My final artist for this week is the inventive, creative Felix Jaensch. This artist manages to rearrange Lego pieces as though they are somewhat look-alikes to animals in the wild. These sculptures are admirable in my opinion because I personally do not possess the talent to come up with ideas like his, independently, and I appreciate the genuine 3-D quality to these proportional, creature things. The gorilla even has a banana to eat! All of these creatures photographed above look perfectly identifiable even though our minds rationalize that animals appear nothing like stacks of perfectly arranged Lego pieces. I am assuming the artist custom orders the pieces in order to create these plastic masterpieces, and I imagine floods of people would love to see his portfolio all within a room at any time. As a photography student, I also appreciate that these creations were photographed in a studio with a white backdrop because I believe the viewer does not have to struggle with figuring out what to focus on. I am noting that the depth of field for some of these pictures could be better, but I understand that photo stacking may not have been within reason for the artist’s marketing. Which animal is your favorite??

For more information about Felix Jaensch and other crafty artists, please check out my source in the link to follow! 

Okay, Christopher Cowan is my third photographer of choice for this week because of a spectacular image I found (attached above), described and titled: A Caiman Wearing a Crown of Butterflies. This artist was apparently traveling through the amazon to complete a study for the University of Michigan he currently resides at as a professor. According to The Colossal, the picture documented above is not too abnormal to the environment it came from because the butterflies and other creatures drink the tears of reptiles in order to get get salt, but I am still in awe regardless... The foreground of this shot is so crisp as we see this caiman just chilling out with a sly, “I’m a badass, I know!” expression as these butterflies make my mind imagine this croc as being one of natural royalty. I love that the depth of field cuts off by the water, and this candid shot is also positioned so nicely as we see into this caiman’s environment. I love that the broken bark at the top right truly helps frame this somehow candid portraiture within the amazon landscape. The butterflies are even positioned to look perfect and none of their saturated wings conflict with what the eye naturally focuses on. The only criticism I can push, even a little, is the tension happening at the bottom left of the frame, but I even find that within reason to leave the same. 

Please check out more of Mark Cowan’s and other photographer’s work in the link to follow!! <3

My second artist of choice to write about is the simply detailed Bego Antón. This individual is a photographer from England who values and wants to protect the freedoms of both butterflies and moths. Through Antón’s pictures attached above, the photographer is trying to show the beautiful yet unhealthy relationship people often have with these delicately crafted critters. I was drawn to Bego Antón when I saw the first example with a butterfly being held up in a container, outdoors. This look is so simplistic yet I immediately figured there was such a prompting message behind the image since the the arm in the foreground extends out and up as the butterfly appears to be flying too, yet it is actually trapped within the inorganic container used by the human. My mind immediately wants to perceive both of these pictures as nice, elegant, but the morbid message beneath the surface daunts me as a viewer. This is especially so as I look at the image with the vibrant butterflies with them all flattened perfectly within the album book we assume is collected by a human. The vintage-looking color palettes within these photos also allow for us to question the purpose behind these pictures, and I personally think these pictures are just stunning, regardless of the political message that purposely says otherwise. Bego Antón as an artist impresses me because Antón has successfully communicated multiple very different messages all within compositions that the average observer may mistake as candid or as insignificant before the abnormal elements to these pictures practically scream at us through the feminine grace of these framings. 

If you want to see more of Bego Antón’s portfolio, please click on the link to follow!