Books on the Edge

"I am attempting to blur the line between objects, sculpture and photography"

Butterfly

Texan artist Cara Barer bases her work on taking photographs of the edges of pages, in whimsical and elegant positions. Her inspiration came when she photographed whe intricately bent pages of a wet Yellow Pages book. After this, she moved onto other books, carefully positioning the pages into beautiful designs on a studio black background.

Barer does not consider herself a photographer, but simply an artist who uses photography. She takes into consideration the size of the book, the quality and colour of the paper, and her designs are often even influenced by the content of the book.

The final photographs are really impressive, and display great depth - it's unclear how they have been created on initial viewing, but I think discovering the 'page design' only makes them even more effective and inspiring. What an absorbing and original type of art.

Shitake

Pictures taken at exactly the right time

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=10805028404&ref=ts

This Facebook group consists of over 1,000 photos that have supposedly been taken at 'exactly the right time' - those that would be far less effective if taken only seconds before or after. The group is really addictive, and I found myself looking through the pictures for hours at a time, and constantly checking if any new photos had been added. The huge variety of photographs in this group ensures that it remains entertaining indefinitely.

What really interests me, is that the photographs aren't always taken on a quality camera, or by a professional photographer, but the content manages to amaze and captivate with its mind-blowing beauty or sheer humour.

What really doesn't interest me is how serious the 'Group Officers' have become, creating rules and regulations. They claim it's 'Just for fun' so I think they should keep it that way! Some of them are potentially photoshopped, but I'm willing to look past this.

Declare yourself!

In 2004, David LaChapelle worked together with 'Declare yourself' to create a campaign aimed at persuading people to register their vote. LaChapelle uses a combination of the 'shock factor' and celebrity appearances to draw attention to the cause. I am really interested in the photographer's use of bold colour, and his general unique, surreal - and often humorous style.

Beauty in ugliness

Freelance photographer Namiko Kitaura focuses on visualising the invisible human condition behind appearance. She creates eerie, solemn scenes through use of minimal tones and lack of colour, and portrays the world in a bleak, cold and lonely way - possibly showing it for what it really is.

The images are powerful, and have been described as showing 'passion in depression, comfort in sadness, tranquility in chaos and beauty in ugliness.'

The juxtaposition shown in Kitaura's photographs is very captivating, and have successfully been used within influential advert campaigns, making a huge impression on their viewers.