ehs photo

July 31st, 2019

“Summertime Magic”

Happy last day of the July Photo Challenge 2019! Go make some magic today on this last and final day.

We beat our own record this year with over 575 photographs from*:

- 14 current/former EHS students

- 4 current/former students from other HCPS schools (JOHS, NHHS, and PMHS!)

- 4 HCPS art/photo teachers

- 1 HCPS administrator

- 1 HCPSS administrator

- 1 HCPSS art teacher

- 2 BCPS art teachers

- 2 high school photo teachers in Massachusetts

- 1 high school photo teacher in Kentucky

- 1 high school photo student in Massachusetts

- 2 Maryland residents

- 1 Pennsylvania resident

*(if you have been quietly participating with a private account and would like to have your participation counted in the above stats, please let me know!)

July 30th, 2019

“Break-Thru”

- these photographs of exploding light bulbs filled with various colorful objects/substances by Indiana-based artist, Jon Smith!

July 29th, 2019

“Horizon Line”

- New York City-based photographer Daniel Kukla uses mirrors placed in landscapes to photograph “endless horizons”

- New Orleans-based artist Lee Deigaard cleverly photographs horses’ bodies to look like landscape photographs

- Barbara Levine and Martin Venezky, both United States-based artists, collaborate on this project to create new photographs from multiple slices of other imagery

July 28th, 2019

“Cold, Cold, Cold”

- Greece-based artist Georgia Matsamaki freezes flowers and photographs them! Click the “i” on the sidebar of the link above to read about her process (it involves a plastic bag)

- Australian artist Heidi Romano photographs the up-close textures/colors of frozen water

- United States-based artist Justin James Reed photographs the cold, lifeless architecture of American suburbia in his project “New Cities”

July 27th, 2019

“Ghost”

- How to Photograph a Ghost (did you know people used to do this in the late 19th - early 20th century and sell the results to believers who thought they were truly buying images of ghosts? #Last-MinuteSummerJobIdeas)

- Hungarian artist Rina Shapira’s series “The Ghosts of 395″ (these look similar to what you would achieve if you clicked the “how to photograph a ghost” link above)

July 26th, 2019

“A Letter to My Younger Self”

Consider representing your own childhood in some way for today’s prompt. Think about a particular memory or object...looking back, what would you say to younger-you?

- 101 photos capturing the magic and heartbreak of childhood

- Ireland-based photographer Mark Nixon’s project “Much Loved”, documenting the stuffed animals that belonged to his subjects and the stories they told about them

- United States-based artist Philip Toledano’s very sad/moving project about caring for his elderly father, “Days With My Father”

July 25th, 2019

“In My Head”

- lots of really powerful work addressing mental health is on the Lenscratch blog (click here for many different photographers working with this topic)

- Los Angeles-based artist Victor Ramos uses photography to visualize his experience with autism after being diagnosed in his 50s

- Texas-based artist John William Keedy’s project “It’s Hardly Noticeable”, which uses photography to visualize his experience with anxiety-based mental illness

July 24th, 2019

“Ordinary”

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” — Elliot Erwitt

- photographer Leann Shamash’s portraits of ordinary objects

- this zine called “Ordinary” that comes out 4 times a year. 20 artists are given the same object and told to photograph it. here’s the Q-tip issue

- this 6 minute video on finding extraordinary things in the ordinary when doing night photography

July 23rd, 2019

“Fingers Crossed”

- want to photograph close-ups of hands? look at Italian artist Paolo Rossi’s project, “Hanz”

- Italian-london photographer Michela Carmazzi made these portraits of herself and others wearing facemasks of British celebrities/politicians as a critical look at the results of Brexit in her project, “I Wish I Were British” (I love these so much, they are so strange)

July 22nd, 2019

“Process”

Consider approaching today in one of two ways:

1. Show/explain your photographic process! How do you decide what to shoot, where to shoot, and when to shoot? What kinds of things/people inspire you? 

2. Represent or interpret the word “process”

- there are lots of different ways that “process” comes into play in photography: sometimes processing refers to how the image is edited/manipulated (some creative ideas here) and sometimes it refers to how the image was taken (lots of different process ideas here)

- collaborative United States-based artists Barbara Ciurej and Lindsay Lochman’s project, “Processed Views”, where they construct diorama landscapes using heavily processed foods

July 21st, 2019

“Cool Blue”

- Most of us are aware of Golden Hour (the hour right before sunrise and sunset when everything is “golden”) but are you familiar with Blue Hour? It’s the hour before and after sunset when everything is muted and blue. Use this website for inspiration and a calculator to tell you when Blue Hour will occur in your city!

- 30 more photos with a blue color scheme for some visual inspiration

- Australian photographer Gina Cawley’s series “Blue Elements”, photographing abstract images of blue liquids

- Wisconsin-based Photojournalist Carl Corey’s portrait project, “Blue - A Portrait of the American Worker”

July 20th, 2019

“Nuisance”

Today, consider one of two approaches: photographing something that is a nuisance/annoying, or taking Stephen Shore’s approach as described in this article (he doesn’t see things like power lines/imperfections in photographs as nuisances, rather he tries to just observe the world as it is - nuisances and all)

July 19th, 2019

“Wild”

- do you like dogs? what about dogs who stand on things? American photographer Theron Humphrey has a dog named Maddie who is the focus of most of his photographs. Check them out on Instagram @thiswildidea. 

- this project by Austrian artist Klaus Pichler, “Just the Two of Us”, examines cosplay costumes being worn by cosplayers doing every day activities in their homes

 July 18th, 2019

“Pattern”

- Yemeni-Bosnian-American artist Alia Ali’s powerful portrait project “Cast No Evil” 

- UK-based photographer Alex Bamford’s fun series, “Collections”. PS: When artists collect multiple photographs/works of art of the same subject into one larger artwork, we call this a Typology. One of the best known examples of typologies in photography is the work of German husband and wife artist duo, Bernd and Hilla Becher, who photographed water towers together for over 30 years.

- Uruguay-based artist Jorge Idiarte Borda’s project, “Textures and Patterns in Nature”

July 17th, 2019

“Bad Luck”

- 25 bad luck superstitions from around the world for some idea inspiration

- Australian artist Juliet Wong’s project “Good Luck, Bad Luck” about superstitions from her experiences with Chinese culture

July 16th, 2019

“Slow”

Consider using a slow shutter speed today and/or photographing whatever  “slowness” means to you. 

iPhone users, you can utilize an app like Slow Shutter or the built in “long exposure” effect that comes available when you take a picture with the “live photo” setting turned on. Swipe up on the picture and choose “long exposure”. DSLR users, try a shutter speed 1/15th of a second or slower.

- here are 6 creative ways to use long exposures

- New Mexico-based artist Danae Falliers’ colorful slow exposures of all kinds of subjects that almost look like paintings (landscapes, bookshelves, etc)

- Want to try night photography? Check out New York-based artist Mark Lyon, who uses long exposure techniques to photograph empty car wash stations at night and this article with 11 short interviews/examples of night photographers who find mischief and magic after dark

July 15th, 2019

“Energy”

- are you familiar with aura portraits? you can still have them made in Chinatown in NYC (my favorite shop is called “Magic Jewelry”)...or try this Photoshop tutorial for a similar take on the concept using different colors representing the energy/aura of your subject

- this roundup of “energy” themed photo submissions to The Guardian for some inspiration