David Hockney

 

David Hockney

 

 

            David Hockney can be categorized as a Pop Artist from Britain.  He has worked in a variety of mediums, but the medium I personally enjoy the most from him are his composite polaroids.  Hockney will take polaroid photos of an object or person, and then use the resulting polaroid pictures to create a piece of art.  Each picture is taken of only a small portion of the subject.  The photos are then pieced together like a puzzle to create the larger image.  The larger image is always a distorted version of the true object.  For example, while taking pictures of the guitar, camera angles, lighting, zoom, and many other factors are constantly changing.   Rather than correct these changing features, Hockney allows them to vary.  The final product is always recognizable, but it has a distinct style that Hockney is known for.

            Having done several photo composites myself, I wanted to learn more about David Hockney’s process.  I like that he uses tangible polaroid prints, rather than digital editing programs to piece together his work.  There is something different and special about tangible photos that digital ones can never reproduce.  I also appreciate that Hockney allows the angles and zoom to change between each picture.  It is a very accurate way to depict a moment in time.  Also, I am inspired by the white space around each photo in the composite photos.  It really defines for me that even though all of the photos work together as a whole, each piece is individually important.  The white border surrounding each photo allows me to study each one individually, but does not distract from the final larger piece.  Now that I am more familiar with his work and process, I hope to use what I learned in future photography projects, as well as in other media.