Under the Influence Sarah Gohr

Isabella Gagliardo - Under the Influence

Under The Influence - April Lin

Under The Influence- Jazmyn McCallum

Under the Influence- Kristen Campbell

Under the Influence Inspiration_Sarah Gohr

The artist I decided to use for my under the influence project is actually a duo, Robert and Shana Parkeharrison. I learned about them my first year of being at UNCC and I have loved their work ever since. I find them really fascinating because they do a large range of things with their imagery. Shana is a painter so they will even photograph things print them out and them paint over it, which I think gives them a whole different level to their work. With them incorporating different elements and mediums to their images, it connects the human/man made aspect to it.

When looking at their images in the series Architect’s Brother it gives me a very vintage feel. Their images look like they belong on wet plates. I read an interview where they talked a little bit about their process, and they use both digital and medium format cameras depending on the feel of the image. When looking at their imagery I get a sense of industry taking over nature in some images. However, in other images it seems more like humans are taking care of nature. Yet again, in other images it seems like the humans could be the problem. I think in this way they open up the viewers to a whole different form of reasoning and questions that helps get viewers engaged in a photo conversation. 

I really love the aesthetic of their imagery. When looking at their images they provide multiple layers that help draw the viewer in. such as depth of field, they like to keep their subject matter mainly in the foreground.  They usually have a plain background that looks like a fogged backdrop again to help keep focus on the subject matter. It also looks a lot like a wet plate. Their images are usually dark a moody with a sepia tone to it. I like that they keep it as a sepia tone because for this set of imagery if it was in color it would not be as powerful or visually pleasing.

Under the Influence Inspo - Isabella Gagliardo

            While looking through the artists for inspiration, I was drawn to the work of Jarek Kubicki. I was particularly drawn to his portraiture work that looks as if he is “painting” over the portrait. It looks as if the subject’s face is getting painted over which creates a kind of distressed aesthetic. The look of the subject’s also creates a kind of sad or melancholy mood/tone, and together with the splotches and drips, the works kind of can be seen as creepy or disturbing.  

            The color of the compositions also plays into that idea of sadness or melancholy, because they are just black and white. The absence of color is often connected to sadness; the addition of color would significantly impact these pieces. Even the slight addition of color could give these pieces an entirely differently meaning.

            With this particular Photoshop work, I will have to do some research on how to exactly create this look. I could use brushes to create the splotches and drips, and will probably have to create a texture in order for it to look like actual paint or a canvas.