Aaliyah Miranda-Lara

       Matt Black is a photographer in California, one day he started making trips to Oaxaca, Mexico to photograph the life of the community of indigenous people there. He has done other photography projects but the reason why I chose to talk about a couple pictures from the Mixteca portfolio is that I am from Oaxaca and these next three pictures touched my heart and allowed me to reminisce about home.     This first photograph is quite simple, but when I look at it it is like I am 6 years old again and walking to school with my cousins. My grandmothers' house was not close to others like the ones in the picture, we were out farther in the country. The only things around my Mami Ali's house were her store across the street and the river next to the house. But similar to the vibe that the picture gives off, our town was always quiet except for the noises of nature and farm animals.          My mom sent us to live with my Mami Ali due...

  Salgado is a Brazilian social documentary photographer, he has traveled to over 120 countries for his photographs. His work looks simplistic because of the subject and the surroundings but it is all stunning. I struggled to pick just three pictures to talk about, but the ones I picked are amazing. I chose this first picture because of the sky in the background. The mountain in the picture is like no other I have ever seen. The small amount of sun shining on the left half of the mountain gives the picture a spiritual look. The angle at which the photograph was taken makes me wonder what the rest of the mountain looks like. The second picture is the best one, it seems to be taken from either the top of a mountain or structure or from inside a plane/helicopter. It is one of the best aerial view pictures that I have seen, I think it is all due to the fluffy could that your eyes instantly go to. The lighting in the picture is also beautiful, I believe the sun is behind them. The patte...

 I can not believe that I have never heard about Environmental Portraits, ever since hearing about them I have been looking at some artists for inspiration. One artist that really caught my interest is Arnold Newman. His photographs portray the subject in a unique way. The photograph below is of a composer, I think even though the background is simple it is an important part. He is being photographed in his environment and without it in my opinion the picture would not be complete. I also love the mood that the lighting gives it. He even photographed Pablo Picasso! I think the photograph below shows Picasso in a way that perfectly tells the audience who he is and what he does. When I first looked at the photograph I noticed Picasso and then his artwork and the beautiful building that he is in. I think this is a great layout, you first see the subject and then the subject's working environment. This next photo is of a man named Alberto Giacometti, he was a swiss sculptor, painter, d...

Ralph Gibson is a great inspiration for funky and surreal looking photographs, his photos have mysterious undertones that in my opinion give a horror movie vibe to them. The photograph below is my favorite, I think I have a solid idea of what exactly is photographed, but is that hand giving me the finger or no? There seems to be a ball in a boat and someone has there hands hanging on the front of the boat, looks like they're pointing at the ball or giving someone the finger. Also the leaves and murkiness of the water adds an eerie feel to the photo. This next one is interesting as well, especially the way the area around the hand appears to be glowing but it's actually just the sun behind it. You can also see such a small amount of the room, like seriously the tiniest bit of space. But that creates a feeling of mystery and curiosity for some and for others a feeling of getting the hell out of there. The shadow of the hand on the is pretty cool, the fingers look an aliens. Other...

 Michael Kenna is known for his black and white landscape photography, he made his unusual though compared to other photographers. He photographed early in the morning and at night with long exposures, usually up to ten hours. I think he is a great inspiration for some fundamental photographing techniques to help someone learn how to take amazing pictures. The picture to the left makes me think of a maze with the repeating rows of trees. Here Kenna shows patterns and repetition but also symmetry. We could even say that he is also showing lines in this photograph. If you cut the picture in half they would be a mirror image of each other. A good or even creative photographer knows how to capture multiple techniques in one photograph, without this the picture would mostly likely be seen as boring unless there's a known statement being made. In the image below Kenna demonstrates just that. I believe he is incorporating centering, framing, and perhaps silhouetting. The sun is behind the...

       Lee Friedlander is most known for his asymmetrical black and white photography of the American "social landscape". Meaning he photographed everyday people, places, and things, he was trying to capture the look of modern life. One of the techniques that I see him use in quite a lot of his photographs is reflection, this in my opinion brings a lot of curiosity into the picture and truly captures the look of modern life due to the fact that a lot of people now a days take selfies whether it be in mirrors or car and building windows. The picture below instantly caught my eye, I can not figure out what you are supposed to feel when looking at it. The mask he is wearing in the photograph makes me think of a scene in a horror movie and also the fact that the picture is taken in a hotel room mirror gives it kind of an eerie feeling. To me this picture did not fit the look of modern life because it is not everyday that you wear a mask or book a hotel. But you could als...