Orkun Örcan
Orkun Örcan is a commercial photographer from Dubai. He takes photos of still life such as jewellery and archetecture but what I found most inspiring for my work was his food photography. All of his photos are vibrant and colourful and really show the detail in the food. One of his photos that I particularly like is of six different coloured drinks that fit into a holder. I think the separation of the colours makes each stand out more and I enjoy the shallow depth of field as it really draws the viewer’s eye towards them. As I am working with the theme of Division, this image has inspired me to separate the food and objects I take photos of into colour categories.
Another photo of his that I like is of brownies. They are cut into equal sized squares and Örcan has used a close up shot which allows the viewer to see the detail in them. I will take inspiration from this for my photo of flapjack but I think I want the pieces to be arranged together.
Jim Golden
Jim Golden is a still life photographer. His work is often simplistic or about bringing the subject down to its most basic form. His work is often vibrant and in unusual compositions, for example, his collections of objects such as scissors and musical instruments below. I found him through a WIRED article titled “This Guy Turns OCD Hoarding Into Amazing Photos”. These photos are fascinating to me because every object in frame has been carefully put in place to make them all fit together. He also does food photography such as the photo of the different types of nuts below. This is exactly the style of photo I want to take because they are categorised and each object is separated an equal distance apart. The backgrounds are often a backdrop of one colour which allows the viewer to focus on the main subject and it often brings out colours in the subject. His subjects are always very well lit, often with little or no shadow visible. His style of photography is very aesthetically pleasing to me and I think his style works well in the context of my theme of Division in OCD.
Irving Penn
Penn is an American photographer who’s versatile work covers areas such as advertising, still life, and portrait. In particular, I focused on Penn’s still life work as it relates to my independent project the most. Below is his photo “Frozen Food With String Beans”. This is one of my favourite photos of his for a few reasons. Firstly, I enjoy the colours and shapes and how they are all separated to become their individual ice blocks. This links to my Division theme as the food is divided by colour and what food they are. It further links to my OCD theme for this reason and also the fact that the blocks of food are neatly cut. I like the use of light and shadow in this as it makes the objects in the photo appear more 3D and realistic. I also admire the plain white background against the colours of the food because it doesn’t distract the viewer from the main subject. I think a bright and colourful background would lessen the impact that the subject has the potential to make on a viewer. I will use Penn’s work to inspire my own.
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