Assignment 4 - Virtual Essay

The photographer I have chosen is David Lindsey Wade.  He has a certain style that is just pleasing to the eye. His photos are very raw and his use of light is very well utilized,  it's able to highlight what's important and make it stand out.  The poses are also well done, they capture the mood of the image and character of the subject. 

Here are a few of his photographs taken from his official website: http://www.davidlindseywade.com/ 

 

Like with any other form of art it is easy to spot similarities in other photographs taken by other photographers.

One image that pops to mind is the promotional poster used for the WWE payper view, Royal Rumble, back in 2009, which I found similar to the image directly below it.

WWE Royal Rumble 2009 

http://www.wwe.com/shows/royalrumble/history/2009/

Image by David Lindsey Wade.

What I find similar between these two images is the dark color palette. There is a lot of greys and blues used which gives it a darker, scarier, more serious tone. The overall theme of chaos and anarchy is also similar, there are bodies all over the place, the people all have angry, determined expressions on their faces. The people also appear to have a litle bit of a shine to them due to the lighting. The backgrond is very plain and unintresting but it doesn't need to be anything else. When looking at each it's easy to get the same overall feeling, because of the close similarities.

Some other images that remind me of David Lindsey Wade photos are the ones below. One is a photo taken from a concert and the other is the album cover for Pearl Jam's album Ten, the last one is an image by David Lindsey Wade, that they are similar to.

Raised Hands http://www.apathyisboring.com/en/the_facts/news/4452

Pearl Jam "ten" album cover http://pearljam.com/music/releases/studio%20album/ten

 

Image of Hands raised Taken By David Lindsey Wade

 

 

In teams of looks there are differences, like the colour and the directions of the hands, for example in the concert image the hands are straight up, in the Pearl Jam image the hands all meet in the middle and in the Wade picture the hands lean towards the middle. Concept wise all these images are the same.  The camera is place above the heads of everyone in the image, as if to say the people in which the hands belong to are not important. The hands in the concert image and the Wade image are a silhouette due to the very dark setting and the one direction light shining from behind, which helps ad mystery and also makes the hands predominant.

Below is a poster for the movie The Dark Knight, and an image of the current US President , Barack Obama , which I found similar to the two below them, taken by David Lindsey Wade. 

Poster for the movie "The Dark Knight" http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/2008_the_dark_knight_poster_007_big.html

Picture Of U.S President Barack Obama http://greenspaces.in/blog/2009/01/

Image of boxer Floyd Mayweather taken by David Lindsey Wade

Image by David Lindsey Wade

 

The similarity lies in the black background with one directional light hitting the subjects, with the exception of the Obama image which has two directional lights. The light is able to highlight part of the figure and leave the rest in shadows which creates a mysterious feel and gives the subject of the image the same sense of mystery. Since the background is black the glow of light comes across really strong, thus making the subject more noticeable and predominant, and really draws the eyes to them.

The similarities of the images below are obvious. Top one is a destop wallpaper for computers the bottom is by David Lindsey Wade.

Busy Highway http://www.hd-wallpapers.com/wide/photography/landscapes/

Car going down a road, taken by David Lindsey Wade

They both show cars going down a road, but instead of seeing still cars all you see are the headlights and backlight in a beam that runs down the road, this created by using a technique called light painting.  Seeing as how light painting works better in dark setting both images are taken at later times in the day, around dusk. Light painting and espcially using it for cars on roads is very common and similar images can be found online easily, but Wade is able to create a different feel, in his photo it seems more peaceful, and relaxed, where as the other one come off as more busy and hectic. It just goes to show that one technique can be used to create many different feelings.

Below is the poster for the movie The Road and an old promotional image for WWE taken by David Lindsey Wade.

The Road movie poster  http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1642761728/tt0898367

Former WWE superstar Batista, taken by David Lindsey Wade

 

At first glance The warm colour palette stands out. The use of brown, orange and grey are common between both images. When looking closer the similarities of the subjects start to show. They both look dirty and gritty like they've been through a battle or a demanding journey of some sort, this is also shown through their facial expressions. There is also a glow which appears directly behind both subjects, possibly representing a glimmer of hope in the world of despair that these people appear to be in. Or it could be revealing, or representing  these characters as the saviours or heroes.

 

With all these similarities it's still hard to say who influenced who. The similarities in all the images above are more simple techniques that are common amongst artist. Such as using dark colours express fear, and mystery.  David Lindsey Wade takes these well known techniques and applies his little twist to it, and combine them, thus making it his own, and that is usually how styles are created.