Photographer Research & Inspiration

Matthew Brandt is an American contemporary photographer who is based in Los Angeles. Interested in physicality, process and landscape, Brandt's ability to stretch the readings of an image—multiplying them both physically and conceptually—speaks directly to his interest in how images loom and meanings shift within a shared visual history. It is all part of Brandt's continual investigation into the charge that imbues meaning within an image. The end result the clever manifestation of a photographic alchemist, satisfying the urge for the tangible and grounding us in the present.

Brandt's precocious talent landed him in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), The J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Armand Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), Bidwell Projects (Ohio), the Elton John Collection, the UBS Art Collection, the Statoil Collection, Columbus Museum of Art (Ohio), Brooklyn Museum of Art (New York), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Virginia), Cincinnati Art Museum (Ohio), the Royal Danish Library, and the Wieland Collection. His first solo exhibition at M+B in the fall of 2011 was met with critical attention, selected by Modern Painters as part of “The 100 Best Fall Shows” and reviewed in the December/January 2013 issue. Brandt was included in the “The Top 30 Under 30 in Art and Design” for Forbes by Jeffrey Deitch and Art in America included Brandt in their “Top Finds at Paris Photo Los Angeles” this year. 

I really like Matthews work as it automatically captures your attention with its contrast of colours, and it overall unique concept. His ability to change the was a an image can be viewed has really inspired me, showing me that an audience can view an image from many different perspectives. Also the effect he creates by just adding flashes of colour to an image, shows that any image can be turned into something abstract with just a little thought.

Chip Simone has been making photographs for more than four decades. He was educated in the history and traditions of creative photography at the Rhode Island School of Design (1964-67) where he studied with renowned photographer Harry Callahan. He first exhibited his work in 1966. In 1980 his work was exhibited at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, NY. In 1982 he received a Photographer’s Fellowship from The National Endowment for the Arts. His prints are included in major collections including the Museum of Modern Art, The High Museum of Art, The Houston Museum of Fine Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Sir Elton John Photography Collection. Chip has lived in Atlanta since 1972. Sixty-four of Chip Simone’s color images are currently on display at The High Museum of Art in a major exhibition entitled The Resonant Image.

Mr. Simone has said: 
"My pictures celebrate the very act of seeing. Although photography is dependent upon technology it should not be construed that a mechanical process dictates the photographic image. Instead it must be understood that making pictures with cameras is a complex and graceful human endeavor barely explained by reason or intellect and never assured by the flawless execution of craft. The potential of photography lies in its ability to render with a clarity and eloquence that bestows gravity to common objects and invests moments in time with a significance that transcends time. It is not what the photographer sees, but rather how the photographer sees that breathes life into a photograph."

I really like the urban edge that Chip uses throughout this photography, and also his ability to capture a story within a still image. His shots are simple, however they are effective as they provoke thought, and allows an audience to use their own imagination to make up their own mind about  a photo. His style is clean, but still comes across with an abstract and unique edge that really captivates me.

Abelardo Morell was born in Havana, Cuba in 1948. He immi­grated to the United States with his par­ents in 1962. Morell received his under­grad­u­ate degree in 1977 from Bow­doin Col­lege and an MFA from The Yale Uni­ver­sity School of Art in 1981. In 1997 he received an hon­orary degree from Bow­doin College.
 Morell is well known in the photographic community for creating camera 'obscura' images in various places around the world and photographing these.

I like Morell's images as they are incredibly unique in terms of concept and design. He takes a simple background, and places a projection over the background to create a very unique type of image. The concept of his photography is very simple, but creates an effect that is far from simple. He often projects landscapes on to plain settings to create the idea of image being out of place. The concept shows me that just adding something a simple as projects to a simple background can create a unique and abstract image.

A Canadian photographer Zach Rose created the compilations of 'pet headz' which involves owners having their pets heads put on their bodies to make it look as if the animal has legs. I find this really effective, even though animals are used, because it has a sense of individuality, something that is unique and never before thought of, which creates such a simple but effective, aesthetically pleasing piece of art. 

I really like Zach's photography as it is an idea that is so modern and different, but it creates a story within the image that the audience must consider. The idea of taking a different type of head an place it on something different is a concept that has been used many times, however doing it through a camera screen is a very unique idea. Also, I really like his simplistic choice of colours, and how they reflect the mood that he wants to project through the image.






Dan Kennedy is a London based professional photographer, who creates pictures of celebrities from all across the world. He has produced photos for issues in publications such as: Heat, Buzz, S Magazine, Glamour, M Celebs and NatMag. 




With the professional background Kennedy has, he has gone on to photographing big named, globally known celebrities, such as Madonna, David Beckham, Lindsey Lohan, Dermot O'Leary, Michael McIntyre, Cheryl Cole, Kate Winslet, Leona Lewis, david Walliams and Kiera Knightley. 

As well as working with many celebrities, he has worked for large business companies, to promote their products, sell their company to target markets, and national awareness. 
Working for clothing brands such as River Island, Marks and Spencers, Lacoste,  Matalan and Debenhams. National institutions such as ITV, BBC and Sky Television. As well as one of the biggest camera businesses in the world - Nikon. 


I like Dan's collection of photography, because he uses just simple portraits, however he focus's on capturing the emotion of the model through their facial expression and body language. He does this effectively, whilst still capturing a aesthetically pleasing photo. The black and white style that he often uses has to be one of my favourites, as it is simplistic and pure, but still projects his meaning and intent through the photography. I am inspired by his uses of lighting and the angles he uses to create such a captivating photograph.






Laura L. Letinsky is a Canadian contemporary photographer, best known for her still life's. Much of Letinsky's work alludes to human presence, without including any actual figures. 


A recent exhibition of her work includes the following artist statement: "Still life is unavoidably an engagement with and commentary upon society’s material-mindedness. Laura Letinsky’s photographs of forgotten details such as wrapping paper, plastic containers, Styrofoam cups, cans, leftover food bits, and found trinkets remark upon these remnants of daily subsistence and pleasure. Of major influence are Dutch-Flemish and Italian still-life paintings whose exacting beauty documented shifting social attitudes resulting from exploration, colonization, economics, and ideas about seeing as a kind of truth. But instead of the traditional allure of a meal awaiting an unseen viewer’s consumption, Letinsky photographs the remains of the table so as to investigate the precarious relationships between ripeness and decay, delicacy and awkwardness, control and haphazardness, waste and plenitude, pleasure and sustenance.


I really like her simplistic approach to photography, and also her unique view to what photography should be. he still life's capture an everyday image that contains a hidden meaning, however it is for the audience to decide what the meaning is. He use of simplistic props is effective as it inspires me, and shows me that you do not need to over complicate a photo to make it captivating, and this is a thought i shall have in mind when designing and creating my final magazine.