Stephen Shore is an American photographer know for his images of ordinary senes and objects of North American landscapes. He is also know for his use of color in photography. In 1970 he went on road trips across the country, on this trip he took two of his most famous projects. He took Uncommon Places and American Surfaces on this road trip.
I found Shores photographs very interesting because of the simplicity. He uses every day objects and does not move or touch the position of them which is what drew me to his work. He use unthinkable objects and turns them into photographs.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SNkPiDBwLY-md3qSrTJ8RRE_j6x9lZhb
This photography really stood out to me because of the angle he took the photograph at. He is standing in between the cars which is allowing for there to be leading lines directly towards the clouds. This is also a really good angle because you are able to see all of the different cars. The pop of color in the cars really makes this photograph interesting.
I chose this photograph because it really shows the simplicity of everyday life that a lot of people might take for granted. This photograph shows a local movie theater in the town. I really like how he chose to leave the two cars in the foreground because it really brings your eyes in the direction of the movie theater.
This photograph of the billboard I find really interesting because of the mix of neutral and bright colors. I think he did a really good job at framing this image because it gives a peaceful feel to the image. There are a lot of leading lines in this photograph from the lines in the fence to the power lines. These leading lines really bring your eyes in the direction of the billboard and the clouds.
In this photograph Stephen Shore is portraying one of the towns on his American Surfaces road trip. I really like how much of the sky he got in the photograph because it gives it more dimension. I really liked how everything in this photograph complimented each other.
This photograph really stood out to me because of the sharpness of it. The shallow depth of field of this photograph really helps you to focus on the two men and helps to bring them out. This photograph really represents the simplicity of everyday life.
This photograph gives off a really sharp feel because of how symmetric the cars are with each other. I really like how he angled this image in a way that the building aligns with the cars. I really like the deep depth of field in this photograph.
I chose this photograph because it is such a simple picture of a farm yet it has such a strong message attached to it. This is a photograph taken by Stephen Shore during the pandemic back in 2020. He explains in an article written by Taylor Dafoe that “life just continues to go on” and “the paper doesn’t report the little things in life that continue”. The photographs that he took during the pandemic are a prime example of this.
I found these three images really interesting because they represent your typical American lifestyle. These images are very authentic and not photo- ready. These photographs really represent Shores photographic style because he was not trying to get a “perfect picture”.