Duane michals
Duane Michals, is a self-taught photographer, born in Pennsylvania. He received a B.A. from the University of Denver. His biggest influences are surrealist artists. They strived to defy reality as we know it. "Duane Michals has spent his career pushing against the confines of the single image"(Art News). He looks at artists who deal with timeless issues in their works. He works mostly in sequences so as to add a narrative to his images. His biggest outside influence has been the poetic writings of Walt Whitman. By using text in his own images, he correlates Walt Whitman's style of writing directly to the viewer to his own works.
As a self-taught photographer he recognizes that"... in not learning the rules, I was free. I always say, you're either defined by the medium or you redefine the medium in terms of your needs (PDN Gallery)". In this sense, he was always an outsider in the photography world but people recognized his sense of penetrating inward reflection. "Michals has turned the camera and his vision inward - confronting and attempting to describe the intangible landscapes of his own emotions, fears, dreams and desires"(PDN Gallery). Michals work shows his curiosity with the nature of human existence and how we connect with ourselves and each other. In creating his own works he has to learn to define himself within his very framework.
Looking at his artwork above, you can see the connection that Duane Michals is presenting between emotion and philosophy. Each image in this body of work emphasizes the many facets of the eternal psyche. It also seems to address how we look at ourselves, even internally. His use of reflection in each image provides a great sense of unity. Lighting and setting seem to be just as important to the format as the subject matter is. Each image, with text included emphasize the relationship between subject, inner reflection, and the viewer. There is generally some type of looking outward towards the viewer. Even if it is not present in the eye movement, the strong diagonals lead the viewer into the piece and around it.
In connecting Duane Michal's work to our own class, I see his fight against the norms and standards set in photography as something to think about. In photo I you are taught all the rules about photography; he poses as a staple for challenging those rules that we learned and breaking them. He connects personally with him because of the inward contemplative aspects of his work. I was most attracted to how he examines the connection between emotion and philosophy. He pays explicit attention to the details in the work as well which is something I want to continue to work on. To conclude, I wanted to share a quote on how he thinks. "It is no accident that you are reading this. I am making black marks on white paper. These marks are my thoughts, and although I do not know who you are reading this now, in some way the lines of our lives have intersected... For the length of these few sentences, we meet here"(PDN Gallery).
Works Cited
http://www.pdngallery.com/legends3/michals/
http://www.faheykleingallery.com/photographers/michals/personal/michals_pp_frames.htm
http://www.artnews.com/2013/07/29/duane-michals-fighting-against-photography/
As a self-taught photographer he recognizes that"... in not learning the rules, I was free. I always say, you're either defined by the medium or you redefine the medium in terms of your needs (PDN Gallery)". In this sense, he was always an outsider in the photography world but people recognized his sense of penetrating inward reflection. "Michals has turned the camera and his vision inward - confronting and attempting to describe the intangible landscapes of his own emotions, fears, dreams and desires"(PDN Gallery). Michals work shows his curiosity with the nature of human existence and how we connect with ourselves and each other. In creating his own works he has to learn to define himself within his very framework.
Looking at his artwork above, you can see the connection that Duane Michals is presenting between emotion and philosophy. Each image in this body of work emphasizes the many facets of the eternal psyche. It also seems to address how we look at ourselves, even internally. His use of reflection in each image provides a great sense of unity. Lighting and setting seem to be just as important to the format as the subject matter is. Each image, with text included emphasize the relationship between subject, inner reflection, and the viewer. There is generally some type of looking outward towards the viewer. Even if it is not present in the eye movement, the strong diagonals lead the viewer into the piece and around it.
In connecting Duane Michal's work to our own class, I see his fight against the norms and standards set in photography as something to think about. In photo I you are taught all the rules about photography; he poses as a staple for challenging those rules that we learned and breaking them. He connects personally with him because of the inward contemplative aspects of his work. I was most attracted to how he examines the connection between emotion and philosophy. He pays explicit attention to the details in the work as well which is something I want to continue to work on. To conclude, I wanted to share a quote on how he thinks. "It is no accident that you are reading this. I am making black marks on white paper. These marks are my thoughts, and although I do not know who you are reading this now, in some way the lines of our lives have intersected... For the length of these few sentences, we meet here"(PDN Gallery).
Works Cited
http://www.pdngallery.com/legends3/michals/
http://www.faheykleingallery.com/photographers/michals/personal/michals_pp_frames.htm
http://www.artnews.com/2013/07/29/duane-michals-fighting-against-photography/