Monday, October 20, 2008

David Hilliard (Sara's Pick)


David Hilliard, Hug 2008

Greg Halpern recommended David Hilliard to me during the critique last week. I've found Hilliard's work very inspiring in consideration of my own goals for this project. I'm captivated by his ability to evoke very complex feelings from simple images. Hilliard uses 4x5 color film to create narrative and mood through multiple images from different points of view, Hockney style, presented side by side.
David Hilliard, Extra Cheese, 2004

Hilliard says of his work: "I continually aspire to represent the spaces we inhabit, relationships we create, and
the objects with which we surround ourselves. I hope the messages the photographs deliver speak to the personal as well as the universal experience. I find the enduring power and the sheer ability of a photograph to express a thought, a moment, or an idea, to be the most powerful expression of myself, both as an artist, and as an individual."
David Hilliard, Bleeder 2008

Hilliard's work is similar to Frederico Erra's (Janna's Pick), patricularly the images with multiple models or a focus on setting which are more narrative than his fashion portraits. Both artists are able to create effective mood and express tension through light and color. Hilliard and Erra both achieve a retro style feel through color work while shooting subject matter that is both contenporary and timeless. Hilliard's work differs in his emphasis on narrative and sense of place, instead of fashion portraiture.

David Hilliard's site: http://www.davidhilliard.co
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An interview: http://landscapist.squarespace.com/journal/meet-david-hilliard.html

2 comments:

Chris said...

I really like David's work. I especially like how these have a continued edge/line that creates a sense of fluidity between the images. Although there isn't a distinct separation of images in your work as there is in his, I would love to see that similar idea applied in your project.

Melissa said...

I really like this work and the narrative it creates. I'm aloud to really discover the entire setting and find the lovely things about each set. I also really enjoy the simplicity of it all as well. Nothing is too cluttered, and it all feels very clean. I hope you got a lot of inspiration looking at him :)