Dates of Artist’s Life: October 4, 1906 - December 29, 2001
1. Personal Background: (5 sentences. Culture, nationality, schooling, important life events, etc.) Gyorgy was born in Selyp, Hungary to a moderately successful family, with his brother being an ambassador and his dad a journalist/photographer. When he was 18, he went to the Budapest School of Fine Arts; he was heavily interested in impressionist painting. However, as he saw Hungary pesentary as a meek and dull life, he became more politically awakened and followed suit of Lajos Kassak, this is when he transitioned to the use of cameras. He moved to Germany in 1930 and began work as a publication, exhibition, and stage designer; all of which made him very focused on design. He later moved to London to find his wife, a 17 year old artist, then to the United States as a professor for Massachusetts Institute of Technology thanks in part to his large amount books on art and design he authored. 2. Style: (5 sentences. What visual characteristics does this artist’s work possess? If you can compare it to a painting or art history style please do.) The work of Gyorgy is very different from any other artist, thanks to his focus on light and motion. His art style is composed of mainly silhouettes or focusing on contrasting features, creating a luring look and bringing the audience further into it. Another large component of his design is zooming into the subject so much that the sense of perspective is lost; this makes it even more intriguing for the audience as they often have to think what is the object. Finally, a large portion of his work showcases his versatility, with work ranging from taking photos of the street, to shadows, to even architecture. If one word can describe his photography, it would be futuristic; this is because so much of his art set the abstract art for years to follow in motion.
3. Philosophy: (5 sentences. What were the major ideas behind this artist’s work? Where they personal, political, social, etc. What were they trying to “say” with their photographs?) Gyorgy has a very unique philosophy that often shows in his photography. He has a set philosophy of introducing avante-garde to the masses. One of the best examples of this is how he assisted in the title sequence of the Planet of the Apes. Another of his philosophies was to showcase the extremes of the normal, strenuous day to day live of common folk. This is seen in his work by capturing workers and daily activities with a unique abstract; this, he believed, lead to him sharing his life views with countless others and influence their lives to help others. 4. Influences: (5 sentences. How has the photographer influenced you in your work?) Gyorgy has greatly influenced my work by looking for the abstract, unseen view in day to day life. This has lead me to take many more images of day to day life and even set up scenes to capture other levels that cannot be seen in a normal photo. In addition, I have been more heavily editing photos, focusing on a type of modern avant-garde called vaporwave or chillwave which uses 90’s-esque graphics with modern twists which reflect capitalism and branding. This and the use of more lighting to contrast the features and create inferences has made my work pop out and look different from the rest. Overall, I would say that his art, more than anything, has lead me to search for more and more meaning in my images.
6. Compare and Contrast: You will need to compare and contrast your final 5 images with the 3 images you choose by your photographer. Write about each piece (5 sentence.) Make sure to use the Feldman’s Art Criticism you have learned in DP2 including Description, Analysis, Interpretation and Judgement.
The first photo showcases Pinball Pete's sign among the other night life in Ann Arbor. This photo employs heavy uses of contrast, blur, and motion to really draw into question two things: where is this and what is going on? Both of which need could be understood by looking deeper. This photo is very similar to "Kepes Bar" by Gyorgy, as it too features a unique color scheme with neon signs in a different light; however that's where the similarities end, instead of using more motion or blur to employ where it is, the name itself can show that. I find this photo uses elements of juxtaposition and value to really draw attention to the neon sign and would say that this photo creates a sense of action. This photo definitely implies a lot and utilizes value well, so I would say it is an overall appealing photo.
The second photo showcases a pair of headlights on a BMW; these headlights are darkly contrasted, much like Gyorgy's photos. However, this uses the rule of thirds along with symmetry to draw in the attention of the viewer; then once in, the viewer will notice the depth implied by looking at the perspective of the headlights. This photo is very similar to the photo "Illuminated Wall", as it draws light in and cancels out all external features, creating a question of: What is this? This question can be answered with a bit deeper understanding, and lots of looking for clues. If you zoom into the left headlight you can see the word BMW. Then you can use the use of value to see that the car is facing toward you. However it's unique as no motion is implied for a thing that typically moves. This photo utilizes contrast well yet could use more background to show off details and motion.
The third photo captures the significant lighting in a bedroom and makes it abstract by drawing a face from it; this face is super imposed and looks almost like that of Picasso, drawing upon the theme of avant-garde imposed by Gyorgy. This photo incorporates elements of value, leading lines, and layering to create a photo that illustrates the values of the world. This is extremely similar to "Illuminated Wall", as it draws out shadows and displays a unique drawing on top of that. This photo really leaves the viewer trying to understand how did all these elements come together and what do the elements show? I believe that the deeper meaning of this photo is that the abstract is seen everywhere in life. I believe that the meaning and the addition of layering makes this a fairly good photo, with my only consideration being to better cast light rays to get starker shadows.
The fourth photo showcases a very common thing in life, the subway. This then is made abstract by capturing an often unnoticed part and imposing it with a face so the leading lines can draw to the center and see the details; even more so, the background is full of values and shadows to imply a unique time during the day. I would say this is similar to the photo "Equilibrium" as it captures a central object among an abstract background, but also hints at what is going on. This photo poses the question: Where is this and why is there a face? Both of which have little meaning, but keeps the viewer finding it. Personally, I saw this as drawing personality from architecture. I find this photo as a great use of lighting and abstract ideas, but lacking in the perspective as macro may have worked better.
The final photo shows a common leaf for Michigan layered on top of a picture of the Huron River. These individually would have very little meaning, but together using leading lines and contrast make it full of meaning. This photo has many elements of contrast, value, juxtaposition, leading lines, and depth, all of which combine to make it similar to the photo "Equilibrium" as it is a leaf against a background with leading lines like the other. But this one differentiates with more meaning by showing the scene that it was taken in. This scene makes it seem much more meaningful rather than a pure abstract object. This photo is overall good, but would recommend blurring the background or other material besides the main object.
7. Personal Artist Statement: Your images should tell a story. In 5 sentences tell me about your images. Use Visual Literacy vocabulary to enhance your report. My photos are meant to capture the daily ins-and-outs of life that are often taking as meaningless and apply meaning to them, much like Gyorgy did. My photos all utilize the central detail of contrast and value; this made it hard as I had to wait for proper lighting, but all ended up okay with a bit of editing. These photos do tell a story of however, whether it be the Pinball Pete's sign showing motion and haziness or the face seen in the subway showing a unseen object in a commonly seen things. These photos do capture the abstract of live and builds on top of one another to create a fluid story of the monotony of life. But it leaves with the impression that its not as monotonous as it seems.