Tuesday, 16 February 2010

Jeff Seltzer

Jeff Seltzer says in his own words:

"My formal education is more about science – statistics, experimental design, and rhetorical theory. So, photography is a way I can exercise my creative side, yet consistent with my background, I look for organization, pattern, or some sense of order in my images. The images represent an on-going study in composition, and how seemingly insignificant elements can come together to form something beautiful or meaningful (not unlike the process of data analysis)."

I was really drawn to the composition, use (or limited use of) colour and the simplicity of these shots.  For some reason, despite some of the subject matter being more mundane than magnificent, they are really interesting and find them very appealing.  You can see his eye for order and pattern which is evident throughout his portfolio, yet the creativity lifts them out of the ordinary.  Although I'm not sure how much is found and how much is actually staged.  Either which way, I like them and can see where he is coming from completely.
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5 comments:

  1. Duncan Astbury16 February 2010 at 22:52

    Not heard of him before but really like some of them, for example "Telephones in a Hotel Lobby" and "Shopping Carts Outside a Ralphs". I am perhaps surprised he doesn't go for a more 'letterbox' aspect ratio on some of them but generally a good use of negative space.

    In this months "Black and White Photography" magazine there is an article "Harminder Singh shows how repetition can add depth to your pictures", interesting though typical of these magazines the article is somewhat short
    (http://www.thegmcgroup.com/item--Black-and-White-Photography--1003BW.html)

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  2. Jeff Seltzer17 February 2010 at 01:33

    Hi, there. I appreciate you taking the time to check out my images. Actually, none of my images are staged, including the shopping carts (that's the image most assume I staged. Obviously, someone staged that one, but not me!). Duncan, what do you mean by "letterbox" aspect ratio?

    Thanks! And what a great site, glad to have discovered it.

    Best, Jeff (not "Jim" by the way!)

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  3. Duncan Astbury17 February 2010 at 14:35

    Re the 'letterbox' ratio
    (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterbox),
    I am borrowing the term from more cinematic productions so for example if 3:2 is considered 'standard' then 16:9 might be wide or panoramic and with the option of black 'fill' above and below.

    Jeff, it was just an idea, and I can see you have actually done something similar with a couple of the LAVC images, "Professional Development" and "Job Board".

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  4. Jeff Seltzer17 February 2010 at 18:25

    Thanks...I'm always open to new ideas. FYI, the two images you mention (Professional Dev and Job Board) are actually several images stiched together, thus resulting in more of a wider aspect ratio.

    Cheers,
    Jeff

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  5. marmalade17 February 2010 at 20:30

    Many thanks to you both for your comments.

    Jeff (oops sorry, not Jim) thank you for taking the time to respond. Hope you don't mind me including the link here - I'm currently exploring a variety of contemporary photographers and much of your work, in particular infield in fog, outside a staples and the large part of collection two and the concept behind LAVC project very inspiring. As a matter of interest do you use film or digital?

    Duncan, letterbox is a new term to me and as you say it works well in the LAVC project. I'm not a subscriber to b/w photography magazine so can't seem to access the article. But will explore the idea of repetition anyways.

    Many thanks

    Penny

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