**Exploring Interpretations: A Photographic Still Life**

Today, we're going to delve into the world of still life photography, focusing on a single subject that has been interpreted by three unique photographers: Robert Maple Thorp, Tom Burr, and Chuck Close. This exercise allows us to see how one object can be seen through different lenses, resulting in distinct interpretations.

**Robert Maple Thorp's Interpretation**

Robert Maple Thorp was an artist with a reputation for being a wild man, but his photography was rooted in classical art, drawing inspiration from Greek and Roman influences. His approach to still life is characterized by a sense of personality and drama. One of the most striking aspects of Thorp's photograph of a sunflower is the hand holding it up, which conveys a sense of intimacy and connection with the subject. The way the hand gestures towards the camera creates a dynamic movement, as if inviting the viewer to engage with the image. Furthermore, the subtle reflection on the background material adds a layer of depth, suggesting that the still life is not static, but rather in motion. This interpretation stands out for its classical roots and sense of drama.

**Chuck Close's Interpretation**

In contrast to Thorp's dramatic approach, Chuck Close brings a more modern and personal spin to his photograph of a sunflower. The use of harsh lighting creates a striking contrast with the dark background, drawing attention to the subject itself. The focus on the center of the flower, rather than its petals, creates a sense of intimacy and vulnerability. This interpretation showcases Close's unique style, which is often characterized by bold colors and geometric forms. The subtle out-of-focus effect in the background adds to the overall sense of precision and control, underscoring the artist's attention to detail.

**Tom Burr's Interpretation**

Tom Burr's photograph of a sunflower shares some similarities with Chuck Close's interpretation, but his approach is distinct in its own right. One notable difference is the way the petals are depicted – slightly out of focus, as if caught in a sudden gust of wind. This creates a sense of dynamism and energy in the image, drawing attention to the delicate balance between order and chaos. The use of a dark background with bright lighting also gives the impression of depth and dimensionality. Perhaps what sets Burr's interpretation apart most is the way it evokes emotion – there's an almost... troubled air about this sunflower, as if it's struggling to cope with its own center.

**Comparing Interpretations**

These three photographs demonstrate how a single subject can be approached from vastly different perspectives. Each artist brings their unique voice and style to the still life, creating distinct interpretations that not only showcase their technical skills but also reveal their personalities. This exercise highlights the power of photography as an art form – its ability to evoke emotions, spark imagination, and challenge our perceptions.

As we compare these photographs side by side, it's clear that each artist is on a quest to find new ways to capture the essence of the subject. While Thorp's hand gestures towards the camera create a sense of connection, Close's focus on the center of the flower creates a sense of intimacy. Burr's slightly out-of-focus petals evoke emotion and energy. These interpretations demonstrate how photography can be both precise and intuitive, technical and emotional.

**Conclusion**

In conclusion, this exercise has shown us that even with the same subject matter, different photographers can create vastly distinct works of art. Robert Maple Thorp, Tom Burr, and Chuck Close have each brought their unique perspective to the still life, resulting in photographs that not only showcase their skills but also reveal their personalities and artistic visions. This exploration highlights the power of photography as an art form – its ability to capture moments, evoke emotions, and challenge our perceptions.

We hope you've enjoyed this journey into the world of still life photography. Join us next time for another edition of Photo 3s.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everybody this is Ted Forbes from The Art of Photography and welcome back to another edition of photo threes this is the show where we find three things that are related in the world of Photography and we break them down we check them out and we see what's cool and today I have something very cool for you and I want to talk about interpretations and interpretations is a concept that I discussed on this show a while back and we haven't done it in a while and I think it's definitely worth revisiting and generally on this show we have kind of taken one photographer at a time and broken down their style looked at their work done some critical analysis and we've generally looked at one View and one voice and one style and I think this is photo threes today is a great way to do the opposite of this which is to take one subject and see how three different people have actually interpreted this subject the photographers we're going to look at today are Robert Maple Thorp the always awesome Tom Burell and finally a gentleman by the name of Chuck close and in particular the interpretation that we're going to look at today is the still life namely we're going to look at sunflowers now I thought this would be a really interesting thing to do because traditionally I think throughout the entire history of art uh the still life uh Botanicals in general these are always awesome objects um that tend to be a wonderful breaking ground of study for any artist or photographer to explore and to try to find their own voice and what's really interesting is to see how you know you have one object that is completely interpreted three different ways and that's what I mean by interpretations and I want to go through each one of these first up let's look at Robert Maple Thorp now Robert Maple Thorp was an amazing photographer um kind of a controversial career and he was kind of a wild man himself uh but did some amazing Botanical work did some amazing figure studies uh a lot of what he was reaching for as a contemporary photographer had its roots in classical art and you know Greek and Roman uh influences and you see that here but with a much more modern spin on it and one of the cool things about the maple Thorp image is the fact that you have this hand holding up uh the sunflower and this is going to be very much different than the other two interpretations that we're going to see of this uh the way the hand is holding the the sunflower the way the sunflower is starting to wilt there comes a lot of Personality drawn into this it almost looks like an excerpt from an old Master's painting the way the hand is you know the gesture that that's expressed there and even there's a subtle reflection in whatever the backing material is there with the hand that adds a little bit of lift and a little bit of motion to this which is completely different than the other stuff we're going to look at second up let's compare and contrast that with Chuck Close and his interpretation of the sunflower and Chuck's is more Dead on on but it definitely has Chuck style to it um the way it's very harshly lit the bright light coming from a source just off the center on the front uh the way that the Petals on the sunflower are slightly out of focus and the way that even the back pedal of this is slightly out of focus all this happens on a black background if you're familiar with chu Chuck close's work at all um this is a style that he interprets when he does photography he also is a painter but his photography has this look to it and I think that really you're seeing the artist's Voice come right through through loud and clear right here and it's a different way of interpreting the vision of the sunflower and then finally I want to look at the work of the always awesome Tom barell now Tom is a photographer who had a lot of success in the late '90s uh mainly with these Botanical studies that he did and I love the way that uh for me his work is not only rooted in the past um but it also has a nice contemporary spin on it without being uh too much and he he draws a lot of expression of something as simple as a sunflower and the sunflower I've picked of Tom's work is this one which is a really odd view it's a really interesting specimen of the sunflower but right here we have much like the Chuck Close it's a dark background uh with the bright light at the front but the sunflower itself most of what we see are not the petals but the center of the flower and the petals are almost sticking back like the wind is blowing or this flower maybe even a little bit freaked out about something but much like Tom's other work there's an enormous amount of Personality uh and charm that comes out of this and I find Tom to be just an exceptional photographer interestingly enough there is a relationship here because Tom Burell worked uh he began his career as Robert Maple thorp's printer so anyway once again we can see the variations on here we started with Robert Maple Thorp who had a very classical interpretation of the sunflower we rounded that in with Chuck Close who had a very personalized um spin on shooting a sunflower and then finally we have Tom Bell's famous example too I know this may seem simple but it is th interpretation ations of the same subject anyway once again guys it's been another edition of photo 3s and I want to thank you guys for watching I'll see you next time laterhey everybody this is Ted Forbes from The Art of Photography and welcome back to another edition of photo threes this is the show where we find three things that are related in the world of Photography and we break them down we check them out and we see what's cool and today I have something very cool for you and I want to talk about interpretations and interpretations is a concept that I discussed on this show a while back and we haven't done it in a while and I think it's definitely worth revisiting and generally on this show we have kind of taken one photographer at a time and broken down their style looked at their work done some critical analysis and we've generally looked at one View and one voice and one style and I think this is photo threes today is a great way to do the opposite of this which is to take one subject and see how three different people have actually interpreted this subject the photographers we're going to look at today are Robert Maple Thorp the always awesome Tom Burell and finally a gentleman by the name of Chuck close and in particular the interpretation that we're going to look at today is the still life namely we're going to look at sunflowers now I thought this would be a really interesting thing to do because traditionally I think throughout the entire history of art uh the still life uh Botanicals in general these are always awesome objects um that tend to be a wonderful breaking ground of study for any artist or photographer to explore and to try to find their own voice and what's really interesting is to see how you know you have one object that is completely interpreted three different ways and that's what I mean by interpretations and I want to go through each one of these first up let's look at Robert Maple Thorp now Robert Maple Thorp was an amazing photographer um kind of a controversial career and he was kind of a wild man himself uh but did some amazing Botanical work did some amazing figure studies uh a lot of what he was reaching for as a contemporary photographer had its roots in classical art and you know Greek and Roman uh influences and you see that here but with a much more modern spin on it and one of the cool things about the maple Thorp image is the fact that you have this hand holding up uh the sunflower and this is going to be very much different than the other two interpretations that we're going to see of this uh the way the hand is holding the the sunflower the way the sunflower is starting to wilt there comes a lot of Personality drawn into this it almost looks like an excerpt from an old Master's painting the way the hand is you know the gesture that that's expressed there and even there's a subtle reflection in whatever the backing material is there with the hand that adds a little bit of lift and a little bit of motion to this which is completely different than the other stuff we're going to look at second up let's compare and contrast that with Chuck Close and his interpretation of the sunflower and Chuck's is more Dead on on but it definitely has Chuck style to it um the way it's very harshly lit the bright light coming from a source just off the center on the front uh the way that the Petals on the sunflower are slightly out of focus and the way that even the back pedal of this is slightly out of focus all this happens on a black background if you're familiar with chu Chuck close's work at all um this is a style that he interprets when he does photography he also is a painter but his photography has this look to it and I think that really you're seeing the artist's Voice come right through through loud and clear right here and it's a different way of interpreting the vision of the sunflower and then finally I want to look at the work of the always awesome Tom barell now Tom is a photographer who had a lot of success in the late '90s uh mainly with these Botanical studies that he did and I love the way that uh for me his work is not only rooted in the past um but it also has a nice contemporary spin on it without being uh too much and he he draws a lot of expression of something as simple as a sunflower and the sunflower I've picked of Tom's work is this one which is a really odd view it's a really interesting specimen of the sunflower but right here we have much like the Chuck Close it's a dark background uh with the bright light at the front but the sunflower itself most of what we see are not the petals but the center of the flower and the petals are almost sticking back like the wind is blowing or this flower maybe even a little bit freaked out about something but much like Tom's other work there's an enormous amount of Personality uh and charm that comes out of this and I find Tom to be just an exceptional photographer interestingly enough there is a relationship here because Tom Burell worked uh he began his career as Robert Maple thorp's printer so anyway once again we can see the variations on here we started with Robert Maple Thorp who had a very classical interpretation of the sunflower we rounded that in with Chuck Close who had a very personalized um spin on shooting a sunflower and then finally we have Tom Bell's famous example too I know this may seem simple but it is th interpretation ations of the same subject anyway once again guys it's been another edition of photo 3s and I want to thank you guys for watching I'll see you next time later\n"