Artist Rendition Worksheet

Artist Rendition Worksheet

Tessa Paige

Aaron Siskind

Photograph:

Artist Bio:

-Educated in the City College of New York, with intentions of becoming a poet.

-He taught English in New York public schools until he was married in 1929, then became a photographer, activist, and teacher.

-Film and Photo League: a group that attempted to reflect the lives and struggles of American workers, among other goals, such as (spread an popularize artistic/revolutionary soviet productions).

-Photo League/Feature Group: Differences of opinion and social interests split the group into Frontier Films and the Photo League, which continued on to give power to photographers so they could honestly photograph America. It provided a way for photographers to connect, collaborate and share interests, as well as offering photography classes in all levels before such teaching was commonly available.  In the Photo League he participated in projects that documented life during the Depression. The Harlem Document was different from many similar projects because it focused equally on design and purpose. The also created and led the Feature Group within the Photo League, a documentary group.

-Departure from and dissolution of the group: When Siskind started taking more abstract images, some members of the League accused him of ignoring the social problems of man, and he left the group soon afterwards. The group dissolved a few years later when its Berlin roots brought its motives into question, officially labeled subversive and dissolved in 1947.

-Solo work: Siskind pursued a solo career and exhibited at the Charles Egan Gallery multiple times. He resumed teaching in photography at several prestigious schools like the Chicago Institute of Design, Rhode Island School of Design, and Harvard, working as head of department at Chicago for about ten years.

Artistic Background:

Siskind has no other artistic experience. While originally intending towards English, he received a camera as a wedding gift and discovered the camera’s artistic potential while taking photos on his honeymoon.

His most prominent work, a great proponent of the Abstract Expressionism movement, flattens three-dimensional objects so that texture and composition become all-encompassing and the viewer is forced to view the photograph as a photograph. Details of nature and architecture become new abstract images. Personal hardships and successes do not factor into his work.

Your image:

I chose this image because the striking contrast and balance interests me.

How would you describe your photographer’s style? Contrast, tension, flow, texture, balance, bold, connection, intersection, decay.

After researching the photographer what have you found most interesting about his/her photographic style or image production?

The way ordinary textures are given prominence and drama.

How are you planning to recreate your photographer’s image?

Go out and find interesting textures and balances!