Mia-Myline Medina_Krzysztof Szczurek / Alec Dawson_Week #7

Mexican-American photographer, Alec Dawson, is entirely self-taught in the field. Having graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Civil Engineering, Dawson's main career is actually as a consulting engineer. Nonetheless, this artist has an impressive Curriculum Vitae (CV)- he has been part of 12 group exhibitions from 2012-2018, provided 12 lectures from 2013-2016, and has been featured in more than 30 articles/magazines since 2009. In his series, Nobody Claps Anymore, Dawson shares his own sense of depression, anxiety, and helplessness through the scenes depicted. His personal philosophy, "Humans are meaning making machines...Furthermore, just like a fish doesn't realize its context is water, we are unaware of the context in which we are experiencing the world," comes through in his work. I chose Dawson for the raw emotions that I felt his work captures. I could sense the helplessness, resentment, discontentment, and longing for something more. I hope to share the same mood in my own body of work.

https://www.lensculture.com/alecdawson

http://www.alecdawson.net/nobody-claps-anymore/

Belgian photographer, Krzysztof Szczurek, does not seem to have much information about himself online. What we do know is that he is a self-taught photographer working out of Belgium. He participated in several small group exhibitions and one solo show back in 2015, and was selected for two photo events, BOZAR's Art Show in Brussels 2018 and Art Truc Troc 2019. His work varies from one project to the next. Some series are colorful while others are black and white, some series are more emotional as with Breaking Point (seen below) and others are straight-forward landscape photography or still-life. In the Breaking Point series, Szczurek focuses on critical moments or turning points in life- returning or departing individuals, a phone call or letter received, etc.- which portrays a melancholy, somewhat darker tone. The low lighting and deadpan style also aid in this feeling. These are techniques that I plan to utilize in my own work in order to have the same effect.  

https://www.lensculture.com/krzysztof-szczurek

https://www.tofrat.eu/breaking-points