Maggie Taylor captures her unique photographs by using a flatbed scanner, not a traditional camera and photoshop. She says she goes to flea markets and looks on eBay for objects that will be interesting enough to tell a story to viewers. Once she has these items, she makes a drawing as her background base and then scans each element on her computer. She plays around with these layers in photoshop to come up with a final product that always seem to be mysterious and creepy. The photo I chose of hers really captured my eye because I learned a little bit about it in my AP graphic design class in high school and just remember loving how eerie it is. It’s amazing how Maggie uses these materials to come up with this sort of “collage”. The use of the shadow really adds a special element to this bizarre piece. Jerry Ulesmann says he creates his skillful pieces by first visualizing them in his mind (post visualization). His final photographs are made from previous negatives he has already taken. He studies what he has already shot and then merges them to portray the specific message in a non-conventional and non-traditional way. This process is also called photomontage. I chose this photo of Jerry’s because I love the contrast between the pitch black background and the white clouds. I also like how this piece is symbolizing something more important than what is visual; he is holding life in the palm of his hands. I think it is amazing how he can combine his photos so seamlessly that it is hard for the viewers to tell that there is more than just one photograph here.
Taylor, Maggie, Birthday Girl, 2000. pigment print. Edition of 15.
Uelsmann, Jerry, Untitled (Hands with boat and clouds), 1996 , Gelatin silver print.
This is a good summary of the different ways the artists approach their media.