Artist Research (Phil Jackson)

Phil Jackson  

Traveling skateboarder Phil Jackson documents youth subculture with a distinct eye for formal composition. He captures raw, gritty scenes pulling the most out of his subjects. From the camps of Woodward to the parks of Philadelphia, Jackson covers the breadth of skating in its purest form. (taken from Complex art + design).   

Although Phil Jackson is a skateboard photographer, the collection of images I am looking revolves more around the social side of the sport. His more gritty photography show the lifestyle surrounding skating. He has captured has captured some classic images ranging from the hyper kids at camp woodward to the dusty mosh pits at FDR.  

I am going to use Phil Jackson as the inspiration for the lifestyle portion of my skate photography. Showing what happens off the board is as important as showing what happens on it for this projet. This is due to the fact I want to show the audience an insite into the life of the people I am photographing not just a brief snap shot.   

Artist Research (Sagan Lockheart)

Sagan Lockheart

Sagan Lockheart is a photographer situated in Los Angeles. He specialises in documentary style photography. Working closely with OFWGKTA he has captured some of there most famous images.  He uses film for most of his images, giving them a warm and at times gritty feel.
Sagan shows a vast array of things in his work but they majorly centre around young people living in L.A. He show parties, music events, everyday life and the element I am focusing on Skateboarding. Sagan is close friend with such professional skateboarders as Nakel Smith and Young Kevin,  so capturing such impressive images is a part of his life. I love his style of snap shot, non of his image look staged even if they are taken on a pre determined he has a certain organised madness in his image that I really enjoy.
 His shots next to the cut out of the hollywood sign have given me the idea to get some of my images from a distance, not only showing the skater in the image but another point of interest  e.g. the skater grinding on the bench next to the hollywood sign. This shows two points of interest.

I am using Sagan Lockheart as one of the artist researches for skate action shots.

Artist research (Trent Parke)

I find Trent Parkes observational and documentary photography really interesting. His work in colour is so vivid and vibrant, so much so it can look unrealistic at times. I especially enjoy Parkes 'Christmas tree bucket' project where he has shown an odd and unusual side of christmas in Australian suburbs. This project features a plethora of styles such as the surreal image 'Bugs Lauries's 70th birthday surprise' or the darkly humorous 'Fireman Uncle Heath's 37th Birthday Cake'. Trent is a real chameleon when it comes to photography, he can show humor and surrealism (Christmas tree bucket) Vivid colourful documentary shots (Coming soon/ Welcome to nowhere) and even powerful dramatic using black and white (Dream/LIfe & beyond and Minutes to Midnight). 

Bugs Lauries's 70th birthday surprise 

Well as shooting in digital and on regular analog camera he has also shot some very successful work in medium format. These projects include 'Coming soon' and 'Minutes to midnight'. Two very different but equally interesting and powerful collections of work. This has give me the idea to use the medium format to try and capture my final image.

After looking at Trent's work I really want to emulate some of his styles, the street/documentary styles shown in Coming soon and Minuets to midnight plus the eary style used in 'christmas tree bucket' would be a great feet to reach. 

Drag Races, Mildura, VIC, 2003