DREAMS- Emma Powell > SECOND PLACE- Margo Reed 'Stress Dream' & Sharon Alagna 'Untitled Bed Self Portrait 3'
SECOND PLACE- Margo Reed 'Stress Dream' & Sharon Alagna 'Untitled Bed Self Portrait 3'
STRESS DREAM by Margo Reed
SECOND PLACE
(Click on image for larger view)
SECOND PLACE
(Click on image for larger view)
Curator Emma Powell says of 2nd Place winners:
1 - Margo Reed 'Stress Dream'
2 - Sharon Alagna 'Untitled Bed Self Portrait 3'
"The two images I chose for second place I find to have odd similarities. While both images have unique characteristics that set them apart, I’m intrigued by the things they have in common. These photographs both stood out to me because of their active use of gesture to convey emotion. Both depict the anxiety either of a stressful dream or sleeplessness.
These two pictures show a detail of the body, but not the face. This removes the individual. Yet in each there is narrative quality to the placement of the body. In one image one hand cradles or pinches the other hand, each taking on their own personalities. Is the lower hand taking care of the bloody hand or is it causing the trauma? As a viewer we aren’t given details about the previous act that created the blood, only the gesture that came after the incident. In the second image all we see of the figure is the legs, but the multiple exposures creates a sense of active motion. This restlessness goes beyond a simple impatient twitch, but instead becomes almost protective or violent in the spasm it depicts. In both cases, as a viewer, I become concerned for the figure and start to imagine what might have led to this poignant position.
Color plays an important role in both of these images. While the distinctive red of the blood covered hands suggests a trauma, it is also subdued by the warm skin tones surrounding it. Rather than standing out as significant and out of place, the red hue adds to the overall warmth of the scene, emphasizing red details in the shadows as well. This is in contrast to how we instinctively know we should feel at the sight of blood. In the other example the background is not only blue, but contains a gradient of values within that hue. This shadow draws the viewer’s attention to the highlights and legs of the figure. The legs particularly stand out in contrast to the blue background, emphasizing the double exposures, which might not be as visible against a white backdrop. These images appeal to me because of the combination of dynamic compositional elements and the suggestion of a story that is implied, but not completed."
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Margo Reed says, "This is a photographic dream journal.
An Experiment. I live, work, and dream to communicate and spread human emotions in hopes that we may be able to break down some of the non-physical barriers (culture, sex, religion, wealth, race, politics) in what many see as a three-dimensional world.
Why do I meet my ex-lovers, dead friends and unpreventable fates in a time and place where I can handle it all– my dreams? Every night they show me an extension of physical life, a collection of incomprehensible experiences that may mean more than I know. Now I’m photographing what I believe to be another universal dimension, and a place that I believe each of us keep for oneself– perception and emotion.
In following pictures, you will find photographic representations of my overnight experiences. This is a dream journal and an artistic experiment, which focuses on channeling the sights I saw and things I felt while I was asleep in hopes that you will feel it too.
I am an artist, a photographer, a communicator. If my project works I could be able to prove to myself that though we all perceive the physical world differently, humans share a universal set emotions. Only then might I have a chance to break some of the non-physical barriers in our perceivable world."
Margo is a passionate and creative photographer specializing in people and places. She uses documentary photography as a means of communicating in a truthful and digestible form.
Most recently, Margo published a documentary photography project tying her hometown of Reading, PA, to Han-no, Japan, a small town outside Tokyo. Margo is trained in photojournalism and darkroom photography and has worked as a photography intern in local newsrooms in Berks County and Philadelphia.
Margo graduated from Temple University with a bachelor's degree in journalism and a concentration in photography in May, 2018, and is currently working as a documentary photographer in and around Philadelphia.
Career Highlights-
Margo is a photojournalist based in Philadelphia and has worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Reading Eagle, and now as a sole-proprietor and freelance photographer. Her work can also be found in Grid Magazine, Philly Voice, and more.
www.margoreedphoto.com
1 - Margo Reed 'Stress Dream'
2 - Sharon Alagna 'Untitled Bed Self Portrait 3'
"The two images I chose for second place I find to have odd similarities. While both images have unique characteristics that set them apart, I’m intrigued by the things they have in common. These photographs both stood out to me because of their active use of gesture to convey emotion. Both depict the anxiety either of a stressful dream or sleeplessness.
These two pictures show a detail of the body, but not the face. This removes the individual. Yet in each there is narrative quality to the placement of the body. In one image one hand cradles or pinches the other hand, each taking on their own personalities. Is the lower hand taking care of the bloody hand or is it causing the trauma? As a viewer we aren’t given details about the previous act that created the blood, only the gesture that came after the incident. In the second image all we see of the figure is the legs, but the multiple exposures creates a sense of active motion. This restlessness goes beyond a simple impatient twitch, but instead becomes almost protective or violent in the spasm it depicts. In both cases, as a viewer, I become concerned for the figure and start to imagine what might have led to this poignant position.
Color plays an important role in both of these images. While the distinctive red of the blood covered hands suggests a trauma, it is also subdued by the warm skin tones surrounding it. Rather than standing out as significant and out of place, the red hue adds to the overall warmth of the scene, emphasizing red details in the shadows as well. This is in contrast to how we instinctively know we should feel at the sight of blood. In the other example the background is not only blue, but contains a gradient of values within that hue. This shadow draws the viewer’s attention to the highlights and legs of the figure. The legs particularly stand out in contrast to the blue background, emphasizing the double exposures, which might not be as visible against a white backdrop. These images appeal to me because of the combination of dynamic compositional elements and the suggestion of a story that is implied, but not completed."
---------------------------------------------------------
Margo Reed says, "This is a photographic dream journal.
An Experiment. I live, work, and dream to communicate and spread human emotions in hopes that we may be able to break down some of the non-physical barriers (culture, sex, religion, wealth, race, politics) in what many see as a three-dimensional world.
Why do I meet my ex-lovers, dead friends and unpreventable fates in a time and place where I can handle it all– my dreams? Every night they show me an extension of physical life, a collection of incomprehensible experiences that may mean more than I know. Now I’m photographing what I believe to be another universal dimension, and a place that I believe each of us keep for oneself– perception and emotion.
In following pictures, you will find photographic representations of my overnight experiences. This is a dream journal and an artistic experiment, which focuses on channeling the sights I saw and things I felt while I was asleep in hopes that you will feel it too.
I am an artist, a photographer, a communicator. If my project works I could be able to prove to myself that though we all perceive the physical world differently, humans share a universal set emotions. Only then might I have a chance to break some of the non-physical barriers in our perceivable world."
Margo is a passionate and creative photographer specializing in people and places. She uses documentary photography as a means of communicating in a truthful and digestible form.
Most recently, Margo published a documentary photography project tying her hometown of Reading, PA, to Han-no, Japan, a small town outside Tokyo. Margo is trained in photojournalism and darkroom photography and has worked as a photography intern in local newsrooms in Berks County and Philadelphia.
Margo graduated from Temple University with a bachelor's degree in journalism and a concentration in photography in May, 2018, and is currently working as a documentary photographer in and around Philadelphia.
Career Highlights-
Margo is a photojournalist based in Philadelphia and has worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Reading Eagle, and now as a sole-proprietor and freelance photographer. Her work can also be found in Grid Magazine, Philly Voice, and more.
www.margoreedphoto.com
UNTITLED BED SELF PORTRAIT 3 by Sharon Alagna
SECOND PLACE
(Click on image for larger view)
SECOND PLACE
(Click on image for larger view)
Curator Emma Powell says of 2nd Place winners:
1 - Margo Reed 'Stress Dream'
2 - Sharon Alagna 'Untitled Bed Self Portrait 3'
"The two images I chose for second place I find to have odd similarities. While both images have unique characteristics that set them apart, I’m intrigued by the things they have in common. These photographs both stood out to me because of their active use of gesture to convey emotion. Both depict the anxiety either of a stressful dream or sleeplessness.
These two pictures show a detail of the body, but not the face. This removes the individual. Yet in each there is narrative quality to the placement of the body. In one image one hand cradles or pinches the other hand, each taking on their own personalities. Is the lower hand taking care of the bloody hand or is it causing the trauma? As a viewer we aren’t given details about the previous act that created the blood, only the gesture that came after the incident. In the second image all we see of the figure is the legs, but the multiple exposures creates a sense of active motion. This restlessness goes beyond a simple impatient twitch, but instead becomes almost protective or violent in the spasm it depicts. In both cases, as a viewer, I become concerned for the figure and start to imagine what might have led to this poignant position.
Color plays an important role in both of these images. While the distinctive red of the blood covered hands suggests a trauma, it is also subdued by the warm skin tones surrounding it. Rather than standing out as significant and out of place, the red hue adds to the overall warmth of the scene, emphasizing red details in the shadows as well. This is in contrast to how we instinctively know we should feel at the sight of blood. In the other example the background is not only blue, but contains a gradient of values within that hue. This shadow draws the viewer’s attention to the highlights and legs of the figure. The legs particularly stand out in contrast to the blue background, emphasizing the double exposures, which might not be as visible against a white backdrop. These images appeal to me because of the combination of dynamic compositional elements and the suggestion of a story that is implied, but not completed."
------------------------------
Sharon Alagna says, "My photography has always been about what we see and what we obscure.
The parts of ourselves that we show to the world and the parts we try to keep hidden. I utilize long exposures and/or instant film to exaggerate those differences.
I use polaroids to create landscapes that are little bit foggy and slightly lonely, that exude a strange nostalgia. Like remembering a place you once visited in a dream. The natural imperfections of long exposure help create self portraits that are vulnerable, and a little sad, and quietly confrontational. The figure is visually effected by light and shadow and movement.
She’s always there in pieces, never fully solid, never fully still, never fully in perfect focus. Both techniques interpret light in ways I can only ever partially predict; because I never know how a photo is going to turn out every single shot is unique and unpredictable. There is a sense of searching and experimentation captured in each image. I think of my photography as a conversation between my internal self and the audience, the fight between a desire to be seen and understood by the world and a simultaneous wish to remain invisible."
Sharon Alagna is a fine art and editorial photographer based in Portland, OR. Utilizing long exposure while working with both digital photography and instant film, she creates beautifully haunting self portraits and surreal landscapes.
She spent a semester studying at Studio Art Centers International in Florence while earning a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has worked as a professional photographer in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, NYC, Connecticut, and Portland. Sharon’s photography has been published in (selected publications) LA Weekly, SF Weekly, Time Out New York, Splitsider, Variety.com, Backstage Magazine, McSweeney’s, The Boston Globe, ABC, MTV.com, Mxdwn.com, and IFC.
Recent Exhibitions:
2019 - Barrett Art Center, "Photowork 2019: 32nd Annual National Juried Photography Exhibition,” Poughkeepsie, NY
2016 - Las Laguna Gallery, “How I Identify - Myself,” Laguna Beach, CA
2016 Rochester Riverside Hotel, “Regional Erotic Art Show and Sale,” Rochester, NY
2015 Nerdmelt at Meltdown Comics, “G-G-GHOSTS! An Artistic Memorial For the Living Impaired,” Los Angeles, CA
2015 Sanctuary LAX, “Micro Erotic Reading Room,” Los Angeles, CA.
2015 Hive Gallery, “Collective Show,” Los Angeles, CA.
“Micro Erotica Vol 1.” February 2015.
Honors and Awards:
President's Choice. OPPA Open Image Competition 2018, Portland, OR. 2018.
Publications:
“Micro Erotica Vol 1.” February 2015.
Honors and Awards:
President's Choice. OPPA Open Image Competition 2018, Portland, OR. 2018.
alagnafineart.com
-----------------------------------------
DREAMS HOME:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell
FIRST PLACE:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell/first-place-ralph-mercer-rayanne-s-dream/1
SECOND PLACE:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell/second-place-margo-reed-stress-dream-sharon-alagna-untitled-bed-self-portrait-3----/1
BEST SERIES:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell/best-series-claudia-ruiz-gustafson/1
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell/honorable-mentions-gary-justis-below-harry-longstreet-almost-home-robin-ay-suffocation-traci-marie-lee-that-lumbered-all-the-way-josh-raftery-as-she-sleeps----/1
EXHIBITION #1:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell/exhibition-1/1
EXHIBITION #2:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell/exhibition-2/1
1 - Margo Reed 'Stress Dream'
2 - Sharon Alagna 'Untitled Bed Self Portrait 3'
"The two images I chose for second place I find to have odd similarities. While both images have unique characteristics that set them apart, I’m intrigued by the things they have in common. These photographs both stood out to me because of their active use of gesture to convey emotion. Both depict the anxiety either of a stressful dream or sleeplessness.
These two pictures show a detail of the body, but not the face. This removes the individual. Yet in each there is narrative quality to the placement of the body. In one image one hand cradles or pinches the other hand, each taking on their own personalities. Is the lower hand taking care of the bloody hand or is it causing the trauma? As a viewer we aren’t given details about the previous act that created the blood, only the gesture that came after the incident. In the second image all we see of the figure is the legs, but the multiple exposures creates a sense of active motion. This restlessness goes beyond a simple impatient twitch, but instead becomes almost protective or violent in the spasm it depicts. In both cases, as a viewer, I become concerned for the figure and start to imagine what might have led to this poignant position.
Color plays an important role in both of these images. While the distinctive red of the blood covered hands suggests a trauma, it is also subdued by the warm skin tones surrounding it. Rather than standing out as significant and out of place, the red hue adds to the overall warmth of the scene, emphasizing red details in the shadows as well. This is in contrast to how we instinctively know we should feel at the sight of blood. In the other example the background is not only blue, but contains a gradient of values within that hue. This shadow draws the viewer’s attention to the highlights and legs of the figure. The legs particularly stand out in contrast to the blue background, emphasizing the double exposures, which might not be as visible against a white backdrop. These images appeal to me because of the combination of dynamic compositional elements and the suggestion of a story that is implied, but not completed."
------------------------------
Sharon Alagna says, "My photography has always been about what we see and what we obscure.
The parts of ourselves that we show to the world and the parts we try to keep hidden. I utilize long exposures and/or instant film to exaggerate those differences.
I use polaroids to create landscapes that are little bit foggy and slightly lonely, that exude a strange nostalgia. Like remembering a place you once visited in a dream. The natural imperfections of long exposure help create self portraits that are vulnerable, and a little sad, and quietly confrontational. The figure is visually effected by light and shadow and movement.
She’s always there in pieces, never fully solid, never fully still, never fully in perfect focus. Both techniques interpret light in ways I can only ever partially predict; because I never know how a photo is going to turn out every single shot is unique and unpredictable. There is a sense of searching and experimentation captured in each image. I think of my photography as a conversation between my internal self and the audience, the fight between a desire to be seen and understood by the world and a simultaneous wish to remain invisible."
Sharon Alagna is a fine art and editorial photographer based in Portland, OR. Utilizing long exposure while working with both digital photography and instant film, she creates beautifully haunting self portraits and surreal landscapes.
She spent a semester studying at Studio Art Centers International in Florence while earning a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has worked as a professional photographer in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, NYC, Connecticut, and Portland. Sharon’s photography has been published in (selected publications) LA Weekly, SF Weekly, Time Out New York, Splitsider, Variety.com, Backstage Magazine, McSweeney’s, The Boston Globe, ABC, MTV.com, Mxdwn.com, and IFC.
Recent Exhibitions:
2019 - Barrett Art Center, "Photowork 2019: 32nd Annual National Juried Photography Exhibition,” Poughkeepsie, NY
2016 - Las Laguna Gallery, “How I Identify - Myself,” Laguna Beach, CA
2016 Rochester Riverside Hotel, “Regional Erotic Art Show and Sale,” Rochester, NY
2015 Nerdmelt at Meltdown Comics, “G-G-GHOSTS! An Artistic Memorial For the Living Impaired,” Los Angeles, CA
2015 Sanctuary LAX, “Micro Erotic Reading Room,” Los Angeles, CA.
2015 Hive Gallery, “Collective Show,” Los Angeles, CA.
“Micro Erotica Vol 1.” February 2015.
Honors and Awards:
President's Choice. OPPA Open Image Competition 2018, Portland, OR. 2018.
Publications:
“Micro Erotica Vol 1.” February 2015.
Honors and Awards:
President's Choice. OPPA Open Image Competition 2018, Portland, OR. 2018.
alagnafineart.com
-----------------------------------------
DREAMS HOME:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell
FIRST PLACE:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell/first-place-ralph-mercer-rayanne-s-dream/1
SECOND PLACE:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell/second-place-margo-reed-stress-dream-sharon-alagna-untitled-bed-self-portrait-3----/1
BEST SERIES:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell/best-series-claudia-ruiz-gustafson/1
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell/honorable-mentions-gary-justis-below-harry-longstreet-almost-home-robin-ay-suffocation-traci-marie-lee-that-lumbered-all-the-way-josh-raftery-as-she-sleeps----/1
EXHIBITION #1:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell/exhibition-1/1
EXHIBITION #2:
https://www.laphotocurator.com/dreams-emma-powell/exhibition-2/1
