Brian Oldham is a fine art photographer, born in Southern California and is 22 years old. He is currently living and working near Los Angeles. In most of his images Oldham becomes the subject and makes unique surrealist images. I really like Oldham’s style as it really is unique as well as fitting right into the realm of surrealism photographers. His work stands out and he freely experiments with different ways of photographing, which is something that I admire. His work is also very political and has clear messages that really make his work that much more interesting and captivating.

“My passion for creating blossomed at a young age as I experimented with self-portrature, and taught myself how to create freely. I make art to replace the words I cannot fathom; each thread holding a love for all things strange and beautiful. I strive to bring life to the quiet whispers at the back of my mind, to make whole the ghosts of my experiences.” – Brian Oldham

Brian Oldham website: http://brianoldham.format.com/#1

I really love the work of Brian Oldham and have previously looked at his work back in summer while finding inspiration for my performance photography experiments. I find that surrealism photography is often the most exciting, it brings to light the struggles that people are going through and shows the inner workings of photographers brains. I like that it brings out the weird and unusual as so many people tend to conform and just do what they are told and taught to believe in certain things, whereas surrealism challenges that and is so creatives and expressive. I find Oldham’s work so captivating to look at and I like to try and figure out how he made some of his images and how brilliant they are. With Oldham’s work he uses a lot of nature and the natural world which is common for surrealism photographers and something that I find really interesting and want to use within my own project.

Image Analysis

When having a look through some of Oldham’s work I came across a new project that he is in the process of creating that really stood out to me. This particular image is almost like a dig at the Catholic Church on how they do not accept gay people or gay marriage. I love that he has made this image and is making a series based upon this entitled ‘”For the Bible Tells Me So”‘. I love this as it is so true with religion that people often follow it without thinking for themselves and some tend to just passively accept this yet those that are ‘different’ or those people that don’t quite agree or fit in with the general expectations are thrown out and abandoned. I love the quote on the side of this image as it really tells a strong message with the image of Oldham being covered in blood. I feel that this image is powerful and actually quite a risky one. The topic of religion is so controversial and can be a really touchy subject for many people but that doesn’t seem to phase Oldham as he has a clear, strong message that he wants to get across. I love that his work is so politically driven and that he thinks deeper than many others. He wants to make a change in how we as  a society see one another and how we see gay people. The entire miss-en-scene of the photograph is just perfect with the almost halo light circle around his head as well as the subjects blank facial expression. This body of work is really powerful and it really does stand out to me as a excellent piece of artwork. I think that in this image the subject is naked as it shows vulnerability and that it is about the blood falling down his body rather than any sort of clothing that he is wearing. It also makes sense with the quote stating that “If a man lies with a man as he lies with a woman”. It’s as though he has been found while with a man and that he has the blood of the other man all over his body. I think that this image is so powerful and quite risky, which is something that will really stand out. It makes me want to find out more and to see the rest of the images that he creates for this particular project.

I chose this image because it made me think about how he edited it together. My guess is that he made an image of himself jumping in the air and positioned himself that way and in editing he turned the image upside down and turned it black and white. This image really interests me as it is as though he is falling out of the sky and bracing himself for when he hits the ground. I like the simplicity of having just a plain grey background as it allows the spectator to solely focus in on the subject rather than whatever is going on in the background of the image. This image could really mean anything and he could just be floating in the air. I like that the subject is centred in the middle of the square image, he stands out much more against the plain background too. Some part of me feels that this photograph shows conflicting views in his own head and it is sending him spiralling, which is why he is covering his face. The way he covers his face looks almost as if he was sitting that way and trying to take everything in until he was flung into the sky. Oldham’s work often features someone being suspend in the air and almost like they are floating.

This image interests me. The title of this project is ‘Pixels’ and is a work in progress. I like this idea of distorting someones face, it makes it more intriguing for the spectator making them want to find out more about who the person is and what they actually looks like. It brings together the digital age with reality and mixes them together by the distortion of their body and face. It is interesting to see these two image alongside one another, one being completely in focus where the spectator is able to see the subject with the other image being completely pixelated and covered up. I find that these images show how he lives in the real world and how in the digital world he becomes a load of pixels or how his identity doesn’t really matter in the digital world.