Well I think photos are only good if they're interesting but maybe that's because I don't understand a lot of art theory
that is probably why.
what do you think of this photo?
it's by Andreas Gursky, photographer of the most expensive print ever sold (3+ million).
yes ragnar I love going into to places like those and exploring for real.
On a more serious note than my previous note, it is true abandoned places are appealing to those that are depressed and like to escape to the internet. NOT LIKE ME THOUGHH ;_;
Some awesome modern photographs are here. Apparently the dude talks about HDR which stands for High Dynamic Range. A tutorial can be found >>>> http://www.stuckincustoms.com/hdr-tutorial/
I would try it but im just gonna stick to photoshop
HDR is fucking terrible 99.9% of the time it's used. Including in pretty much every photo of that link. HDR is the metal of the photography world. Actually that's a pretty bad comparison but it's usually used by amateurs who think it looks SICK but really it's employed really awfully almost all the time. the image i posted before was an HDR image and i posted that mockingly. I used to think HDR was cool too when I didn't know anything about photography though.
here's another hdr photo picked at random from flickr to show you why it's terrible ESPECIALLY when it's done tastelessly
Well I was referring to only one particular set of photos he did, and the vast majority of his work does not involve his participation in sex acts with tied up young immigrant prostitutes.
I've been told that his work should be considered as a whole, but even if you do I don't think it's anything to be celebrated considering that it pretty much amounts to an uncritical slideshow of fetishes, sex workers, and a general glossing over of a lot of the ugly realities involved in a lot of the subject matter covered by him.
it's a celebration of the status quo, and I can see why that would appeal to a lot of people.
Earl: This pretty much summarizes what I do love about araki. fyi I have never seen/heard of the set where he was actually sexually involved with his subjects, and i do find that to be pretty disgusting, but what i was referring to was his photos where he uh, doesn't sexually abuse (I don't even know what to call it in this case) his subjects. the only thing I knew was where in one interview he said that if his model is naked he is always naked, too.
on the subject of naked subjects/bondage etc in general: if you look at japan's history, most of the artwork dealt heavily with sexuality (called "shunga") where woodblocks were painted with scenes of old tokyo's pleasure/entertainment district, and they would be considered pretty explicit by the standards of western art of the same era. and even if you can trace back the art back to days of shunga, what is impressive is that he could get international recognition and how thematically universal it is.
what i like about araki is that he likes sex (yes, like all of us), but he isn't afraid to admit it. he uses his choice of medium to express what is natural to almost all of us, yet what we all try and keep repressed in society. especially with his rope/bondage themes - there is basically no trace of fetish in today's society save for the underground circles, and he has the courage to bring it out and publicize it. Even though i'm not into that, I am really appreciative of the work he does.
it's also pretty refreshing to see a photographer who goes against the tide and is completely indifferent to all the negative criticism associated with him. As a photographer it's interesting because he pretty much breaks all the rules of photography in terms of the subjective aesthetic view of composition. although it's done a lot more now with more contemporary photographers he's pretty much one of the first to do so.
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photos nsfw (56 beware >.<)