Photography 362W

Tim Roda photographs his family and himself in instances of imagined and constructed metaphors of family history in hope that the viewer will find the ambiguity inviting and participate on a metaphorical level with the images, which are often modified or manipulated. Images are often cluttered and complex, offering the viewer much to think about, and perhaps wonder about. Roda’s style is also marked by use of heavy shadow, both in the sense of dark areas and in the sense of actual cast shadows, used to enhance the image, or in some instances create the image.

Barbara Probst’s work consists exclusively of images, with 2 to 12 smaller, related images in a set.  While there is an occasional cityscape or landscape set, her work usually concentrates on young people, mostly female, in relation to an environment. The environments vary. Each set invites the viewer to compare the images within the set, which vary from a subtle difference in posing to images that are wide ranging in camera-to-subject distance, color, or point of focus. This invited comparison is at the heart of her work. As one looks from image to image, one sees more and more similarities, and more and more differences. The more one looks, the more involved in the images one becomes.

Almost immediately upon viewing Misty Keasler’s work, the viewer is struck by her use of color and form. Even when people are her subjects, they are used almost more as elements of form than as human subjects. Colors are very bold and almost always primary and secondary colors (as well as black and white). Again, the statement seems to be more about form and color, than about the actual subject in the image. Another interesting feature of her photographs is the exclusive use of the square format. All that said, her subject matter is unique, ranging from the “Love Hotels” of Japan to orphanages in Russia. Her viewpoint is very unique.