Period 1 -- Critical Analysis #16

3/20/2017

Today you will be writing about artist William Wegman, best known for his photographs of his Weimaraner dogs.

Fist, navigate HERE to watch a short video interview with Wegman.

For your Critical Analysis, you will be writing a 4 paragraph (5 sentence minimum) response to the VIDEO.

Here are some things to consider as you write:

What kind of photographs does Wegman make? What camera/equipment is he known for using?
Consider your own experience as a photographer. What are some obstacles that might be associated with photographing animals?
What does Wegman say are some things that influence his work?
What does Wegman compare his video pieces to?
Do you like or dislike William Wegman's work? Why?

Click HERE to view a selection of Wegman's photographs.

Grant Kahl

3/20/2017 06:33:11 am

Thought is career Legman took portraits of his dogs from when they were young to when they died. he is known for his bizarre photos of dogs and a few videos he made in the 90’s. he is best known for using a Polaroid 20X24 camera. initially he used an 8 x 11 since he liked to use newspaper and magazines to show his work. soon after he moved to the larger ornate creating works of art by showing his dogs.

i think that one of the largest obstacles that Wegman had to face was the movement of the animals. knowing from experience animals don’t like to stay in one place for long which would make photographing them extremely difficult especially on this scale.along with movement getting the perfect shot is also difficult since you never know when that one look will pass you by or if the lighting is correct or that one special moment.

Wegman says the he is heavily inspired by comedians. i think that this can be seen in his work by some of the ridiculous things the dogs do. think he realizes how these photos look and has embraced them as his form of art. along with comedians he also took inspiration from commercials to create brief videos pertaining to a product of some sort.

I really enjoy Wegman’s work. for one I’m a huge dog lover. oI personally ahem two dogs and really enjoy having them. I also like the ridiculous nature of the photographs.for example when the digs have cloths on or have human hands i find that to be very funny and adorable.

Alexis Parsons

3/20/2017 06:33:35 am

this video was about an artist named William Wegman. Wlliam takes surreal photos using his dogs. He dresses his dogs up to fit the scene. In some of his photos he uses one dog and in others he uses 4 dogs.

William has dressed the dogs up in clothes, hats, robes, and even painted their nails. the dogs are Weimaraner dogs. William started shooting them when they were puppies. he had shot them his whole life.

William had used one type of camera for most of his life until the 20x24 polaroid camera came out. He continued his work with the polaroid. His intention was to never go bigger than 8x10 but he still did. when he expanded the screen he had to change the set up of scenes. since the camera sat higher he had to put the dogs on stools so that they were in frame.

The newer camera that William was using led him to do nigger photographs. William didn't originally start out with photos though. He started with painting then went to video and finally photography. Even after he swapped camera he didn't stop videography. William never gave up any of his art skills.

Zachary Perkins

3/20/2017 06:35:39 am

Wegman makes portraits of his dogs. He thought that it was interesting to make photographs of the dogs whole life from their youth to adult. He uses a polaroid camera for the pictures and that is what he was known for. More specifically he used a 20x24 polaroid camera. Since photography was progressing in the time he was taking photographs, he introduced color in his photos from very little to a lot of color.
The main problem I have with taking photographs of animals is you cannot control the animal to stay still or keep a certain position. With my experience as a photographer, there are many problems. Some of these problems include light, movement, and positioning. You have to make sure that the dog is positioned right. You have to make sure that there is no movement when the photo is taken. And you have to make sure that your camera has the right shutter speed and the right f-stop.
Some things that Wegman says about what influences him is the interest of evolution. His dogs were photographed from youth to adult, meaning he was photographing almost their entire life. He finds that very interesting because it can form a bond between him and his dog. Another thing he says is that he wants to use a polaroid instead of a high tech digital camera. Because he is used to a polaroid style camera, he finds it interesting that you can be able to print the picture right as you take it rather than having to process a photo from a DSLR.
Legman compared his video pieces to a norma film like a movie. He pretends that his dogs are people and puts them in the place of what a human does each day. For example, he made a ilm of the dog in bed, the alarm goes off, and the dog gets out of bed. Again this is done for interest and because if the dog experiences the daily things that a human does, then it would form a closer bond between a human and a dog. The photographs he takes also forms a bond similar to this.
I really like Wegman's work because he tries to photograph one of his closest companions and its evolution. I really like to see the bond between man and something else. Especially when a man cares so much for his dogs, and likes to do things he likes with them. I personally really like dogs and how they are a man's best friend. Dogs are really important to humans because they show similar affection to humans as humans show to dogs.

Wiliam Oliver

3/20/2017 06:38:48 am

Wegman takes photographs of his Weimaraner dogs with a 20x24 polaroid camera, but he has also taken videos of his dogs and himself in his early career. He started out as a painter but then started making videos. Wegman started to become known with his videos. He then got an offer to go take pictures with a 20x24 polaroid camera which is where he became more well known. He continued to take pictures with this camera up until 2007. Both his videos and photographs are of his Weimaraner dogs.

From my experiences of taking photographs of animals it is very tough and cam be very frustrating. We can not control an animals every move and so it is very tough to get them into the position we would like them to be in. If we ever do get them into this position it is tough because they barely stay in that position for long. We can also face the obstacle of how we want to portray then animal like if we wanted to put a dog on a stool and it jumps off every time we get it on the stool. Taking photographs of animals is very challenging and you can face many obstacles so it is amazing that Wegman has based his career off of dogs.

Wegman says in this video that he does not have a certain artist that he bases his works off of, but rather comedians and singers and people who are well known in other businesses than photography. This is very interesting because he has a comedian influencing his work and so instead of looking at a materialistic object he looks at the character of a person. Wegman also says that he compares his video pieces adds instead of full reels like other artists. Most artists would use a lot of video and instead Wegman created little sound bites that resembled adds. Wegman was different in both of these ways because he did not follow everyone else but instead went his own ways.

I do like Wegman’s work because it is very unique. He choses a tough focus sing animals and creates amazing photographs. He has also used a though camera throughout his career and has done it well. I think some of his pieces of work are odd but most look very good. Wegman has his own way of taking photographs and he does it well and that is why i like his pieces of works.

Ethan Austin link

3/20/2017 06:40:03 am

William Wegman is a photographer that is known for his portraits of his Weimaraner dogs. Legman uses a large 20x24 polaroid camera to shoot his photographs.This is a large old fashioned camera that works just like a smaller modern polaroid. His style may be considered very different due to the strange positions and settings he puts his dogs in.

Referring to my past experiences as a photographer I would have many obstacles when using this camera and subject. The first thing i'd be worried about is proper exposure. Because it is a polaroid I would assume that the shutter speed is not high at all and would have to adjust the lighting to compensate. Along with slow shutter speed and a slightly longer exposure, i'd also have to deal with the dogs position and their movements. A slight movement of the dogs head could possibly throw off the clarity of the image and may cause some parts of the dog to be blurred.

Legman originally found inspiration from comedians and TV personalities. What Wegman later says about his influences is very important and correct in my opinion. He claimed that he just found his inspiration through the things he loved which in this case are his dogs. He said that photographing the things you love brings you closer to them because you can see their expression in the photograph and then point out that same expression outside of the studio.

Wegman compares his video works to short TV ads or commercials. He claims that they are short but good and irresistible. He did not use the whole real as opposed to other artists because he "wanted a reason to go in and go out". I liked Legman's works particularly for his subject and his motivation and inspiration. I enjoy the fact that he makes a living by taking photographs of the things he loves the most.

Preslee Vanlandingham

3/20/2017 06:41:47 am

Legman makes photographs of his two dogs, his more known work. He used the Sony reel system and made more videos than photographs. He then converted to polaroid cameras and explored more in photography. His photo sizes are always 20x24 when using the polaroid camera. His videography of his dogs led to creative photography of them.
As the man holding the dog earlier in the video, the dogs are fidgety and difficult to make a relaxed photo of both of them. Dogs are almost expressionless so setting up the image beforehand is important or all the images begin to look the same. Dogs are difficult to photograph because you can derive a story from the way someone is photographed but the same doesn't go for animals. Needless to say, they have an attention span for five seconds so a distraction is always needed. I have tried to photograph my own dog but he doesn't look at the camera long enough to create a high quality image.
When beginning his work, he photographed his favorite comedians and authors. People who have had an influence on him and began taking videos. He points out that it is powerful to photograph things you love and he loves his dogs. she says its a way to get closer to people and the things that you love. Before photography, he invested his time into videos. He described them as resembling ads and creating the feeling of "being in a dressing room and looking at how your body looks in the clothes."
I like his photographs more when he completely invested in his dog projects. They were even better when he invested color in his photographs, creating a more contemporary feel. His take on making them look human is creative and unheard of to me. I did like some of his video projects but not as much as his recent ones. Overall, Wegman's work is improved for today's society.

Julian Gauntlett link

3/20/2017 06:42:24 am

William Wegman is a wonder photographer which thinks outside the box and the norm for his photos. He makes photos of his dog Man Ray which he states he loves very much.This is done with a polaroid 20x24 camera. This camera is special because there are about only 8 in the whole world. There is one of these located in New York for use.
I would see there is a lot of obstacles that are associated with photographing his dogs Man Ray and Fay Ray. When I was a photographer I could see these issues come alive such as the dog moving constantly, being in the wrong pose or even barking at times. The dog of course doesn't understand what you're trying to do.

Wegman explains in the clip was played that love and care pushes him through to take photos of his dogs constantly and he explains that anything that you love you want to watch throughout life and see how they grow and change. He was at first trying to be a painter but was influenced from the love of his dogs to watch over them and photograph their “beauty”.
William Wegman compares his art to ads and how most people would use the full roll and how he would just use sections of it. He didn't really want to use the polaroid 20x24 camera at first because he wanted to make pictures that would fit in magazines and newspapers as he’d image his would be.
Looking at William Wegmans work I really enjoy viewing them and they truly interest me in many different ways. He really uses colors, shape and even time in many of his photographs. Viewing these photographs of the dogs in these crazy positions which are not capturable is amazing. It almost brings out a side of animals and dogs we haven't seen. I really enjoy his work because I used to have a dog and this really puts a emphasis on the dog's behavior.

Simon Bruhn

3/20/2017 06:42:33 am

William Wegman is a photographer (and earlier a videographer and painter) who takes photos of his dogs. He, until 2007, used a 20 by 24 polaroid camera. Before he used the large polaroid camera he made smaller prints designed for magazines and such, and he was rather dedicated to that size. He almost exclusively takes photos of his two dogs, and that leads to problems. Dogs, not understanding our language, can be hard to pose in place for any amount of time. However, an upside is that they are always honest with the camera.

William says that the people who inspired him to do his work were not photographers themselves. One person that Wegman says inspired him was writer who believed in circular time. I think this (not having your work based on other photographers work) would be very helpful in creating your own distinct work style. He really does seem to have his own style, given that most famous photographers do not take photos of their dogs for their professional work. His video work was also very different from other artists at the time.

Wegman compares his videos to advertisements, They are short (about 30 seconds to a minute) and often surreal (talking to a dog, a mostly naked man). The videos also make heavy use of his dogs. This compares to most artists of his time who made videos that took up a whole reel of tape. He did not see the point in this, that seeing a person do the same thing for 30 minutes was boring/pointless.

I like Wegman’s work, sans some go the weirder ones. I like his use of the dogs and how creative he is with posing them. He somehow seems to come up with tons of different poses and colors. Also, dogs just make me happy. However, some of his stranger work does not appeal to me. One of the videos featured a man in underwear with handbags, and that I failed to see much point to, and it was not visually pleasing.

Kyle Meister

3/20/2017 06:42:42 am

The artist Wegman makes photographs of his dogs over there life time. He has two dogs. Both look identical. Wegman takes photos of something he loves, with that, he will take the time to make the photo as unique as possible. Wegman uses a 20 by 24 poloroid camera. He was asked to make photographs with this camera when it was first invented. The camera was mass produced. There were around 8 20 by 24 polaroid cameras created.

With a camera so big, you couldn't just walk around taking photos. This camera would have to be set up in a certain location and take photos in that one location. Wegman set up the camera inside and created a background. If he wanted a different background he could create and change the background without moving the camera.

The camera is one issue. And using that camera to take pictures of animals is greater issue. Some things that can make it difficult to photos of animals would that animals don't understand what your saying. So if you want them them to do this or face this way, its gonna be difficult since they cant understand you. Dogs won't stay still for a long time so finding the right position and holding that position is gonna be difficult for them. Making it harder for the artist to crete the photo they envisioned.

Wegman said that comedy influences his work. Comedy i think would give the artist a creativity feel to it. Maybe influencing the artist to create a more fun and creative photo. Influencing him to think out of the box or giving his photo some life to it. He compared most of his work to tv ads. He likes his videos short but entertaining. Ads are not a long video. Ads usually are 30 seconds but get to the point.

I like his work. i respect that he works with animals regarding the fact that there hard to work with. But he loves what he is photographing so thats only gonna make the photo better. I like his work.

Patrick Behrens link

3/20/2017 03:47:26 pm

On the surface, it seems as though William Wegman simply photographed his Weimaraner dogs. Though this statement possesses some truth, Wegman did so much more than this. Not only did he document the lives of his dogs, thus allowing the viewer to form a deeper connection to the subjects, but he also paved the way for future animal photographers. As stated before, most of Wegman’s photographs are centered around his dogs. Wegman places varying objects around, on, or obstructing the subjects in many of his shots, which give the image more substance. A vast number of his shots contain a dog peering around an object. This yields to somehow giving the animals a facial expression, such as shooting a frenetic glare at the viewer or posing stoically looking of into the distance.
Wegman’s photographs also have a constant aspect ratio (this largely in part because of using constant cameras in every shoot). Wegman started his career off by only shooting on polaroids capable of shooting 8.5 x 11 or 9 x 12 photos. This allowed for him to get his images in magazines easier, and subsequently helped launch his career. After gaining notoriety, an individual offered Wegman to shoot on a 20 x 24 camera. This camera soon became a favorite of his and subsequently worked its way into his work until becoming the only camera he’d seemingly use.
The most interesting aspect of Wegman’s collecting is not the cameras, but rather the influences. Wegman states that his work (most notability his videos) was inspired by the comic duo Bob and Ray. Wegman also cites his work as being inspired writer Jorge Luis Borges. These influences contribute to an overall greater meaning of the images, and adds a more lighthearted feeling to the collections. Additionally, these influences give his photographs more depth than other photographers works who are influenced by other pieces of art.
Overall, Wegman’s work is extremely interesting, even if it is simply pictures of dogs. The backgrounds create interesting effects and moods in conjunction with the subjects of the images. The ability to evoke complex feelings from the viewers also contributes to the images interesting qualities. Though the images themselves aren’t complicated, Wegman still manages to create interesting atmospheres. These atmospheres allow for the subjects to embody more human personalities which give the images more admirable qualities.

olivia iskander

3/20/2017 05:57:06 pm

Wegman makes photos of his dogs and other landscapes but mostly his dogs. I remember in the video Wegman mentions how you should photograph things you love and things that make you happiest and for him it’s those dogs. The camera equipment legman uses is a 20 x 24 polaroid camera. As you can imagine the camera is huge and is hard to transport around because if its size. This camera is also so rare and they’re about 8 in the entire world.
Throughout my short experience of photography I personally think that photographing animals would be a challenge. Unless the animal you were taking a picture of was trained very well, it would probably wouldn’t stay in one place for the picture. Also another thing to factor in, is that you’re animal probably wouldn’t stay still enough for you to adjust you’re ISO or exposure and they would just be a distraction. In the video the man also says that the dog he used when shooting videos instead of photos the dogs were very fidgety. But although it might be a challenge I feel like the quality you would get, would be worth it.
Wegmans work is influenced by many different things as we can see, from becoming a painter to a photographer. Wegman in a way was influenced through ads/laughter. These ads he created with these dogs created his full career. Some examples was the car add or the spelling add and in both the dogs were used to create laughter. So in a weird way you can say that his dogs influenced him to create different works of art, from painting to videos to photography.
I like William Wegman’s work. To me I feel that he’s passionate about his work and he just makes it come to life. I also feel that with his photography he has every viewer see another perspective of it. For example some may see the dog is angry or playful or happy, and I just feel that he has a way of showing it off. Wegmans work is also very daring and it makes you wonder and think. Not only that but a lot of the time he would mix human and animal characteristics into one photo which had everyone wondering.

raven p

3/20/2017 06:40:05 pm

William Wegman makes makes photographs of his dogs. Wegman’s photographs were taken on a 20x24 inch polaroid camera. And his muse was his dogs. He started out with black and white, but later moved on to color. He also makes videos. When he first started put he did not use the 20x24 inch polaroid he used a 8x11 because he didn’t was his photos to be larger than a magazine. But later he used the 20x24 inch polaroid.

Some obstacles that come with photographing animals is how they act. Luckily Wegman had calm good behaved dogs, and they didn’t mind being photographed. An animal can be a struggle to photograph. They like to move and might not want to pose a certain way, making it hard to just take on photo. I have tried to photograph my dogs and unless they are sleeping, then you can’t get a clear picture.

Wegmans influences where camidians, and writer. Wegman compares his video pieces to ad’s like TV ad’s, he did not want to use the whole roll of film. Wegman says that it's really wonderful to photographing something you love, because it brings you close in a special way. He says that he really liked the camera and how it became part of him. He like how compared to now with digital cameras where you can do any size photo, the polaroid he was using only had the one size.

I really like William Wegmans work. I like it mainly because it's using an animal as the subject. I respect photographers who can photograph animals, you have to have a lot of imagination and patients. Wegman did this very well, he has is dogs in costumes and on stolls. I could probably never do that with my dogs even though i would love to.

Caden Fincke

3/20/2017 07:19:42 pm

William Wegman, makes photos of his Weimaraner dogs. He is known for using 20x24 polaroid cameras, which he can no longer use due to the expenses of using this camera. He compares his video pieces to ads on television as he preferred to not use all of the reel. He used this so he could finish projects whenever he felt it was done as he hard more freedom with time constraints. Wegman also enjoyed and felt it was good for the work for him to be able to go into the work and come out when he felt it was right.
I found Wegmans use of the polaroid 20x24 fascinating as he told his story of trying one of the first polaroids. Wegman was interesting in that at first he did not want to use the polaroid as he only wanted magazine size dimensions for his work. Wegman’s work and use of the polaroid may never have happened if he didn’t go to Cambridge to stop a lady from calling him. I appreciated how Wegman only began using color for a purpose as he used red nail polish on his dog. Wegman seems like a practical man when it comes to the use of photography as he even stopped using the 20x24 once it became obsolete and over expensive.
Photographing animals can be quite a difficult task. I can recall from my own experiences that getting an animal to stand in a certain position or even just look at the camera can be near impossible. This is mainly due to not being able to communicate directly with them, but rather only through keywords and phrase or hand gestures. When taking these obstacles into perspective it gives me a added layer of appreciation for the photographs Wegman made. I feel it shows how his relationship with the dogs has strengthened through the years and photographs he's made. You can see how the dogs feel more trusting of wegman and hold more difficult poses as Wegman says in the video about how photographing the animals brings you closer to them.
I enjoy Wegmans work a lot for multiple reasons. For one I find all of his images have a compelling component whether it be the negative space, the use of reflections of animals, or variation of color. His photographs can also feel personal at times when he uses a direct angle so the dogs are looking directly at you. This use of point of view makes you feel connected to the dogs you have never met. I also appreciate how Wegmans photos can feel surreal at times. Overall I enjoy Wegman’s work and the use of his dogs in his photos.

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Period 1 -- Critical Analysis #16

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