ripening like a field of corn, would be harvested by his rival.
​
Wil and Ann are also remembered on the Hopcyn Cross, erected in 1927 to mark the bicentenary of Ann’s death. (Opposite the Pub Restaurant I worked in!)
Fernando Gomez
Fernando Gomez is a Spanish Photographer who mainly takes portraiture photos which are very aesthetically pleasing as they all follow similar colour schemes which is very eye catching. His work is the main inspiration for my Postcard project. Gomez plays with flowers a lot and he has human interaction with them which is what I wanted to do! The images below are some of my favourite as they have a warm glow about them. This warm glow makes these images very inviting and relaxing. It creates an almost safe and reassuring atmosphere. I want to be able adapt this atmosphere into my own as the main reasoning behind my idea of the postcards is for them to be welcoming and safe as I want the audience to be able to connect with the postcards and relate missed loved ones or other interpretations to them.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
What I find very thoughtful of Gomez in these images is that he matches the colour of the flowers to the tint of the photos. These images have a golden/ yellow tint to them which what makes the warm glow and the flowers match that colour. It makes the image very attractive and I know that that must of been pre-planned. Again, I want to adapt this technique to my images to catch peoples eyes as the idea behind the postcards is for them to be welcoming and I think that this technique does that. There is a softness about the images as if the subjects were very fragile. My favourite of the two images is the first one on the slide- where the flowers are down the subjects trousers. It makes me thinking about human connection towards flowers and nature and how people care for them and treat them with kindness.
Mood Board for Postcards
Notes and Collection of Aritsts
