Alexa Meade is an American artists based in Los Angeles. Despite not being a photographer, I was drawn to her work because of how her painting work on 3D surfaces is captured in a 2D photograph. She paints directly onto people using them as her canvases, using tones and highlights to present them as 3D objects. Although not strictly 'Fantasy', I like the surrealism in her work and how it appears that the 2D painting has come to life, an idea which I could easily replicate into my photography work.
2. Annie Leibovitz; http://annieleibovitz.tumblr.com/
Sioin is an American artist, photographer and mother. In her work, she creates fictional settings out of various objects and fabrics, and then uses her children as the models within these settings; creating wonderland fantasies you would expect of young babies. She takes inspiration from Australian baby portrait photographer, Anne Geddes. In comparison to Anne Geddes, I find Sioin's work more influential as I love her use of character and colour to really make her work stand out. If I can find some parents who are willing for me to photograph their children, I think I could come up with my own fantasy-based settings to replicate Sioin's work.
Eugenio has worked for a range of different clients, from Nina Ricci perfume adverts to Vogue UK magazine covers and everything in between from Yves Saint Laurent, Diesel and Swarovsky. The fashion/portrait photography stands out to me because of his use of statuesque models, with facial features that almost replicate that of a doll's, giving his work an eery, fantastical element. Eugenio also uses a lot of larger-than-life props and settings, which makes his work seem unreal yet captivating.
Gregory Crewdson is an American photographer, best know for his elaborate staging of American homes and neighbourhoods. Initially, looking ay Gregory's work, they appear to be really bizarre and over-the-top, seemingly not making much sense - but actually each of them tell a shocking story of reality and the issues people face on a day-to-day basis. I love how elaborate Gregory is with his set designs and props, especially in his location work with the use of darker, eery lighting, adding more of a horror fantasy element to his work.
I came across Kirsty's work when reading her story in the news, and I was immediately captivated by her 'Wonderland' series of work. When Kirsty's mother, an English teacher, died of a brain tumour, Kirsty was inspired to go from fashion designer to photographer in order to create some of the characters and scenes her mother would create for her in stories when she was a little girl. She lives and works in Kent, the 'Garden of England' where she photographs many of her beautifully breathtaking scenes. I love her use of intense colour which makes her images really stand out, as well as how creative she is with her set designs and costumes.
Akiko, a Japanese Food Photographer and Pierre, a French Portrait and Food Photographer both met studying Photography in Paris. Whilst Pierre began with illustrations and art, Akiko started with Food, creating her own recipes for basics such as bread, and then photographing each new creation for a notebook of hers, which she accompanied with small illustrations and doodles of people enjoying her food. They decided to combine their passion for food, illustration and photography, so came together as Minimiam; creating little plastic people and using foods to illustrate the settings that these little people live in.
Jerry Uelsmann, an American photographer, is considered to be the forerunner of photomontage in 20th century America. Through extensive darkroom work with multiple negatives he was able to create stunning photomontage pieces which launched him into a career of photography and photography teaching. Despite having retired and the progression of digital technology, Uelsmann to this day still uses darkroom methods to create more of his stunning photomontage work, using obscure objects and beautiful landscapes to create surreal images. At 80, his still creates up to 100 pieces in a year, from which he likes to select the best 10, which is never an easy task. Despite not using darkroom methods myself, I still find his work influential as I too will be able to create similar surreal montage images with more advanced techniques.
Like the Minimiam collaboration, Carl Warner, an English photographer from Liverpool, takes interest in photographing food, but instead he uses it as a way to expressively create stunning landscapes and settings - something he calls Foodscaping. At some point in everyone's life, they dream of a world filled with their favourite foods, at for Carl, this was great inspiration for creating stunning photography pieces.
Mallory Morrison is a photographer based in Los Angeles. Previously a dance photographer, she wanted to change medium and saw a perfect marriage between underwater work and the dancers she had previously worked with in a sense to challenge weightlessness in water and the movements capable of experienced dancers. Thus, this 'wightlessness' movement that she is able to capture in the water almost seems surreal, creating a 'Fantasy' element, especially with the characters she is able to create and the way that they interact with the water.
11. Zena Holloway; http://www.zenaholloway.com/
Born in Bahrain and raised in London, Zena moved to Grand Cayman to pursue a career in advertising and underwater photography. Her credits include Kylie Minogue, Elle Style Awards, Nike and Herbal Essences. She has acquired a number of fully functioning mermaid tails for many of her models to wear, whilst she also frequently experiments with the movement of materials and makeup within the water.
12. Tim Walker; http://timwalkerphotography.com/
Similar to Kirsty Mitchell, I loved Tim's use of paper/card props to give off the impression of a storybook coming to life. Tim studied in London before moving to New York to work as a photography assistant. Upon returning to England, Tim began to work with fashion, frequently working for Vogue magazine. In 2012 he launched the exhibition, 'STORY TELLER' where he combines his love for fashion with fairy-tale like props and settings.
13. Andrey Yakovlev and Lili Aleeva; https://www.behance.net/AndrewLili
This duo of photographers from Moscow, Russia, have been working on fashion and advertising photography together for a number of years. They love using pale and pastel colours combined with dark, gritty props to give off the dream-like effect. In September 2012, they worked on a portfolio specifically named 'Fantasy' where they used one single model repeatedly, dressed as a princess in dark, mythological settings with various creatures, reflecting the imagery often seen in films such as Harry Potter.
14. Hagen Landsem; http://www.hagenland.com/
Photographer Hagen Landsem works under the name of Hagenland, specialising in wedding photography in the North of England, however he will travel (even abroad) if it means being able to capture some spectacular images. Whilst he enjoys the conventional style of wedding photography, for those clients who will allow it, he loves putting a fun and interesting spin on the traditional event, taking Fantasy photography to a whole new level. So far he has completed several Star Wars themed wedding photographs, along with some incorporating dinosaurs!
15. Randy Scott Slavin; http://www.randyscottslavin.com/
Randy Scott Slavin is an award winning director and surrealist photographer based in New York City. He has racked up a number of awards, especially for his unique take on several music videos he has directed for top music producers and labels. I am more interested in his surrealist photography work, especially this fish-bowl effect he has created for several different normal landscape pictures, turning every day images into whole new worlds and illusions.
16. Elena Kalis; http://www.elenakalisphoto.com/
Born and raised in Moscow, Elena Kalis studied the Fine Arts, before marrying and moving to The Berry Islands, a small cluster of islands in the Bahamas. Surrounded by nothing but water, Kalis took inspiration from the ocean, and turned her love for painting into photography when she discovered the endless possibilities she could achieve under the water, where everything moves in a different way and people become virtually weightless. She compared this venture to Alice, the girl who jumped into an adventure feet first, and so called her exploration, Waterland.
17. Chris Crumley; http://chriscrumley.com/
Chris Crumley is an underwater fashion photographer from America. Although he does sometimes work on land and even in the air, he prefers to work under the water, where he has become famous for his work with 'mermaids'. Chris worked with specialists to create custom-made mermaid tails for his models, acquiring them in different shapes and colours, made for different movements also. I particulalry love the way he manages to make the material of the tails to blend into the skin, making it look even more realistic. I also like the work where he has experimented placing mermaids with human clothes on such as wedding dresses.
18. Cade Martin; http://www.cademartin.com/
Based in America, Cade Martin specialises in advertising, and takes normal, basic poses and places a futuristic and fantastical spin on them all. His editing and lighting techniques really help to lift this idea. His work specifically with Starbucks and Mirabel perfectly reflect his love for creating weird and wonderful pictures, defying the impossible and putting his name across the world.
19. Thomas Barbey; http://thomasbarbey.com/
Originating from Switzerland, Thomas now lives and works in Las Vegas where he takes inspiration from the big and bold lifestyle there. He only ever works in black and white, and his final images never come from just the one shoot. Working for more than 20 years now in photography, Thomas takes little parts of images from different shoots spanning across these 20 years as he likes to incorporate the past with the future, which is what gives his work that unique twist.
20. Baz Luhrmann; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baz_Luhrmann
Baz Luhrmann is a famous film director from Australia. His biggest titles include the remakes of Romeo + Juliet and The Great Gatsby, as well as Australia and Moulin Rouge. He takes a lot of inspiration from the opera and Bollywood as he loves the dramatic props and settings used, as well as the bold use of colour. I have chosen Baz as an inspiring artist for the theme of Fantasy as he is able to take an old traditional story and place his own, fun spin on them, which is something which I hope I am also able to do.
12. Tim Walker; http://timwalkerphotography.com/
13. Andrey Yakovlev and Lili Aleeva; https://www.behance.net/AndrewLili
14. Hagen Landsem; http://www.hagenland.com/
15. Randy Scott Slavin; http://www.randyscottslavin.com/
16. Elena Kalis; http://www.elenakalisphoto.com/
17. Chris Crumley; http://chriscrumley.com/
18. Cade Martin; http://www.cademartin.com/
19. Thomas Barbey; http://thomasbarbey.com/
Originating from Switzerland, Thomas now lives and works in Las Vegas where he takes inspiration from the big and bold lifestyle there. He only ever works in black and white, and his final images never come from just the one shoot. Working for more than 20 years now in photography, Thomas takes little parts of images from different shoots spanning across these 20 years as he likes to incorporate the past with the future, which is what gives his work that unique twist.
20. Baz Luhrmann; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baz_Luhrmann
Baz Luhrmann is a famous film director from Australia. His biggest titles include the remakes of Romeo + Juliet and The Great Gatsby, as well as Australia and Moulin Rouge. He takes a lot of inspiration from the opera and Bollywood as he loves the dramatic props and settings used, as well as the bold use of colour. I have chosen Baz as an inspiring artist for the theme of Fantasy as he is able to take an old traditional story and place his own, fun spin on them, which is something which I hope I am also able to do.
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