Sofia Ameti - Style Analysis

Arne Svenson, The Neighbors

Arne Svenson is a contemporary photographer based in New York. He uses a digital camera and a telephoto lens that he inherited a friend who was a birdwatcher. His most recent work focuses on people such as his neighbors and labor workers. His images in The Neighbors feature photos of his neighbors in the building across from him and The Workers feature people doing labor. He photographed these subjects because he wanted to portray the “inner life, the essence, of his subjects.” (http://arnesvenson.com/bio.html) He uses the natural frames created by the building's structure and windows and the natural soft lighting that hits the windows and subjects. In both these collections the subjects' faces are never seen, they are either cropped out or facing away, lending a certain mysterious atmosphere to the image. Even his photo collection, Strays of stray cats, he photographs the cats facing away from the camera. There is an anonymity here but also a uniqueness given to the subjects. 

His images have a very natural feel as though you yourself are peeking into these windows. As written in the forward of the book, the framing and shapes created by the building structure, curtains, and windows, replicate Piet Mondrian paintings and Vermeer paintings with their use of squares and rectangles. The photos are all different aspect ratios but feel natural to what the image is conveying. They are all simple with a few highlighting features such as a toy, decoration, or person in the window and frame. Although the images are taken from an outsider’s perspective, I feel as though I am in the images myself having spend so much time sitting by the windows in high rises in cities and people watching from my perch. The lighting and natural habitat of the subject is familiar and comforting despite the somewhat creepy nature of how the photo was taken without permission. 

Bieke Depoorter, As it may be

Bieke Depoorter is a contemporary photographer born in Belgium in 1986. She travels with and uses a digital camera. For this series of images specifically, she used a Canon EOS 5D II and wide angle lenses. She photographs portraits of  people in their homes. She travels around countries, so far Russia, the USA, and Egypt, and despite the language barrier she spends each night at a stranger's home and documents her experience. In this book she documents her time in Egypt in between 2011-2017. Initially she was in Egypt on a photo assignment but then stayed bc of the “wariness she sensed, particularly towards foreign journalists” after the revolution in 2011. (https://www.canon-europe.com/pro/stories/bieke-depoorter-photojournalism/) What is so interesting about this book is that Depoorter went back to Egypt with a draft of her book and let citizens write over the images with questions and comments that give insight to the atmosphere in Egypt and the mindset of the citizens. I love that she included these comments because through my initial viewing I really loved her images and assumed the writing was about the people in the images. However, once I went page by page through the translations, I had a new understanding of the images and how people view the images through a cultural lens. For example, many of the comments were about how her photos did not follow religious constructs because she photographed women in their homes, men with their clothes off, and much more. 

Her images feature rich and deep colors, specifically a lot of yellows, oranges, blues, and greens. They feature mainly portraits of people in their homes in a relaxed and comfortable state. Sprinkled throughout are photos subjects have given her to include in her book. Aside from the distinguishable writing on the photographs, her images are unique and distinguishable because of how she photographs the people. Looking at the images I feel as though I am in the house with the people and experiencing their lives first hand. The environments she stays in naturally create and crowd the frame and provide an insight into these peoples lives. All the photos were taken after dark as well and contribute to the paranoia revealed in the comments on the photos and the climate in Egypt during this time. 

Francesco Nonino, Atmospheres

Francesco Nonino is a contemporary photographer born in Udine, Italy in 1960. I was unable to find what type of equipment he uses but if I had to guess it looks and feels like a film camera and they were most likely taken with a wide angle. He photographs the environment, and specifically in Atmospheres he photographs the sky and landscape below it. He photographs the environment and specifically the sky to portray the emotions from the sky and from a scientific perspective. He has a scientific degree and interests and much of what he photographs chronicles some type of science whether it's clouds or plants.

His photographs are high contrast monochromatic and are of vast landscapes. The setting/location/landscape only occupies the very lower third/bottom most part of the image. The sky dwarfs the landscape no matter what the landscape is, tall buildings, small towns, or trees. There is occasional motion blur within the images when people are present but for the most part the swooping of the clouds provide the feeling of motion. There is an elegance to these photos and a sense of tranquility yet also a brooding feeling. Although it is a still image, you can feel the tension and the fleeting moment of the image. The landscape grounds the image and gives it context to a time and place. I like his work a lot because his images are stunning portraits of the sky and make the sky a character. The sky is his subject and these photos are “candids.” There is something unique about the way he photographs the sky which is what drew me to his images. It’s a combination of the framing, the monochrome, and the subject itself.