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- No Standing Only Dancing
- My son Josh learns to swim
- Mr. Australia
- Jude’s Tongue
- Fitzroy Extrovert
Decadence
From his website:
Over 30 years his quest for recording the idiosyncrasies of human behaviour has taken him to locations all over the world. He was as much at home photographing Carnival in Rio de Janiero with all its extroverted sexuality as he was recording the backstage preparations of the celebrated Kirov Ballet. At other times, in pursuit of the illusive photo, he had been lost in the souks of Marrakech, rowed up the Ganges at dawn, embraced the dust and flies of cattle stations on the edge of the Simpson Desert and given his minders the slip in Shanghai. He had been welcomed to the White House and thrown out of the Moulin Rouge.
It’s been said that the urge to preserve is the basis of all art. When pushed to make a value judgement on his own photography – is it art, social realism, photojournalism or slice-of-life indulgence? – Ellis replied with a quote from the pioneering American photographer Alfred Stieglitz: “Art or not art, that is immaterial – I continue on my own way, seeking my own truth, ever affirming today”
Alison Brady, a New York based artist, recently caught my attention through this photograph. It produced a pretty strong reaction in my gut, though I can’t say if it was emotional or simply instinctual. This image makes me uncomfortable… and if a work of art can have that power, I’ll respect it.
Take a look at her website (linked above) for more interesting images.
An excerpt from Alison’s bio:
“My work is a series of color photographs that work to stimulate unconscious emotions, desires, and sexual compulsions, all unified within a dynamic that vacillates between the real and the fantasized. I explore issues related to madness and alienation as they exist in contemporary culture, concentrating on expressions of neurosis, on feelings of anxiety, displacement, and loss of identity.
These emotions are depicted in terms of visual conflict through my imagery, and manifested in terms of grotesque exaggeration. While investigating issues related to the unconscious, elements such as eroticism, twisted humor, and horror come across. I strive to create dichotomies between the sensual and the horrific, the beautiful and the destructive; the result, I hope, is a body of work comprised of deeply emotional and disturbing depictions of the unknown, staged imagery that functions on a metaphorical level, and inanimate objects and settings serving to illustrate the inner workings of the unconscious.”
Fierce:Fragile 