Lecture

Amy Stein

I thought that Amy Stein's work was quite enchanting. I thought it was very interesting because her work in Domesticated reminded me of Simen Johan, but her attitude was the complete opposite of his, almost to her detriment because it took her forever to show her work. I prefer, however, the overly excited approach to the I can't believe I have to talk to these people approach. I loved her ability to create such surreal settings that appear so real that National Geographic thought they were documentary. I loved the combination of control and chance; she could use the animal stories as inspiration to create an image that was her idea of what happened, or could have happened, but she does not have control over the position of the animals - only of which animals she chooses from the ones available. I thought the light in almost all of those images was beautiful, and I hate to use the word again, but the light was enchanting. I thought her Stranded work was a little more hit and miss, based on the attitudes portrayed in the portraits, and though some had very good lighting, the others were a little flat and less mesmerizing.