The Colourful and Emotive Photography Of Steve McCurry

It is said that colour composition is one of his most outstanding photographic traits, and upon viewing a handful of his pieces, it doesn’t take long to see that this is indeed, a leading talent of Steve McCurry’s. Having the opportunity to travel to some of the most culturally diverse areas in the world, McCurry has been able to photograph a vast range of people and places. His photographs range from capturing the essence of human struggle, to the sheer joy in the lives of his subjects. The majority of his photographs are candid shots - even the up-close and personal portraits. This enhances the emotional conveyance upon a viewer greatly, as his images are often somewhat confronting - the fact that they are all un-staged brings in that element of raw truth. McCurry is driven in search of photographs that will have a lasting impression on his viewers - something that will not be easily forgotten.

One of McCurry’s most popular and highly renowned photographs was taken and chosen for a June 1985 issue of National Geographic front cover. The piece is a simple portrait titled Afghan Girl.

Although it was a rather random snap, the composition is aesthetically pleasing, and the green and red contrast between the headscarf and the background is striking. McCurry is somewhat known for this photograph; the hauntingly stern, and yet somewhat curious expression of the girl, and her gaze directed straight into the camera with her strikingly bright sea-green eyes, captured many hearts of the western world. The photo even brought attention to the ongoing wars, and dystopia-like environment in Afghanistan.

This is the case with many of McCurry’s images, which I find most stirring. The raw authenticity, and beauty of his photographs opens up a curiosity in those who would not normally find interest in photojournalism - and sometimes, even photography in general. His elaborate use of colour and composition instigates a need to continue with my own basicalphotographic work, as I find his work incredibly inspiring.
Below are some pieces that I find most moving on an emotional level.

The Unique and Creative Photography of Erik Johansson

Popular for his strange photo manipulation, Erik Johansson has established a career as a professional photo manipulator based in Sweden; his work consists of mostly visual illusion pieces, with some surrealism here and there. He is probably the most convincing photographic manipulator I’ve ever come across, despite his work being ‘out of this world’ of material. His images are incredibly creative, unique and rather wild - sometimes being to the extreme. Despite this, there is a great sense of realism to the photographs, as they have been manipulated to be very convincing - they give a realistic view on an unreal picture. His most famed piece of work is his image of he himself pulling a road, as though it is turning into a sheet.

The sheer complexity of Johansson’s work is what inspires me the most. He produces such intriguing and intricate designs, sometimes ones without any apparent meaning; yet, to me every one is fascinating. I find myself thinking about the techniques used on Photoshop to fabricate such images, yet I cannot even come to comprehend what he does to achieve these results.
However puzzling his work is, it is amazing regardless - it never ceases to have a lasting impression on me, and undoubtedly countless others. 
Below are some of my favourite pieces of work.

The Charming and Untainted Photography of Elena Kalis

Originally born in Russia, Elena Kalis has been living in the Bahamas for the past 10 years - she is a full time mother, and after beginning to take her interest in photography to the next level, has become an underwater photography specialist. She began her career in photography, simply by doing occasional underwater projects with her children and their friends. Her photographs have a very strong ethereal, dreamlike nature to them. Most of them are brightly coloured, light and graceful - as this is the effect underwater photography creates - although, there is the occasional dull coloured, emotionally strong piece that leaves me breath taken. There is always a sense of silence in her photography; yet, the ideas and underlying story behind the photographs seem to speak through an emotional conveyance upon a viewer, created by the props used, composition, and colour.

A famous series of hers was an underwater version of Alice in Wonderland; yet, she has cleverly renamed it, Alice in Waterland. In this series, she used her daughter as Alice, and proceeded to set up props throughout her pool, which reflected the themes, certain elements, and overall nature of the books Alice in Wonderland, and Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Other works of hers incorporate a lot of themes of dreaming, like my favourite photo of hers - and the first I came across -  which is an interpretation on REM.

I simply love the nature of all her photos, the style and themes of her photography are like nothing I have ever seen before. They are all so elegant, and have such an interesting appearance due to the technique of taking them underwater.

Below are some of my favourite photos of hers.

The Bold and Powerful Photographty of Henri Käck

Born in Jyväskylä, Finland, Henri Käck is a gig, festival, concert, and all around in general- music photographer. He is yet to become renowned for his works, as he is not very well known; however, his pieces are extremely impressive, and deserve far more attention. He generally photographs rock, hardcore and metal bands - anything ranging on the heavier side of music, really.

The effort it seems he puts into his photography clearly has its results; he manages to capture the sheer intensity of the bands playing, and the emotion radiating from their performance. It is apparent that he always uses the raw lighting available, which always enhances the quality of the photograph in terms of its emotional conveyance upon a viewer (flash tends to ruin that, as it washes out all the natural colour/highlights mostly foreground objects). It is incredibly hard to do gig photography in some circumstances where there is in fact, hardly any lighting to work with - which seems to be the case for many of his photographs. Henri Käck impressively overcomes these annoyances, and continues to produce these amazing photographs of live bands. The colours he achieves in his works are incredible, which help to highlight the key features throughout the photographs.

Below are some of my favourite photographs of his.

The Elegant and Diverse Photography of Zhang Jingna (Zemotion)

With a beautifully unique interpretation on fashion photography, young photographer Zhang Jingna - also known as Zemotion - has reached great popularity with her intriguing portraiture and fashion pieces.  After only picking up a camera at the age of 20, Zhang Jingna has already formed a distinctive style to her works of art, and is now highly renowned for them at the mere age of 23.

Her photos consist of rather ethereal themes, often touching in on cinematographic styles. She draws inspiration from her subconscious and dreams - which is rather obvious in her work once you take note of this, as her photographs often have a trancelike, dreamy quality. It is notable that most of her works - although very dreamlike - take on a somewhat bleak, expressionless appearance. There is never a great deal of colour in her photography, giving exception to selections of colour in some photographs, which add a bolder contrast against other duller colours. The expressions her models put on are also rather drab, giving a sense of austerity.

After reading a very heartfelt and explanatory blog of hers, which explained a lot of pain she went through as an adolescent that she found herself re-experiencing emotionally, I found that I saw a lot of this in her works. It seems to me that the outcome of her images may connect to her past; perhaps that’s just my interpretation of it, yet I think it is most likely the case. Zhang Jingna is a great inspiration to me, her works of art are incredibly emotive - which is something I am most fond of in photography (that, and outstanding use of colour/texture) - and I find myself being continuously astonished by them. In addition, her establishing such a style of photography and a fan base for it in such a short period of time is too, very inspiring.

Below are some of my favourite photos of hers.

The Intriguing and Explanatory Words Of... My Rational. (Oh, just so witty.)

Photography - it is one of my greatest passions. What better to write about for a creative response blog then, wouldn’t you think? Because photography is a big part of my life, I found writing this creative response very interesting. I find photography blogs tend to relate to their readers on an emotional/opinionated level, rather than an analytical level. The target audience I am aiming for cant really be pinned down to a certain age group, but more of a range of people with photographic interests.

Each post is written on separate photographers whom inspire me greatly - all five of them having varying styles, which I thought would create a better sense of variety. From intriguing underwater portraiture, to outstanding concert photography, my blog describes each photographer, the dominating themes/styles in their work, and the overall nature of their photography. I am quite fond of colour and emotional conveyance upon viewers in photographs; therefore, much of what I describe in these posts is about the emotive character I see within them, and the colour schemes used to enhance this. I began the blog writing about famous photojournalist, Steve McCurry. I aimed to take on a more journalistic approach to this blog (focusing on photojournalists) as I felt it tied in better with the class; however, after writing about McCurry, who greatly inspires me, I felt the need to continue writing about other photographers who create outstanding art, and I find deserve much more recognition for their work.