Experimental Photography - task 1

Emily Monsey

Nigel TommNigel Tomm was born in 1979 and is a professional experimental photographer who is known for creating distorted images that have been taken and then crumpled up to give this effect of it being almost destroyed, yet it still has really positive final look. This style of photography is contemporary as it has been made in modern times and used modern techniques, this is obvious by the first look at this type of photography as you can see that editing has been used and that it generally has more of a modern look. Tomm also uses non-traditional methods combined with the contemporary style of the actual images.This is clear as he uses modern cameras instead of something like a film camera which would be then categorized as traditional for photography. However he also uses methods such as crumpling the paper to get this effect on the images which could actually be defined as traditional as it is a style of collage and isn’t actually using modern methods of doing this. On the other hand I wasn’t actually sure from my research exactly how he is able to do this to the images, s he could potentially be using moder effects on a editing programme. I personally really like this style of experimental photography as I fund it really interesting and different from anything I’ve seen before. This is also a very unique way of shoin fashion/beauty photography and I feel it is much more interesting in comparison to what we can usually expect from magazines. You could expect to see Nigel Tomm’s photographs in gallery’ mostly as it is looked at as visually interesting rather than appropriate for a fashion magazine for example.

Ronny EngelmannRonny Engelmann isn’t as well known in photography as some of the others I have been researching, however I really liked the idea of his images and feel that they are really unique and different in comparison to what is already out there. This is a really different style of experimental photography as a lot of editing i used to create scenarios and scenes that wouldn't actually happen or wouldn’t even be possible to create, for example, one piece in his collection shows someone with their eye on their hand. All of his work uses a contemporary style with non-traditional methods which is very clear from first look at these creative images. He uses a lot of modern equipment such as editing programmes where he can add to his original images and make them as unique and different as he wants. All of his work is very surreal and unique which gives it appeal to a lot of people and makes it perfectly fit in to the experimental photography category. I feel I could take some creative inspiration from these images as it is very interesting to look at which is also something I want to achieve with my own photography work, a lot of editing is involved with this style of imagery as a lot of it wouldn’t be able to be seen without it. This makes it slightly more unrealistic for me to personally be able to include some of these things as I have a shorter time period in which to complete my photography. As this particular photographer isn’t as well known his work hasn’t really appeared anywhere yet apart from on his own personal websites and social media sites. However I do think that this style of photography would be seen in galleries as it is very interesting and unique meaning not many other pieces will be like these. I also think these photos could potentially work for commercial use also as it is really interesting and is able to grab attention which makes it ideal for advertising purposes.

Duane michalsDuane Michals was born in 1932 and is an American experimental photographer, I wouldn’t describe this particular photographer as contemporary as the images are fairly old, meaning at the time they were taken the use of modern technology was limited which can actually categorize them as traditional. The images I selected for the purposes of this research were from a collection that was aiming to show the perceptions people have of themselves and how you can see yourself differently to how other people see you. This is made clear through use of the mirror as it shows how you see yourself in a distorted way as we are able to see what the person actually looks like andaso how they are seeing themselves through the reflection of the mirror. His style of experimental photography is much different from others I have seen as these images don't show the experimental side in such an obvious way. The use of reflection in these particular images shows that i actually is experimental and the distortion of the people’s faces, I really like that it isn’t shown in such an obvious way and it also shows the time that the images were taken as modern techniques haven’t been used. For example these photographs really show contrast in comparison to Ronny Engelmann’s images for example as his are done in a very obvious way as you can see the amount of editing that hasbe used in order to achieve that final look for the images. I feel I can take some really positive ideas from this collection as like the subtle way the experimental side to the photography has been shown instead of using a lot of modern techniques or editing as a way to show it.