digital sketches

the following images are quick "digital sketches" i took of a friend, just to work out some composition issues for a up comming photoshoot i am planning, here are two shoots, the first and example of good composition, the second an example of bad composition

In this example the compostion is somewhat asymmetrical but i feel like both sides of the photo are balanced by the different arm and leg positions

 

 

In this example the legs and hand are leading the eye to the right bottom corner of the picture which compositionally speaking doesnt really work, the eye being drawn to that corner somewhat makes the photo unbalanced

Nan Goldin-Misty-1991

Nan Goldin- Misty and Jimmy Paulette in a taxi -NYC-1991

Nan Goldin- Kim in rhinestones -Paris-1991

Nan Goldin- Jimmy Paulette and Taboo Undressing -NYC-1991

I am currently rediscovering the genius of Nan Goldin, her story is profound and remarkable, from her early years as an artist photographing drag queens and transexuals at The Other Side in Boston in the early 70's and then moving to new york in the early 80's having no idea that AIDS would have such a devasting blow on her life and in the end become the context of her work. Goldin's context is of great importance to her work, in a way she pioneered the idea of photos as excerpts from a personal diary. Her main themes include, gender, sexual dependancy, love, sexuality and drag queens. Most of Goldin's early photos were shot with "available light" meaning. lighting that was not pre-meditated. I found an article written by Nan herself which expresses her journey and work as an artist as well as the loss of her lover/muse/idol/bestfriend Cookie Mueller, here is a link nangoldin-oncookiemueller

Nan Goldin-2