Barbara May Those who have influenced my work, I feel at this time, have primarily been people I have worked with or studied under. I have been strongly influenced by former instructors and mentors Sant Khalsa, Alan Sekula, Mitchell Syrop, Andrew Freeman and Ellen Birrell.- I respond personally to the work of Andy Warhol, as he critiqued the consumer society I was raised in and rebelling against in the 1960’s. I also have a strong love for the out doors and I enjoy the work of Georgia O’Keefe, especially her drawings and watercolors. Her art drew me to move to the west. It is important to note that my work usually uses a degree of humor, irony, contradiction or subversion to communicate with the viewer.- I am a native of New England and have been living in southern California for over twenty years now. I see this place as extreme. The diverse cultures, terrain, infrastructure, land use, economics and even the micro climates of this one place are a fascinating and, at times, bewildering collection of geographies.
Stephen H. Cahill
- In my case, it is a specific spot that is the center of a perfect 360 degree circle that I can capture as a panorama. I look for an interesting combination of areas and the transitions between them.
- fav photographer? Duane Michals
Eduardo Cervantes
- I respond to the work of Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange - a photo has to make me feel something or tell me something. I'm not a fan of staged studio shots as much as I am of a street, candid, intimate and personal moment - I believe landscapes and macros also fall in this category.
- Are there any shows or artists you seen lately that you recommend? Too many to name!
- An extreme place is somewhere you wouldn't want to spend the night.
Gladys Padilla
Photography is like a slow dance shared with the viewer. Where our eyes meet, we find the message, understanding the intense thoughts being communicated. We feel the passion behind it and the truth that might be conveyed - no words needed. Gripping each others hands we feel a partnership and a relationship, perhaps sharing the same ideas. Swaying side to side,we feel someone take the lead and open our minds to a new movement of the beat. Creating a new step or one we've had before, or even one we don't quite understand - but one learns to understand. The feet work together tomake the movement, showing the comprehension of the step, or sometimes stumbling on each others feet. Photography is like a slow dance shared with the viewer - no words needed.
Sandi Wheaton
1) What photographers or photographs do you like or respond to?
For black and white work (at the risk of being predictable), I'd have to say Ansel Adams is a hero. His pursuit of perfection in the darkroom is a true inspiration, and I share his love of the American Southwestern landscape. For color work, Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. His large-scale works of landscapes altered, corrupted, or "deconstructed" by industry have an awful beauty that invokes a uniquely conflicting sense of disgust and awe.
- I think the most intriguing show I've seen in the past few years was Japanese photographer Tokihiro Sato's "Photo-Respiration" exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2005. Sato, who trained as a sculptor, executed a well-known photographic technique in a truly enigmatic and magical way. The result was technically excellent, stunningly beautiful imagery presented in arge-format b&w backlit transparencies.
- I guess an extreme place for me is one that is markedly different from whatmost of us would consider "normal", to the point of hyperbole - on the level of climate, location, culture, conditions, etc... basically, any place that makes my jaw drop!
David Stump
Extreme has five definitions in my online dictionary such as, ' existing in a very high degree' or 'situated at the farthest possible point from a center' - Influences: Ansel Adams, my friend and photographer Sam Bloomberg-Rissman, and, as of recently, Herb Quick. The reason I've become a Herb Quick fan is the recent exhibit of his binder-archived proofs.
Andi Elloway
- An Extreme Place? Anywhere that is unique unto itself.
- Favorite photographers or influences? James P. Blair
- Shows seen recently that made an impression? I went to the Getty and they had tons of amazing work there.
Brian Vander Veen
- Landscape photography isn't my primary interest, but Oliver Schuchard's 2005 publication The Landscape in Black and White has inspired me to pursue it more earnestly. Other photographers whose works I've admired include Willy Ronis, Helen Levitt, Jerome Liebling, Garry Winograd, and more recently, Jonathan Taylor and Brian Ulrich.
- I tend lately to browse for new works online, and I particularly like Brian Ulrich's site, www.notifbutwhen.com.
- For me, the distinction between an "extreme place" and a mundane one exists largely in an imaginative way of seeing, in which even routine locations can still evoke a sense of "jamais vu," a perception of something fantastical or alien among the often neglected details of common experience.
Greg Wigler
- An 'Extreme Place' could be anywhere that is not common or seen in a different light.
- Major influence would be "The Inklings" things are not always what they appear to be. Rick Griffin's show at the Laguna Art Museum... amazing!
Matt Schiller
- An extreme place to me is a remote location that appears untouched by humanity. I included a photograph of Tuollomne meadow in Yosemite, Missoula Montana, and a deserted beach in Newport.
- I don't have many favorite photographers by name, but most of them are able to capture the natural landscape in a captivating way. Some names that come to mind are Thomas Mangelson and Ansel Adams.
Bruce Miller
- An Extreme Place? Two definitions... (1) a location far away from normal travel routes. (2) a location where the differential is extreme. Examples would be for 1. Mt. Everest or Easter Island for 2. Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock overlooking the Wailing Wall or San Onofre with the nuclear plant overlooking a pristine beach.
- I have two favorite photographers: Lee Miller and Man Ray.
- Art shows that made an impression? Desert Hot Springs photographers Stephanie and David Salter had a recent show in Morongo Valley. David's fireworks photos were unbelievable. Your New Light JTNP exhibit showed remarkable range.
Orna Wertman
- An extreme place? Some parts of California at the moment... Nonexistent place. The place of the imaginary. Worst case scenario documentary. Disaster potential place.
- A few years ago, I saw a documentary on the BBC about the Mega Tsunami. That made an enormous impression on me. At that time I already started working on my series 'Broken Landscapes' were water flood danger is present. Later on, Dec. 2004 a big tsunami did happen, but than at another part of the planet. I get inspired by reality, actuality or worst case scenario documentaries.
Jordan Douglas
- A new art venue that has started to grow some attention has been Anthem located at the Grove Community Church. Often, artists of many mediums are encouraged to produce work (sometimes themed) and display their work while musicians also perform during the viewing. It is mostly targeted to teenagers and young adults and occurs a few times a month.
Mike O'Brien
- What photographers or photographs do you like or respond to? Edward Weston, Moholy Nagy, early Steichen, Albert Steiglitz, Emerson, Talbot and a French guy who was discovered by Berenice Abbott.
- Shows you recommend? A DaVinci exhibit in Rio de Janeiro two month ago.
- An extreme place? The Atacama desert on the coast between Peru and Chile.
Michael J. Elderman
- My tastes are wide-ranging. I like Elliot Erwit, but also Elliot Porter. Gary Winogrand and Helmut Newton. I haven't been following newer photographers, so can't comment. Tom Neff's New Orleans/Katrina portraits (book coming out soon) are extraordinary, along with the stories that accompany them. I explicitly appreciate humor in the work I see, as I think the image of mine selected for the exhibition indicates.
- The extreme places one would think of as extreme often become clichés; think, for example, of the slot canyons in Paige, Arizona and elsewhere, which take real imagination by the photographer to portray in a unique way either as geographic location or simply as light. For that reason, the "extreme" places are in the artist's mind and the extremism is about the process, about the way the photographer thinks, as much as it is about the object itself. That's a cliché I can live with.
Adam Mills
I consider an extreme place not just somewhere that has extreme weather or landscape elements. But with my work the places are more extreme in a surrealistic sense. Different juxtapositions of images create extremes in scale, elements, etc. Favorite Photographers/influencesJerry Uelsmann, Dominic Rouse, Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, Joseph Mills, Gregory Crewdson, Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Yves Tanguy, Oscar Wilde. I recently saw a contemporary sculpture show at the MFA boston, which part of is included in one of my images. Also a german photography exhibit at the same museum.
Amanda Crawford
- Ansel Adams is a major inspiration to me, being one of the first photographers to capture the beauty of the American landscape.
- An extreme place? I think any place that intrigues the mind, and makes you think, is an extreme place.
Jorge Vismara
To take a photograph is always a surprise, a mute conversation with the object, a feeling of the moment, an interaction with the shapes and colors of the world outside... To take a photograph is to watch and pay attention, to discover, to nurture the unexpected, it's like walking on a new trail in the forest; it's a permanent pilgrimage to a new sacred place... The image above is from buildings at Angkor (a monumental architectural masterpiece built by the Khmer civilization between the 9th and 15th centuries as cities and temples) were simply abandoned to nature for several centuries... the forces of the tropical jungle, and the magnificent architecture created the most amazing and exotic scenes of contrast and illusion... extreme places like this are a feast to the eyes and the soul...
Otana Jakpor
- I think that an extreme place is a place that makes you have to pause and think about it. In today's world, it is very easy to get caught up in rushing everywhere and being in a hurry all the time. An extreme place causes you to stop and marvel.
- I think that my favorite photographer is probably my grandfather, Russell Middleton, who is always taking pictures. He is the one who got me interested in photography the first place. I love looking at his beautiful pictures of sunsets and flowers.
Sonia Mir
- An extreme place, to me, is somewhere in the world where not too many people get to see or experience. And it is rare in its topography and beautiful and/or usnusual in it's form.
- I believe I have been influenced over the years by the work of National Geographic's photojournalists. So when I travel, I pretend I am on an expedition to bring back a story with my camera. I rely on my art and drawing background to make a good composition when taking photos.
- The art show that most recently impressed me was one at 'El Prado' in Madrid, Spain. It featured modern impressionists such as Miro, Picasso, Salvador Dali and more. Photo shows most recently have to be the Sweeney Art Gallery with Gabriela Leon of Oaxaca and her Barricade Dress (www.artsblock.cmp.edu). I enjoyed also The Red Color News Soldier-China photo show at UCR California Museum of Photography earlier this year.
Elisabeth Girke
- Joshua Tree National Park symbolizes for me an Extreme Place due to its unusual vegetation and rock formations. The extreme high desert climate has created a bizarre and almost surreal landscape, making the park one of its kind in the world.
- Favorite photographers or influences: As a teenager a fell in love with the photographs of Henri Cartier-Bresson. He is the one who influenced my style the most. I love to explore natural light and work preferably in photo-journalistic style.
- Photo or art show seen recently that made an impression:The portfolio of the Los Angeles based wedding photographer Joe Buissink made an incredible impression on me. His images are a great inspiration for my work.
