Ellen Kooi

 

Ellen Kooi (1962) was born in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. She attended the Art Academy ABK Minerva in Groningen and has been a resident of the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam.  She lives and works in Haarlem, the Netherlands. Ellen has been in numerous exhibitions worldwide and her work can be found in various private and public collections.

The large-scale panoramic photographs by Ellen Kooi challenge viewers to see the world as a dramatic narrative and seek the border between fantasy and reality. Same as I trying to create with my photographs taken in studio just with a different purposes.

She’s photographs are more like stories created on camera when usually the main subjects are often young girls or boys, fitting together perfectly - creating a dramatic and poetic scene mainly the Dutch landscape.

Through numerical manipulation, the artist manages create almost surrealistic palette which disturbs the otherwise almost perfect landscape.

 

Kooi situates people in natural settings and through distinct technical feats creates narratives that recall fairy tales, movies and dreams.

As I read using a large format camera, she sets up elaborate lighting to create a set within the natural landscape. She stages the character to dramatize and bring into focuses the moods and stories of the scenes being created. Every photograph tell a story; some are absurd, some are mysterious and some are magical.

Hours of setting control over lighting and arrangement of her subjects are part of each photograph. 

Compere to my work all E.Kooi photographs are very bright and sharp, you can hardly see any manipulation process. All chosen objects and surroundings create perfect landscape - the streams that flow calmly between verdant banks and the wooded areas with their neatly-planted rows of trees. In this tranquillity occur some events that are mysterious and playful, but somehow manages to calm the entire scene.
 

I very much like Kooi`s idea, something what I wanted to achieve, but unfortunately wasn’t lucky with wheatear conditions over a Spring. Mainly my project photos consists of studio and home shoots, what somehow I have to put together with nature surroundings, from different days and locations. 

 

In this - portrait is joined together with spring flowers, creating ideal pattern all over my daughter’s skin leaving her surrounded by fantasy.

Its maybe not the best example comparable to Kooi`s work, but as I said, even if I having same ideas my style varies for lots of reasons.

 

Similar with Oleg Dou I found this Netherlands photographer after a while searching internet regarding my main subject…children, fantasy and real world.

More from her:

http://www.beaumontpublic.com/exhibitions_past.php?64
http://www.ellenkooi.nl/
http://fotofestiwal.com/2011/en/exhibitions/main-programme/out-of-life/ellen-kooi/

Canon 5D in practise

The EOS 5D is a 12.8 megapixel digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera body produced by Canon.

The EOS 5D was announced by Canon on 22 August 2005.

The EOS 5D is notable for being the first full frame DSLR camera with a standard body size -as opposed to the taller, double-grip "professional" camera body style. 

Canon 5D camera is a main part of college studio and I had a pleasure to try it out. Comparing to my semi-professional Nikon D3000 it’s hard as difference is mostly in everything. Trying to research more I was reading lots of articles from different links on internet to bring more light on the subject.

Considering that, the D3000 is a high-performance DX-format SLR that delivers superb images and boasts a range of functions, which make photography simple and fun and Nikon's intelligent Guide Mode offers incredibly user-friendly in-camera assistance, enabling even beginners to capture wonderful images and be  more perfect for shots that you are not sure how to take – Canon on other side is the Power to Create. Canon is proud to present the highly anticipated EOS 5D`s. With supercharged EOS performances and stunning full frames, high-resolution image capture, the EOS 5D is designed to perform ideal for shooting weddings in the studio or out in the field, and great for still photography.

On 17 September 2008, Canon announced the camera's successor: the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, flowed by the latest version - called -Canon EOS 5D Mark III on 2 March 2012.

The Canon 5D must be one of the most popular DSLR camera for wedding photographers since its launch. Its full frame and good noise control at high ISO are main reasons why wedding photographers love this camera. The image quality is truly professional quality - as long as you get your bit right, what I as a Nikon lover found a bit frustrating. 

The downsides are the size and weight – perfect for studios, as you more or less keep it on the stand, but hardly handy for moving around. But not matter what this camera delivers all it promises- easy to use, there are no shocks to the system when upgrading from other Eos dSLRs cameras. The camera feels solid and sturdy, the shutter's noise is 'cushioned', and there is none of that annoying delay between pressing the shutter and the image actually being taken. Auto-focusing is fast and accurate and the lens gives great quality and sharpness. I have not yet used all its functions, but I will have fun learning if I will get to studio again.

http://web.me.com/videoman69/Steve_Huff_Photos/CANON_5D.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-Digital-Camera-Body-Only/dp/B000BLCDKI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1335465086&sr=1-1

http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon_EOS_5D-vs-Nikon_D3000

Loretta Lux

 

There’s always been an unsettling connection between children and the genre of horror in culture. The number one goal of the horror genre is produce fear in the audience - children suit that kind of role perfectly. Looking at the artist-photographer - Loretta Lux, surreal portraits of young children moment of fear is captured perfectly by combination of still life painting and digital manipulation.

Lux’s main subject matter is children of various ages in choreographed poses and with accentuated features. Provoking questions about our views on childhood and ideals of beauty, Lux’s images create scenarios of isolation and distance.

Loretta Lux was born in 1969 in Dresden, Germany, and was introduced to art at an early age. Her childhood museum visits made a profound impression on her, and, not surprisingly, it was the images of children that especially caught her interest. She trained as a painter at the Munich Academy, and her time-consuming technique is more related to painting than to photography. Like a painter, she arranges forms and colours in her images, digitally creating cohesive compositions from staged photographs with carefully selected models, costumes, props and backdrops.  A single image can take several months to produce.

Loretta Lux’s photographs are not portraits in the traditional sense. 

Lux is a former painter who brings an understanding and passion for form, shape, and colour to her current work.  Her strange and magical portraits of children have turned into a signature work.  

With digital technology Lux has been able to recreate such portraits over and over again, making the process of construction:

 - First arranging the model in real life, choosing her clothes and posture, and then taking a photograph of the child. 

- After taking a photograph, Lux transfers the data to her computer.  

- On the computer she strips away the background and replaces it with quiet settings- grassy fields, abandoned buildings, indiscriminate sky- from her personal stack of paintings and pictures.  

- Then, she erases any objects that crowd the picture; thereby, making the child appears part of the work. 

- Finally, Lux digitally manipulates the appearance of the model and the background, changing colour scheme, enlarging the model's eyes and hands.

So it’s not surprise it’s could take a while to produce such a work.

My own photographs won’t be involving that amount of manipulation, for a very simple reason…I’m not to skilled for that kind of art yet. But it’s very helpful to gain some ideas of this kind to help me realise my own.

 

As you can see in mine it’s no much about art as more about portraits, even manipulated it’s hardly the same as Loretta’s. But getting closer that’s was my idea to get at least same impression.

I really wish to become more original with my own style and trademark, as these days to be something you have to be in the right place in the right time with the right original idea.

Research on Loretta Lux was really interesting she seems like a really talented and creative artist especially because she takes both new and old media and combines them to produce her work - photos of children producing something really ordinary - really unique. It reflects her style, because it seems like once she's done with a piece, it is not just any photo of a child. Her style has something about it that set her pieces apart from other ordinary photos of children.

http://trendland.com/portraits-by-loretta-lux/#

http://www.lorettalux.de/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_Lux
http://www.yossimilo.com/artists/lore_lux/
http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/lux_loretta.php