Jingting Zhao - Style

David Hilliard

David Hilliard is an American photographer whose main focus is to create panoramic photographs using various single images. For Hilliard, he continually strives to represent the spaces we inhabit, relationships we create and the objects with which we surround ourselves. Hilliard’s work are usually triptychs or larger. By using photographs with various single images, Hilliard is able to guide his viewers across the photographs, directing their eyes, which cannot be achieved with only one photograph.

Hilliard's photograph explores a lot of themes. From the awkwardness of adolescence to masculinity disarmed, Hilliard presents elaborate narratives. He draws inspiration from his surroundings and fuses fiction with autobiography to express complex ideas. The subjects in the photography he produces are often rich with color and illuminated with perfect light. However, in some other works, the colors on his subject are more subdued, emanating a feeling of uncertainty and fragility connecting to self-awareness. Hilliard’s photographs are taken by having focus in one spot then moving the camera slightly in either left, right, up or down and creating a new focus. He also uses lines in his photographs to direct a viewer’s attention. For example, in ‘Susie Floating’ the lines in the bottom canvas helps direct the attention upwards towards where the focal point is. As well as this, the horizon in the second canvas stops the viewer from looking above. These two together helps guide the viewer towards the third canvas where the focal point is, on Susie.

Henry Wessel

Henry Wessel is an American photographer whom was the recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships and three National Endowment for the Arts grant. His photographs are described as descriptive yet poetic photographs of the human environment. His photographs will always feature human made objects and natural object. Take “ICE” for example. In that photograph, Wessel has the man-made object, the sign ICE, in the foreground of the picture and in the background, it is just a barren wasteland. Wessel in his photographs do not feature magazine level nature shots, instead he creates striking photographs from boring items. Taking “ICE” for example, with nothing in the photograph interesting enough to fix a viewer’s eyes upon, it will naturally drift towards the bright white sign in the center of the photograph. The photograph can then be open to multiple interpretations. Is the sign underscoring the fact that there is not a single drop of water in this barren landscape? Wessel’s style can then transform this lacking feeling into an appreciating of grandeur. The one style that can be seen across all of his photographs is that it is in black and white. The use of black and white in his photographs are all striking and effective. In “ICE” the photograph has a contrast between the dull grey background in contrast to the equally dull white sign. However, with the color contrast, the viewer’s attention would shift to what Wessel wants focus on, which is the white sign.

Bettina Von Zwehl

Bettina Von Zwehl is a German photographer who lives in London. She is known for her work in portraiture. Zwehl received a BA in photography from the London College of Printing and an MA in Fine Art Photography from the Royal College of Art. Her style is recognized as ‘subtle and unnerving’ since she tries to photograph vulnerability. Examples of this are photographs of when people just waking up or of people lying on the floor holding their breath. The subjects of Zwehl range from the young to the old and one particular feature of Zwehl is that she would often depict only women. One of her aims is to explore what appears and disappears in people’s faces if they let go of their photographic mask. For example, in Made up Love Song there are 34 virtually identical portraits of Sophia Birikorang staring intently towards the left of the circular frame. However, because of its miniature size, it is inviting its viewers to look closer to find the subtle differences between each photograph. As well as this, the use of natural light and artificial light to create the sense of seasons on Sophia’s face, viewers become immediately captivated by the sense of seasons passing by. Moreover, the colors she uses in her frame are very soft and the clothes she has her subjects wear are very simple to further put emphasis on the subtle differences.