Monday, August 25, 2014

Susan Three Times

Susan works at the New Britain Museum of American Art.
Her bright but conservative pink dress caught my eye, so I went
looking for somewhere to pose her.


The first idea was to place Susan in front of Martin Kline's 2007 three dimensional work,
Empoisonner, meaning "to poison."  The artist statement says that some of nature's most
beautiful creatures are poisonous.  (Susan, the painting's label says that, not me!)


The second idea was to place Susan with Sam Feinstein's 1950s abstract painting, Pieta III.
The label has lots of words that I know, but taken together I have no idea what it said.
(Sorry again, Susan, I didn't write the label.)


The third idea was to place Susan in front of the vibrantly colored and densely layered collage
painting, Incredulity (2012), by Nobu Fukui.  Looked at closely, this painting has
images of Batman, Elizabeth Taylor and Winston Churchill, among others.
(That "vibrantly layered and densely layered" stuff is pretty good.
  It came from the label.)

Which do you prefer?  My own vote is the third.

24 comments:

Karl said...

My vote is also the third.
Lovely picture.

Ed said...

Sorry, Jack. I'm no expert but I think you've done much better work. I find the backgrounds distracting which makes me ask what is the subject, the painting or the model? The pictures all appear a little soft to me as well when viewed larger. But I do admire you ability to get people to model for you.

Birdman said...

I like #2. She's sort of walking into the 'fire'.

Tanya Breese said...

my favorite is the third, i also like the title!

Luis Gomez said...

Nice job Jack.

Sharon said...

I'll take the third one too but, I must admit I do really like the painting in the second one.

Mersad said...

I really like the last shot.

Mersad
Mersad Donko Photography

RedPat said...

I agree with you!

Sylvia K said...

Yep, I choose the last one, too!! Hope your week is off to a great start! Have fun but stay out of trouble!!

PerthDailyPhoto said...

I hate to go with popular opinion :) but I just have to, that third work is fabulous.. I'm thinking by the look on Susan's face she is in agreement also!

cieldequimper said...

I'm adding my choice of the third but I really like the first one too (and that surprises even me).

So that's how you do it... You choose your model and walk around with them... Wow. :-)

CaT said...

yessss the third is best. she looks happiest and the painting fits her dress!

William Kendall said...

That third one's the best!

Michelle said...

I love the third shot :)

Pasadena Adjacent said...

Like the concept. Especially choice of posing her in front of the charcoal burnt bubblegum pink abstract. Nice push and pull. She herself has such strong features - I could just as easily see her posed in puritan couture.

Randy said...

The third by far.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

I like number 3 too, but I think it's just because Susan is warming to the task of being a photographer's model. I hope she likes the end result too.

Dianne said...

The perfect back-drop for you model Jack and what an interesting job for this lovely lady.

Stefan Jansson said...

The collage portrait is my favorite. You could have gone in a bit closer.

Kate said...

I go with the crowd: the busyness of the background in the third photo makes the dress stand out very clearly. Am not saying this disrespectfully, but Ed sounds like a curmudgeon! I agree with Sharon re. the second photo, too.

Nathalie H.D. said...

I agree with everyone mainly because it's in the third photo that Susan looks the happiest. Perhaps she was starting to enjoy her role as a model in the end. I'm amazed to see what you get people to do, walking them around to pose in front of this painting and that. How do you do it Jack?

Nathalie H.D. said...

I also agree with Ed from a technical point of view. The error in the second photo is that fact that the model's profil is all messed up by the side of the painting. You should have asked her to stand either clearly out or right before the painting.

Gunn said...

Really nice work, both from the artist and you and the camera.

Unknown said...

I agrre with you, Jack. #3 is my favourite too.