Photographer Research - Joe Melchione

Joe Melchione

I decided to study Joe Melchione's work in more detail because his work is a lot different to other photographers that I have already researched such as Orozco and Letinsky. I also like that Melchione's website organises his photographs by subject such as 'Urban Environment' and 'Street Photography', these are the two folders that i looked at the most because i identified evidence of weathering, graffiti, ageing, light etc. I enjoy looking at Melchione's work as his work is so different and complex, where as Letinsky's work for example, is more simplistic. I think Melchione's work is excellent influence for my own photography, as I want to look at the evidence of ageing, but i would like to look at ageing within people, as well as streets and objetcs, Melchione has shot photos of weathering of boats and streets, which links to this topic and allowed me to look at 'ageing' from a different perspective. 

This is a photograph from Melchione's project of 'Street Photography'. I like this photo because the painting of the woman on the wall is detailed, and because the image is black and white, it makes it look as though she has a shadow. I also like that her eyes are looking directly into the camera lens. This is evidence of 'graffiti' and 'art', and i like the concept of shooting art, through art, paintings through photographs. 

This is one of the images that has allowed me to look at 'ageing' at a different perspective. In this photo, we can see a pier, and the side of a boat which has decayed, weathered and moss has grown upon it. I like the concept of looking at ageing of humans, as well as ageing of objects. I also like that we can see the pier in the background, because the photo then has depth and although we can't see much, we can still see a little of what is in the background. 

This is another photo which I picked out because of the same concept of ageing as the one above. I like this image because it is in black and white, which outlines the dark patches and lines of decay, mould and weathering - which links to evidence of time passing and ageing. Also, i like that the background of the image is completely white, so that our attention is solely focused on the building. 

This photo caught my eye because I liked that Melchione left it in colour/edited it to 'Sepia', this adds emphasise on the sunlight and the colour of the sun. The shadows from the trees make the photo much more interesting and intensifies the concept of the sunlight. I like this image a lot and would like to take photos of 'evidence' of the different types of weather - and shadows as well. 

Joe Melchione has influenced my project because i like his style and the complexity of his images. Although i enjoy simple and ordinary photographs, Melchione's work has shown me other ways to photograph objects and scenes. I have already planned to shoot the evidence of ageing of people, but some of Melchione's photographs has inspired me to look at ageing from another angle, of objects and places.

This is a photo from my 'ageing'/decaying/rusting shoot. Melchione's work influenced me to look at other concepts of ageing, and this is the result. Some of Melchione's work presents old buildings, boats etc which i have attempted to mimic within this shoot, as well as of other objects as well.

Again, this is from the same shoot, whereby i went to Leigh on Sea to take photos of ageing. I like this photo in particular because the colours of the boats are still quite vibrant, yet everything else is not, as it is old and rusted. This was influenced by Melchione as he is the reason for the shoot in the first place, but it also relates to some of his work from his 'Urban Environment' topic. 

In summary, I enjoy looking at Melchione's work because it's so interesting and artistic, and his ideas are so simple, but his style of photography captures them extremely well. Melchione's work has influenced my next few shoots as he has given me more ideas to explore in the topic of Evidence.