Anna King - 3 Photographers

Melanie Schiff

Melanie Schiff is a photographer originally from Chicago, who now works in Los Angeles.  She has two BFA degrees, one from NYU and the second from Goldsmiths College in London, as well as an MFA from the University of Illinois. Much of her work focuses on the beauty of light and how she manipulates it in order to focus her work around it rather than a person or an object; she tends to use those to compliment the light instead of than the other way around.  Schiff said that moving from the midwest to California, the quality of the sunlight was the most drastic adjustment for her while photographing, though now it is something she appreciates, given how much it has benefitted her work.  She also has a tendency, especially in what she has created recently, to not use many people.  She will arrange objects to frame and put a focus on a specific thing in a photo, but has steered away from people in the frames.  This technique keeps an audience from being distracted by something, and allows them to focus on how the light impacts the frame, which seems to be the goal of the photographer. Melanie Schiff does photography because it allows her to "look without distractions" and can be "meditative and calming" when the surrounding circumstances are right.  It is not something that she is part of, rather she sees herself as an observer of the world.

Aaron Rose

Aaron Rose considers himself to be "the last photographer," as he is of the opinion that photography is becoming more about the technology, and his contemporaries do not bring the same passion for the medium that he does.  He lives in SoHo in New York City in a building he bought and renovated himself in 1969.  Rose has made a point to not live off of his art as he "doesn't want to be influenced by what the market wants to see" and learned to "not trust other people as much as he trusts himself."  He began his journey with photography when he was a foster child and a portrait photographer let him assist with holding lights and reflectors, but he fell in love with watching the photos develop into people in the dark room after a session.  Though his recent work focuses on nature and uses "pinpoint photography," which gives a very abstract look to his photographs, he spent much of his career photographing people, some of his most famous work being his Coney Island series from the early 1960's.  These photographs were developed to be highly saturated in color, and taken in order to achieve ultimate authenticity of New York at that time.  His earlier style was human focused, wanting the raw emotion and experience he witnessed daily.  The style of work that he does now, however, could not be more different.  He will often desaturate photographs to make them monochromatic, whether it be black and white or sepia toned.  By using the pinpoint photography technique, often there is a lot of room for interpretation.  The audience may be able to tell that the photograph is a rooftop or a skyline, but much beyond that is left for interpretation.  He uses long exposures that may be days long, which creates soft edges and focus and what he believes to be a truer experience, as he says he does not view things in fractions of seconds, but long periods of time that he can take in all of the details.  For Aaron Rose, photography is now a contemplative experience, as it allows him to be part of the scene instead of blindly passing by.  

  Bruce Weber

Bruce Weber is a fashion photographer and occasional director originally from the Greensburg, Pennsylvania area.  He was first published by GQ Magazine in the early 1970's, but what made him a household name were his Calvin Klein ad campaigns from the late 80's and early 90's.  He continues to find motivation in his six golden retriever dogs as he aims to see the world "with their openness" when he is with people and photographing.  He continues to photography mainly in black and white and using a film camera, regardless of how far technology in the photography industry has come.  He prefers monochrome images as "you can explore things a little more" sometimes, compared to color images.  He also, in no way, is a landscape or nature photographer; he always has people in frame.  Not only is this expected from a fashion photographer, but they type of individual he is.  He enjoys photographing people he loves or has loved: family, friends, crushes, past flames, etcetera.  He believes that this is a way to perceive and share love, and that it comes through in photographs when he is making the image for himself compared to doing it as part of a job.  He tends to photograph outdoors, in black and white, and frame the individuals to the center of the image, instead of showing a bias for one side or the other.  Weber is a very interesting photographer, as the images he chases (those filled with love) are not the ones he is known for (fashion photography).