I have chosen to research John Baldessari because I like the style he edits and experiments with his photographs, I hope to incorporate factors of Baldessari into my own project.

John Baldessari, born June 17, 1931, is an American conceptual artist known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images. He lives and works in Santa Monica and Venice, California. His work influenced; Cindy Sherman, David Salle, Annette Lemieux and Barbra Kruger among others.

Initially a painter, Baldessari began to incorporate texts and photography into his canvases in the mid-1960’s. In 1970 he began working in printmaking, film, video, installation, sculpture and photography. He has created thousands of works that demonstrate—and, in many cases, combine—the narrative potential of images and the associative power of language within the boundaries of the work of art. His art has been featured in more than 200 solo exhibitions in the U.S and Europe.

Image Analysis

I have chosen this photograph of John Baldessari’s because the dots he uses on the faces of the subjects in his photographs is something that I want to incorporate into my project and experiment with within photoshoot three. I like John Baldessari’s style of putting dots over the faces of people in his photographs because I feel like this does a good job of creating mystery and adding something more interesting to what normally would be a dull photograph. This photograph specifically is one of my favourites because I like the use of only two colours, black and yellow, and the high contrast between the two and also the contrast against the actual black and white photograph, the yellow dot is an eye-catching factor against the rest of the black and white. In conclusion this photograph is simple but has eye-catching factors that make it great and I hope to incorporate this style into my own project.