Emulation Project

In this assignment, I was trying to emulate Diane Arbus. She was a American photographer that was born in 1923 in New York.  Her idea was to "photograph evil" when she found it within and outside of America's middle and upper class society.  She also took a lot of photos of carnival people (which was what I focused on for my emulation).  Arbus would really get to know her subjects by speaking to them while taking their pictures.  She worked on freelance magazine projects and was first picked up by Esquire magazine in 1960. In 1962, she  switched from her 35mm to more a square format, which is the format most of her most famous pictures were shot in. Different magazines were then wanting her photographs and she became very well known.  Sadly, in July 1971, Arbus committed suicide.  This drew a lot of attention towards her work, since a lot of people were intrigued to see photographs taken by a troubled mind.  One year later, 10 of Arbus's photos were featured at the theVenice Biennale, which would mark her as the first American photographer to be featured in this venue.

My emulation was based on a lot of her carnival photos.  I spoke with everyone in these photos while taking their pictures to get to know them a bit better.  I spent two days at this Renaissance Festival called King Richard's Fair in Massachusetts. Mostly all the people I photographed did not work there (except the gargoyle mime of course) but instead dressed up and came every weekend it was open to escape their everyday lives.  They told me that they felt like they could be themselves here.  A lot of them forced their children to part take in the Fair to carry on their tradition, even though the children did not seem happy about it.  

6 Photos I Have Taken

6 Photos That I Like

Ansel Adams

Maurizio Polese 

Pedro Meyer

Sally Mann

Toni Frissell

Van Shnooken Raggen