For my initial idea I don’t think that any of the artists referenced on the exam booklet would link to my take on documentary photography very well, so I have decided to research into my own photographers.
Eric Pickersgill
His background
Eric Pickersgill is a full time photographer and father working in North Carolina. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree at The University of North Carolina in 2015. He was born in Homestead, Florida in 1986 and spent his teenage years in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pickersgill received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in Fine Art Photography from Columbia College Chicago in 2011. Between 2011 and 2013 Pickersgill taught high school in Charlotte, NC via Teach for America. His passion for teaching and image making allows him to see the connections that the two share. The work Eric makes is often about photography as he explores the psychological and social effects that cameras and their artifacts have on individuals and societies as a whole. Eric has exhibited and presented his work internationally at institutions, galleries, and art fairs such as The North Carolina Museum of Art, Pantheon-Sorbonne University, The Ackland Art Museum, Rick Wester Fine Art, Pulse Art Fair Miami, AIPAD, and many more.
His work
Pickersgill quoted ‘The application of the personal device in daily life has made tasks take less time. Far away places and people feel closer than ever before. Despite the obvious benefits that these advances in technology have contributed to society, the social and physical implications are slowly revealing themselves. In similar ways that photography transformed the lived experience into the photographable, performable, and reproducible experience, personal devices are shifting behaviours while simultaneously blending into the landscape by taking form as being one with the body. This phantom limb is used as a way of signalling busyness and unapproachability to strangers while existing as an addictive force that promotes the splitting of attention between those who are physically with you and those who are not.’
‘Family sitting next to me at Illium café in Troy, NY is so disconnected from one another. Not much talking. Father and two daughters have their own phones out. Mom doesn’t have one or chooses to leave it put away. She stares out the window, sad and alone in the company of her closest family. Dad looks up every so often to announce some obscure piece of info he found online. Twice he goes on about a large fish that was caught. No one replies. I am saddened by the use of technology for interaction in exchange for not interacting. This has never happened before and I doubt we have scratched the surface of the social impact of this new experience. Mom has her phone out now.‘
I find his work inspiring in the factor that he is exploring some of the negative implications that come along with todays overly developed technology which
Personal image analysis
The large format portraits are of individuals who appear to be holding personal devices although the devices have been physically removed from the sitter’s hand. They are asked to hold their stare and posture as I remove their device and then I make the exposure. The photographs represent re-enactments of scenes that I experience daily. We have learned to read the expression of the body while someone is consuming a device and when those signifiers are activated it is as if the device can be seen taking physical form without the object being present. Removed avails performance, portraiture, and photography to question the physical utility of personal devices and the ways they influence society, relationships, and the body. The photographed scenes are derived from observations in my daily life. I ask the sitters to re-enact my original observations of them and seconds before the exposure is made, I remove the device from the their hand. The sitter is asked to remain frozen as if they were still engaged with their device, producing a photograph that points to the performance of being photographed and making them. The project is a form of intervention, calling attention to the use of devices by family members and those around me that I do not know. The making of the photograph operates as a way of disrupting the isolation I feel from strangers who barricade themselves behind their technology. This exchange creates new relationships while also asking the viewer to question their own device habits. I am excited by the way the viewer fills in the device at first look. It is as if the device has become one with the body and can be seen when not present.
Andreas Varro
Varro looked also at the dystopian effects of mobile phones using multiple images and then bringing them together as one. Compared to Eric Pickersgill he looked more at the effects that social media had on peoples mannerisms compared to the physicality’s of someone on their phone. He generates some of his work with the help o artificial intelligence.
His background and motive for his work
Andreas Varro’s internationally awarded and published artwork represents human behaviour through the medium of satire art. He uses conventional methods to create props and construct scenes. Using photography, he captures and manipulates images using digital techniques. As a child, Andreas had a social phobia, and he lived with an intrinsic fear of expressing his ideas to others, afraid of being judged and punished for them. He chose to self-censor during his boyhood which haunted him and was painful on several dimensions. Having a quiet and thoughtful nature made him the target of bullies. Later on, life drastically changed and threw him into the abyss. After his father died from cancer, a man brutally murdered his mother a year later. Andreas asked himself what drives people to do the things they do?
The quest for understanding the motivations of individuals came at a time of darkness which fundamentally reconstructed him. Using art, he started to express the transformation he hoped for in society. The darkness he experienced shaped his artistic style which seems to derive from Renaissance paintings with those illuminations shrouded by dark canvas. Universal themes are inspired from ancient mythical stories which are translated into contemporary messages in his creative work. Over a short period of time, Andreas has received over 50 prestigious awards for his art, and his talent is now recognized worldwide. Surreal artist Andreas Varro creates thought-provoking art and highlights modern concerns like technology, social media, and power structures. By blending elements from myths, stories, and pop culture, he crafts art that triggers reflection. Varro’s art prompts dialogue about crucial modern issues. His surreal art becomes a focal point at home, urging people to engage. Seamlessly blending past and present, Varro’s surrealism sparks curiosity and meaningful conversations.
Image analysis
In this photo Varrous is trying to show the detrimental effects that ‘too much screen time’ has on a young child. He has taken a portrait of a young girl with a screen that looks attached to her face. He has used warm tones with the background being black/dark grey and the only light that appears is artificial lighting projecting from the screen of the phone. Not only does his work look at the obsession from adults about technology but also the developing addiction that the newer generations are starting to establish.