Photographers who use Narratives

Greg Sand

"Greg Sand is an artist and photographer who explores the issues of existence, time, and death"

(Sand, n.d.)

Epitaph

"a phrase or form of words written in memory of a person who has died, especially as an inscription on a tombstone."

For a mother and father of 3

For a Grandmother of 7

I remember seeing these images quite a while ago and they just seemed to stick. I've not experienced much death in my life, I remember 3 of my grandparents dying but at the time I was too young to fully understand death. These photographs still speak to me though, my Nana had Alzheimer's disease and even at the age of 7-8 it was harrowing to watch; although these pictures may just represent the deaths of the subjects there is still an underlying metaphor of memory. I have heard it is common to forget what the deceased looked like, but their connection through you to memories and personality is what keeps strong. I think the use of photomontage could be a fantastic way to explore narratives in a series of photographs. All of the photographs in this series depict cemetery's to remind the audience about death, and although the deceased have been remembered through the Epitaphs they could easily be forgotten and left behind in the cemetery.

Alex Prager

"Hitchcock's undercurrent of fear, Cindy Sherman's themes of female identity, Gregory Crewdson's nightmarish suburbs, the cartoonish nature of Roy Lichtenstein's women - she takes all this visual language and creates something entirely her own" (New Talent, 2010) 

The pieces above are from the project Compulsion (2012) the series has a cinematic feel to it where the subjects look more like actors than models. Extreme closeups of eyes are commonplace in Compulsion, the audience get a real sense of the emotion behind the narrative; the closeups remind me of old horror films such as The Evil Dead (1981) and Carrie (1976) which used extreme closeups of the eyes to convey fear or anger. The photographs are highly saturated which again creates a retro 70s vibe which Alex Prager strives for, I personally believe that the vintage feel contributes to the tension created within the narrative and that the work wouldn't work as well from a contemporary viewpoint; the classical styling of the images somehow make the outcome more real. Of course they may be photoshopped but image manipulation can be so much more obvious in modern photography because that's what we - as an audience - look for.

Melodie McDaniel

"The work explores the idea of faith in all its incarnations with curiosity and compassion... her photographs seek common ground and equal representation, seeking dignity and fairness” (Smithson, 2015)

Sunday Best 1, 1995

House of Worship, 2013

I found this work particularly beautiful, Melodie McDaniel's 'American Spectator' investigates what it is that makes us human. Through her time looking through the lens she saw that people from every background and of every colour found solace, and peace within their own worship. Religion can be a tool to bring people closer together (of course it can tear people apart). I chose these two images as they stood out to me. 

The top image, shows a black man wearing his 'Sunday Best', he appears well groomed and he looks strong and confident. However the bright plaster draws the attention, how did he get it? Perhaps he was in a fight and got punched, it seems like the correct place to get hit. If he does have a violent side then this is certainly an ironic photograph, I feel like McDaniel took the profile shot of the man to highlight the plaster but there is almost a mugshot like quality within the image too. Above him a cross and the word "God" stand out as the only detail filling in the negative space, this adds to the profile shot as he could be seen as turning to God for guidance and support.

The second image feels like it is important, it shows a small, rundown building with a cross that is barely noticeable on the roof. However, the image is still important because it shows that God will listen to you no matter where you are. In England in the 16th century a war sparked between Protestants and Catholics, Protestants believed that God would not want a church to be decorated with Gold but the Catholics thought otherwise; and believed God needed to be worshiped with splendour. This little 'House of Worhsip' may not appear to be much but inside is the potential to show love to God.