Personal Background
Jay Maisel was born in Brooklyn on January 18, 1931. He went to Cooper Union to study painting and graphic design, then later transferred to Yale. He became a photographer in 1954. In 1959 he took the photo for Miles Davis’s album Kind of Blue, which is the best selling jazz album of all time. He now travels around the county as a teacher of photography workshops and lectures Style Most of Jay Maisel’s work is about finding beauty in the unremarkable, from street photography, to architecture, to landscape photos. He takes lots of photos that have geometric shapes and that show stark contrasts, both in color and in light. He also makes use of vibrant colors in most of his photos. His style gives you a sense of the atmosphere of the location very well. |
Philosophy
The main principle behind much of his work is that he uses very little editing or filters after he has taken the photo. He is known for waiting for days, or even weeks, to photograph something in the perfect light. When giving advice to his photography students, he said, "“If you’re really lucky, you can structure your work, on rare occasions, to where you’re doing exactly what you would like to do. Which is to wander around, blindly looking for things, without any preconceived notion. That’s the way I like to do it.” He believes that you should not have an idea in your head of how it should look, but to find out how you're going to photograph something as you go.
Influences
Jay Maisel has influenced me in my photography during this project to look more carefully at what would seem ordinary, and to try to take photos from unique perspectives. He has also taught me that there is no such thing as bad lighting, it just depends on how you use that lighting. His work has also shown me how different types of lighting can work well for some situations, but not others. For example, bright sunlight is good for high contrast images with stark shadows, but a lower lighting is good for creating a softer feel and a calmer mood.
Sources
https://styleforthemodernman.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/photography-jay-maisel/
https://www.jaymaisel.com/products/copy-of-bv-birds-2
https://www.jaymaisel.com/collections/favorites#Tree+and+Goalposts
The main principle behind much of his work is that he uses very little editing or filters after he has taken the photo. He is known for waiting for days, or even weeks, to photograph something in the perfect light. When giving advice to his photography students, he said, "“If you’re really lucky, you can structure your work, on rare occasions, to where you’re doing exactly what you would like to do. Which is to wander around, blindly looking for things, without any preconceived notion. That’s the way I like to do it.” He believes that you should not have an idea in your head of how it should look, but to find out how you're going to photograph something as you go.
Influences
Jay Maisel has influenced me in my photography during this project to look more carefully at what would seem ordinary, and to try to take photos from unique perspectives. He has also taught me that there is no such thing as bad lighting, it just depends on how you use that lighting. His work has also shown me how different types of lighting can work well for some situations, but not others. For example, bright sunlight is good for high contrast images with stark shadows, but a lower lighting is good for creating a softer feel and a calmer mood.
Sources
https://styleforthemodernman.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/photography-jay-maisel/
https://www.jaymaisel.com/products/copy-of-bv-birds-2
https://www.jaymaisel.com/collections/favorites#Tree+and+Goalposts
Compare and Contrast
In the first images of the wine glass refections, I replicated the image as much as I could. I was able to get the upside down reflection of a building in the glass, but I wasn't able to replicate the setting or have the same angle as the photo. In the second set of the trees, I feel that I was able to capture the mood of the photo very well, along with the rule of thirds, but I could not capture the lighting or colors of the image. In the final set of images, I waited to try and get a photo of a flock of birds, but I was only able to capture a Blue Jay in flight. It would be more similar to the original photo if it were multiplied and against a slightly darker background.
Artist Statement
The first and third images were the most difficult for me to replicate. With the wine glass reflection, I tried many different angles and viewpoints before I was able to make it work. I found I very interesting how the water in the glass warped and distorted the house. When taking the photo of the bird, I had originally planned to take a photo of a whole flock of birds, but I didn't have any luck spotting one to take pictures of. I was instead able to capture the photo of the Blue Jay from underneath, which shows a lot of the detail of it's wings and feathers. After I took the picture, it flew up into a tree next to my house.
In the first images of the wine glass refections, I replicated the image as much as I could. I was able to get the upside down reflection of a building in the glass, but I wasn't able to replicate the setting or have the same angle as the photo. In the second set of the trees, I feel that I was able to capture the mood of the photo very well, along with the rule of thirds, but I could not capture the lighting or colors of the image. In the final set of images, I waited to try and get a photo of a flock of birds, but I was only able to capture a Blue Jay in flight. It would be more similar to the original photo if it were multiplied and against a slightly darker background.
Artist Statement
The first and third images were the most difficult for me to replicate. With the wine glass reflection, I tried many different angles and viewpoints before I was able to make it work. I found I very interesting how the water in the glass warped and distorted the house. When taking the photo of the bird, I had originally planned to take a photo of a whole flock of birds, but I didn't have any luck spotting one to take pictures of. I was instead able to capture the photo of the Blue Jay from underneath, which shows a lot of the detail of it's wings and feathers. After I took the picture, it flew up into a tree next to my house.