Name of Artist: Henry Hargreaves
Dates of Artist’s Life:
Born 1979
Began working in fashion business in the early 2000’s
1. Personal Background: (5 sentences. Culture, nationality, schooling, important life events, etc.)
Henry Hargreeves is a self-taught contemporary Photographer born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand later moving to Manhattan where he currently resides. He has always had a hobby of photography but decided to put it aside to pursue a career in the fashion industry as a model for Prada, Hermes and Lacoste. After a couple years, he would find a better understanding of his talent and passion as he started taking interest in taking pictures of the other models. Soon, after learning techniques with other photographers in that industry, he started to experiment different photography methods and began the development of his style. Whenever he is not working, he loves to visit galleries and art shows with friends along with going out to socialize later in the evening, he claim that “[He doesn’t} like to stay home too much.” He is also the owner of 3 restaurants and has a personal collection of coffee cups.
2. Style: (5 sentences. What visual characteristics does this artist’s work possess? If you can compare it to a painting or art history style please do.)
The style of many of his images have a very unique theme where they typically depict food in very different way than they were intended. However, many of his images also consist of beautiful renditions of food in a lighting style you wouldn't typically see them in. For example, one of the pictures where he has photographed a bowl of gummy bears is taken with the approach of a darker environment as if it were a historic portrait like the woman with the pearl earring. His different collections also consist of effectively recreating the tone of a movie with a drink and background that somehow correlates with the film like one where he use a martini glass and sunglasses to match the vibe of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” The different ways Hargreeves arranges his food for the picture allows for the audience to connect with his work since thy can depict different cultures, times, and even some wars.
3. Philosophy: (5 sentences. What were the major ideas behind this artist’s work? Where they personal, political, social, etc. What were they trying to “say” with their photographs?)
His main reason Hargreeves takes his admirable images is the humor the public and hopefully make someone else smile too. Another reason why he takes his surreal picture is because he wanted to do interesting thing with food that no else has done to sort of put his “little niche on the world.” With food being cheap and accessible, he was able to do that in a surprisingly effective way. This form of accessibility allows for his pieces to have a connection with the audience as the picture are filled with items they would typically see on a day-to-day basis. He also claims that Pop-culture has a major part in his work and how he honestly wants to represented something in a unique way that he feels is worth representing.
4. Influences: (5 sentences. How has the photographer influenced you in your work or who were they influenced by?)
Hargreeves has inspired me to try and become a bit more creative when it comes to taking a picture of something. Even though Hargreeves has a lot more time on his hands than I do, he till wants to constantly make as high of a quality image, and later series, as quickly as possible to move on to the next one. This to me shows that he is a very determined person in his craft seeing as he wants to push himself to make the highest quality image in the a more confined time span. I also just love the way he arranges his food because it seems very clear to me that this i his own and unique style different from anyone else’s, this makes me want to further push myself and see if I can find my own style that I can call my own. Photography has always been about expressing yourself so that the world can visually see who you are as a person, and Hargreeves doe wonders with this concept and more.
5. Compare and Contrast: You will need to compare and contrast your final 3 images with the 3 images you choose by your photographer. Write about each piece (3 sentences.)
The Fortune cookie Picture was where I ran into my first few issues, I had no fortune cookies or fortunes to use for the photo, however I was able to use something that not only made up for my lack of the San Francisco treat, but made it more personal by implementing my favorite chip. There, it was pretty easy to figure out what needed to be where to capture that crumb-ey feel that is presented. I really like how this one turned out because it is very close to the original while also feeling true to who I am.
For this picture I needed to find a dark area to work in, the problem was that my house is pretty brightly lighten by both natural light and home light. But I found a solution because it turned out my own room could become an incredible area for darkness if the shutters were closed and I had a very dark background, in this case a box witha black towel covering it. I was impress with how well this picture turned out becuase I did think I was able to capture the same dark feel as the original.
This was probably the one I was most exited about recreating, but I think it ended up a bit less neat than I thought. This one was the biggest challenge for me because of the lighting and the egg, While i had the egg no problem the lighting and condition of the eggs were a bit of a problem; THe eggs shine was to distracting from the shadows and the shadows seems like they were not being cast enough. But in the end I think I have capture at least a bit of the orgiinal feel since they resemble each other pretty well.
6. Personal Artist Statement: Your images should tell a story. In 5 sentences tell me about your images. Use Visual Literacy vocabulary to enhance your report.
These Pictures were a really fun project to do because it allowed me to use my resources in a way i never thought I would. I automatically connected witht the type of work that Hargreeves does since it involves a lot of food and definitely made me hungry at times, I wanted to capture at least a similar feel in my own work: the feeling of self. The Fortune cookie Picture represent what the future holds for us, we dont now and it not in our agenda to solve the unpredictability of life such as broken chips. The Butter represent the present, it is the person we are now who stand their grounds despite all the pain they have accumulated in the past and encourages us to take it easy and just be in the moment. FInally the Eggs represent the past and how the darkness we have previously experienced do not make us worthless, but rather make us more beautiful and interesting.