Sean Kernan is a highly successful photographer, writer and teacher. He was born in 1942 in New York City.
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He has written two books, Among Trees and The Secret Books, and his art has been exhibited in many galleries and museums in places such as France, Greece, Mexico and Egypt. His photos have also been published in a high number of magazines such as the New York Times, Harpers, Bloomberg and Communication Arts as well as magazines in Iran, Italy and Switzerland.
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Kernan has plenty of experience with teaching and lecturing and has taught in well known places such as Maine Media and University of Texas.
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Over the years he has won numerous awards and is highly praised for his contribution to art and photography.
Sean Kernan
While shooting my versions of Kernan's work, I used my own photos, writing and favourite novels to make my work unique and personal. Overall I am pleased with my photoshoots as I think they showed great interpretation and creativity in relation to his work. Different compositions and angles were very important in these photoshoots as they made objects (e.g. the dog's paw and pencils) stand out and almost look 3D on the page.
When I first looked at Kernan's photo (above), I thought it was quite peculiar and struggled to find meaning behind it. I presume the mirror and its reflection, which is highly exposed and bright, creating an almost glowing look, symbolises the enlightenment you recieve and other world you enter from reading.
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In my interpretation of this work, I used an object that held significance to the book (a tiara on a book on Queen Elizabeth). My favourite thing about the photograph below is the contrast between black and white in the photo, however if I was to redo this shoot I would like to experiment more with the lighting as a higher ISO would have helped to lighten the left side of the photograph and keep it in focus.
Sean Kernan: Photoshoot 1
The photo above is a slight variation to Kernan's photos. I left the colour in the image because I liked the gold tint created by the tiara. I think this added uniqueness to my photo and it was my favourite of this shoot. I do not like the photograph (right) because of the shadow created by the tiara.
Kernan's work is all in black and white and contains a large quantity of hand written work or text from sources such as novels and letters. This work reminds me of Shakespearean times due to the black and white nature of the work being similar to the aesthetic of scripts and plays at the time. I found the use of media in his work unusual and interesting, but I also liked his use of simplistic objects such as pens, papers and books. The lack of colour is very effective in Kernan's work as it adds meanings and stories to the photographs which can be interpreted differently by everyone who looks at them. For example, I think the black and white filter can make the photographs quite subtle and plain, as the colour in an image can often be the thing that draws attention or catches the eye. On the other hand, I think they could be viewed quite angrily or full of pain due to the use of nails and torn photographs which have connotations of destruction.
Sean Kernan: Photoshoot 2
My first impressions of Kernan's photo to the left was that it seemed like quite an angry or hateful photograph. The nails looked menacing due to the lack of colour and shadows cast by them due to a light source to the left. The book looks worn, messy and old as it is ripped, crumpled and has nails sticking out of it.
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In my interpretation of this photograph I wanted to shoot a different emotion than something angry or hateful. By using pencils stuck in a book (shown below), I brought irony to the photo as they are both made out of the same thing, as if the same blood runs through them, however one is now killing the other.
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By shooting the photo from above, the pencils look big and intimidating. The cleanliness and brightness of the book made it look innocent and vulnerable. I left the colour in this photograph as it brought variety to the image but did not take over the message I wanted to give.
Sean Kernan: Photoshoot 3
Sean Kernan: Photoshoot 4
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Artist Research: Sean Kernan
Kernan's photograph (left) caught my eye because of its abnormality. I found it very bizarre and was unsure of the meaning behind it. As there was a snake used as the animal in the photograph, I thought perhaps the snake was meant to be protecting the book and therefore concealing its words.
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In my interpretation of Kernan's work, I used the paws of a dog. I did this because, as well as wanting to keep my work slightly bizarre and open to interpretation like Kernan's, I found the paw rather comforting, like a book can be to some people. Although I kept the photos black and white, I purposely made them quite bright and sharp to give them a clear and positive vibe. My favourite thing about these photographs was the texture brought out from the dog's hair and pages of the book, as I think this added to the sense of comfort recieved from the images.
In the photo above, I used a wide aperture to blur the edges of the photograph. I did this because it highlighted the contrast between smoothness of the blur and sharp texture of the pages shown in the rest of the photograph. I did the opposite in the photograph to the left. As the background of my image was also quite interesting and brought some texture and colour to the image, I wanted to make the whole image like that. I think both these methods worked successfully as the texture is shown well in both images.
Kernan's photograph (above) portrayed many emotions. I saw it as the disposal of memories, of anger or sadness building up and causing someone to rip arat these photos of people and places. The photographs look quite calm, suggesting the anger or upset has come from something that has happened after they have been taken.
In my interpretation of Kernan's work (shown above and right), I wanted the photos to receive the same angry treatment as in Kernan's work. I used a knife to carve words such as 'favourite' and 'yours' into the image, which added to the sharp lines shown in the rips of the images. I also scrunched them up to make them 3D, rather than flat and dull.