Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Photography and art

Need Suggestion for Photographer of Women

brynnwood — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 11:37:51 -0800

I'm looking for suggestions for a contemporary art photographer who's spent time photographing women of different ages and and sizes and shapes. I'd simply like to view the work online or buy a book if the work has been published. I once saw a series of photographs someone took of women in bathhouses in Eastern Europe and it was amazing and wonderful how different each individual body was. I can't recall the photographer's name or find her work by searching online Ideally, I'm seeking non-nude photographs, maybe beach scenes where a variety of different female (the photos don't have to exclude men entirely, but I'm mainly interested in women), body types is on display.

This is for my own personal enjoyment. I may use the photos as inspiration for drawings or paintings, but may not.

Thanks much for your suggestions.

I need a lot of royalty-free pictures of California. Options?

rileyray3000 — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:51:28 -0800

So basically I need to swap out all the art on several websites with photos of California that we have the rights to use in perpetuity (as well as for print). I realize there's the "buy one at a time from Getty" avenue but I have neither the time or resources for that. What I need is a boatload of pics that I can use for commercial use that are all OF California (as well as some general use pics, graphics and art). A very big collection that I can hand to an intern so they can get swapping. I think in the old days you used to just be able to buy a CD-rom of images. Can you still do that? Are there full collections with hundreds of pics? Or are there any free collections that anyone knows about that are just public use for this purpose? My budget for this is not high (no more than a couple hundred bucks) so I'm open to any options possible.

What Should I Do For a Fun/ Sexy/ Aesthetically Interesting Centerfold?

howgenerica — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:22:51 -0800

Hey guys, I agreed a long time ago to do pose for a Centerfold with two of my best girlfriends in the school's 'alternative newspaper'. It's done as a foldout section in the middle pages of the paper, and we pretty much have full artistic control over it. I wanted to do something dynamic and avant garde because in the past, nobody has really taken advantage of the opportunity, and it's just been a lot of posing with dumb inanimate objects held over the crotch, or in the library, or standing around outside. I want to revitalize the genre. And I need your help! I'm not really into looking sexy, it feels cheap and disingenuous to me. I want to do something with a lot of elements and maybe some major props, like a bounce house. I like the idea of a lot of normal, clothed people being peripherally involved, and high-narrative concept. One of my ideas was posing as nude figure models in front of an art class. We're shooting this weekend, so it has to be SOMEWHAT within reason, but we have a lot of funding at our disposal, and I think we could put together something really cool and weird!!

Info about Nan Goldin photograph

mermaidcafe — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 02:00:27 -0800

I have this Phaidon Nan Goldin monograph written by Guido Costsa, and there isn't any info or even title/date of the (NSFW) cover photo. It is the same photo as you see here: link. I would like any info available about this photo. Does anybody know who the model is, what her relationship was to Nan, when the picture was taken? Any other interesting info? Thank you.

Help on a building an audio experience to accompany a photo

Miko — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:59:35 -0800

For my job, I'm looking for some material to create an audio soundscape for this photo. I don't know much about hip hop or what might have been associated with hip hop culture in 1993 coastal Texas. What songs, ambient sounds, interview snippets, or other (very short) sound experiences would enhance your viewing of this photo?

Where can I find images that are evocative of successful relationship?

diode — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 11:04:16 -0800

I've been looking at environments, especially my home, and seeing how they impact me in terms of imagery. I'm specifically looking for images I could place in my home that are evocative of successful relationship. Recently I placed a couple of photos of a heroic endeavor near where I work. Day to day I see them and they are inspiring beautiful photography with the subject matter related to my work. I have begun assessing what other inspiring images I could have in my life, particularly with regard to my home and relationship with my partner.
This can be a wide arena of possible images obviously that might dwell on images of bonding, love, eroticism, or other related thematic topics.
When I look around my bedroom, for example, I've become aware of how it's become sort of a default conglomeration of stuff and behavior. I'm looking to put some directed art in this place that has a positive impact on my relationship with my SO. I'm curious how people make their shared environment with their partner more of a love nest, or how they transform it with art to make it more of a healing and bonding experience on any or all levels. Thanks.

Funding for photography exhibition in London or New York?

felspar — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 01:24:09 -0800

I'm an established photographer with a large body of work in travel and performance/event, with a niche in circus arts. I've exhibited in the past, and I'm looking for resources on funding/grants to put on an exhibition in either New York or London. Slightly more details:

I'm on the west coast of Canada, and have exhibited at shows in the past. I'm trying to boost my gallery CV with a either a full show in London or New York, or to have one or two pieces exhibited at a well known gallery in either of the two cities. With travel, printing and framing costs such as they are, I'm looking for some way of mitigating the expense of putting on a show. I don't need it profitable per se, I'm just looking for some sort of resource so that the whole endeavor isn't so expensive.

Thanks in advance to any suggestions/resources you can point me to.

Untitled AskMetafilter Post, No. 54

victory_laser — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 19:29:21 -0800

My feminist friend is not familiar with Cindy Sherman's work. Is there a particularly awesome way to introduce her? There's lots of her photographs up online. I'm looking for something with a little pizzazz that explains what her work is about. Criticism, articles, videos, books encouraged.

Journals of traveling landscape painters or photographers?

Cwell — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 12:45:45 -0800

Journals of traveling landscape painters or photographers? I’d like recommendations for journals of traveling landscape painters or photographers from any century and region of the world. Something like the journals of Edward Lear in Albania—quasi-ethnographic, but from the perspective of an artist traveling to a foreign land.

San Francisco's greatest portals

markkraft — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:01:34 -0800

SFFilter! I have a friend who has a photography assignment due on Monday -- six photos, with the theme of portals/entrances. They need to take photos of six distinctive entranceways/ doorways/ portals/ passages in San Francisco. Places that open up to amazing, distinctive sights and vistas... possibly even some outdoor locations, garden gates, etc. that are semi-enclosed, and have interesting subjects behind them. They'd especially appreciate Art Deco subjects and locations within walking distance of the downtown. Can the MeFi hivemind recommend some great portals to shoot, with a sense of mystery, wonder, and excitement on what lies beyond?

Tell me what to draw and I'll draw it

geegollygosh — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:27:23 -0800

I like drawing and photography, but I have trouble just sitting down and doing it. I enjoy art classes where I'm given parameters for assignments-- is there anywhere online that I can find drawing or photography exercises? I'm totally willing to do tedious things like take a photo at each f-stop on my camera or something like that. I just need a little guidance, for whatever reason.

Bonus round-- Even better would be some sort of online community where I do an "assignment" and then participate in a critique.

Mars related art photography

Omon Ra — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 08:55:39 -0800

Help me find a photograph from the seventies or eighties of a space-suit-clad person climbing a martian mountain. I am trying to find a photo I saw at a Seattle art museum about two years ago. It was a large, high-quality photograph of a person climbing up a reddish mountain (in Arizona or maybe New Mexico), wearing a cumbersome space suit. I have the vague recollection that the photograph was done in the 70s or 80s by a photographer with a japanese name (I'm not sure it was japanese). It resembled this picture by Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick, but the angle was from a higher perspective, up the mountain, and the space person was more anonymous, an almost apocalyptic figure. This has been bugging me all day. Help!

Where can I get large poster prints of Andy Goldsworthy's more popular pictures?

ch3cooh — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 23:08:34 -0800

Where can I get large poster prints of Andy Goldsworthy's more popular pictures? I'm starting as a teacher this upcoming Fall, and I'd like to use some of Andy Goldsworthy's art to decorate my very bare walls. My favorite images are the icicle spiraling around a tree and the stones with aligned cracks down the center, but I really like a lot of his work. However, after an hour or so, googling around, I've only been able to find five full-size posters and I'm not thrilled with any of them. I know he sells his images in books, but is there a source of poster-sized prints for some of his more popular pictures?

Artomatic Advice?

JoanArkham — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:06:37 -0800

I'm going to be participating in my first Artomatic this year! Yay! I'm in the second group for site selection! Yay! Um...now what? I know I'm going to be showing some of my alt. process photos and some of my traditional B&W photos. Other than that...I'm stumped. I'd love to hear from former Artomatic participants (or anyone with experience in this kind of unjuried show) about:

Selection: Most spaces will be 8 feet by 10 feet. I think I have room for maybe...10 framed photos? Should I go with one theme? One technique? Or just an overall "portfolio"?

Framing: standardized or not?

Display: We can paint our wall, and (I think) add lighting. I kind of want to do a faux wallpaper thing, but is that too busy? Should I stick with plain white? Or maybe something bold? There's going to be a lot of art there, I want to stand out but not overwhelm the photos.

Selling: Not sure if I want to sell photos at all, or how to price them if I do.

I guess I also need to think of an artist's statement and how much (if any) explanation I'm going to provide. I'd also appreciate any general advice. Thanks!

Like Pinterest, but not Pinterest

DarlingBri — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:01:05 -0800

I'm looking for more online galleries in the visual design style of Pinterest and Saatchi Online. I'm familiar with the jQuery style that allows images to be displayed like this, but I know there are more examples; it seems like a really dominant trend for art sites, photo sites, and online galleries. I just can't... find any, now that I want to see more implementations. Argh.

All links gratefully accepted.

Just look nice please, photos

doift — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 14:26:29 -0800

Re-asking my 2008 question about photographing textiles, now with DSLR and examples. The textile art I was attempting to photograph is an embroidered comic strip that I did for most of 2009 (website link in profile). I was never happy with the photos I was getting with my point-and-shoot. Since then I have obtained a Canon EOS Rebel T2i and am slowly learning to use it. I'd like to re-shoot the comics, and eventually make and photograph more things like them.

I've been experimenting with the DSLR, and replaced the first two comics on the site with new photos; all others on the site were taken with the Canon S60. It's an improvement but I think I can do better, though I can't really articulate how. It feels like there's simultaneously too much and not enough detail, and that's somehow not easy on the eyes.

What I've been trying so far:
-Using this lens, the only lens I currently have. I'd like to try a macro lens.
-Setting ISO to 100.
-Keeping the aperture on the larger aperture/smaller f-stop end because there's not usually much depth to the subject, though I want to make similar things with more depth in the future.
-Using natural light on an overcast day with a window on the left and a big white board on the right to reflect a little. This gets much better results than overhead or raking artificial light, but it would be nice to be able to get consistent images without worrying about time of day or weather conditions.
-Shooting each panel individually and getting close enough that one panel fills the frame (lens usually about 1.5 feet away from the plane).
-Editing them together in GIMP, inevitably needing to adjust levels and colors a bit to get the black backgrounds to match and the colors to look the same across the different shots. I know a certain amount of editing is necessary but it's kind of a pain.

I don't want to spend a ton of money on photography gear at this point, but I'm not opposed to looking into new lenses or lighting gear. I'm also open to other presentation-of-images-on-the-web suggestions.

What paint to pour over my head?

parapluie — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:27:03 -0800

Is there a specific type of paint under, say, twenty dollars a gallon that is safe enough to pour over my head for a photo shoot? ...and that will easily come out of my hair?

How do I sell this valuable photograph of Bob Dylan

Charlie Lesoine — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:11:39 -0800

I own an original and fairly valuable framed photograph of bob dylan which I need to sell before the end of the month. It is signed by the photographer who recently died. Where can I find a buyer? I have put it on ebay but it does not seem like it is selling.

How to photograph what a hug feels like

brynnwood — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:32:47 -0800

I would like to photograph what it feels like to be hugged (be the huggee). I'm looking for inspiration. Have you ever seen a photo or film shot that captures this feeling? I'm hoping this isn't an impossible thing to capture in a photo--what you feel when you're in your mother's/father's grandmother's/grandfather's loving embrace. I'm not looking for anything erotic with this, but more a child's feeling in one of his/her parents'/grandparents' arms. I have a great photo of myself as a child hugging my grandfather's neck and can picture what I saw from my perspective, but the photo itself is from the outside in.

Have you ever seen this done? Of course I don't want to imitate someone else's work, but would really appreciate some imagistic starting points.

Many thanks for your help.

Who took this photograph?

Trurl — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:51:18 -0800

Who took this photograph of Christie Brinkley?

Is there really money in taking photos of trees?

anastasiav — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 07:57:34 -0800

Tips on getting started selling photographs as art? I have taken a decent body of landscape/still life photographs that a growing number of people (not just friends) have suggested that I should sell as art. I am not a professional photographer - just an amateur with a decent eye - and I don't work with high-end equipment, and am basically clueless about how I would go about doing this. Would Etsy be the way to go here? I've browsed Etsy quite extensively, but there doesn't seem to be any way to tell if anyone is actually selling anything, or who the more popular/best selling artists are.

I'm sort of ambivalent/dubious about doing this, but it's becoming increasingly clear that there is some population of people out there who at least claim they would pay money for a print of my work, and we could certainly use even a small amount of extra income. I do have a great local shop that does great quality prints for me (so far just to hang in my own home) at a reasonable price, but I don't have a ton of start up money to invest in a big inventory, so doing the craft fair circuit (or even coffee-shop shows, as lots of photographers around here seem to do) is right out.

Any thoughts you have on how I could start this would be appreciated.

Looking for creative ideas for a vacation photo project

desjardins — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 07:44:21 -0800

I'm taking a road trip through a really scenic area of the US and I want to go beyond boring vacation photos. My skill level is somewhere between taking snapshots at the family reunion and taking artsy photos of flowers and trees. I'm no Ansel Adams. I'm looking for cool projects to undertake, especially if they can later be incorporated into maps or timelines or video. To get a sense of where I'm at, you can check out my Flickr stream via my mefi profile. There's a set of honeymoon photos that were all taken with the camera I have now (Sony Cyber-shot DSC H3), and the photos in my general stream that are tagged "favorites" are either some of my better ones or have sentimental value. Ignore the many photos of cats taken with cell phones.

Besides the point and shoot camera, I have a tripod and a gorilla pod. I cannot afford to buy anything else for this trip unless it's under $50-100. I hear Canons can be hacked so that they can do all kinds of cool things - is that possible with this camera? Is there any way to make it do timelapse or geotag photos? (I do have a bluetooth GPS receiver but I don't know if it's possible to connect it to a camera.) We also have a Droid X that will geotag photos, but the photo quality is relatively poor.

I have some Photoshop skillz and I would love to sink my teeth into a web project when I return. I also have a photo printer so I'm open to tangible projects. So - ideas?

Who is the photographer from Los Angeles with the convenience store photos?

kensington314 — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 02:03:14 -0800

Who is this? And where can I buy prints?

Where is that picture of New York yawning?

JeremiahBritt — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:48:15 -0800

I'm looking for a photo series where the photographer took hundreds of shots from a tripod and stitched similar groups of people together (everyone wearing red, or yawning, etc.). I think it was in New York and I saw it a year or two ago. The site I saw it on had all the pictures on one page, white background. I think there was one with all delivery/service people, one with them wearing all white and one wearing all black. It was very well done, even the lighting and shadows made it appear as if there was a nurses convention or whatever on the corner of Here and There.

What Attribution is Expected on a Photo Blog?

amicamentis — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:46:09 -0800

What etiquette and legal issues must one be aware of for running a photo blog? I recently started a photo blog - pictures only, no text - of various things around town. No people. Lots of signs. Gallery openings. Local storefronts. I have not done anything like this before and do not want to commit any major blog faux pas.

What is 'fair game' to photograph? What is off-limits (both legally and socially)? I love artwork - how much of the art am I allowed to photograph? Do I need to ask permission? Do I need to link to the artist's website? Do I need to name the artist?

Does this make a difference whether the picture is of the artwork alone or if the artwork is just in the shot?

Any help or cautionary tales are welcome!