1. Experimental Photography
Task 1
Catherine Giggal

2. Bagrad Badalian
Bagrad Badalian is an Armenian experimental
photographer that resides between Paris and
Brussells. Badalian‟s work has been displayed
mainly in exhibits, where the audience can view his
unique photography style that focuses on a sombre
tone, which has been established in order for it to
make a profound effect upon the audience. Badalian
became a photographer in 2008, where he created
his work within a studio that featured low-key
lighting, which aided Badalian to include his
signature theme of darkness into his work in much
more depth. The work of Badalian would be
classified as „contemporary‟, as it uses a range of
different lighting techniques with the significant use
of mixed media, such as „reflective body paint‟ on
the subject that is featured within the
photograph, which is effective, as it adds a sense of
vibrancy onto the image itself. Badalian created a
contemporary photography book entitled „Matter
Beyond‟ in 2011 and held an exhibition of his best
work at the Covart Gallery in Luxembourg in the
same year. Badalian‟s work is also categorised as
fine art, due to its presence in various art galleries.

3. John Stezaker
John Stezaker is an English photographer that
creates historical pieces of art, using vintage
photographs in order to compose his final pieces. In
1973, Stezaker graduated with a university degree
in Fine Art from the Slade School of Art, situated in
London. It would also be classified as a traditional
form of photography, as the element of mixed media
is used due to the fact that Stezaker utilises a
„collage‟ effect that are combined by using several
existing photographs in order to create the illusion of
a surrealism, as though the two subjects in the
artwork are together as one, in a sense. Stezaker‟s
work has been displayed in several art galleries
such as the Salama-Carro gallery in London (1991)
as part of a solo exhibition and has been bought by
art collectors. Stezaker is represented in London by
the contemporary art gallery „The Approach‟. His
work has been viewed as extremely influential and
in 2007, Colin Gleadell wrote in The Daily Telegraph
that Stezaker “is now being hailed as a major
influence on the Young British Art movement”.
Stezaker‟s work is simplistic, yet effective and
unique, which is why it has been praised by many.

4. Melinda Gibson
Melinda Gibson is a London-based
photographer, who uses a contemporary style to
complete a work piece. Gibson utilises images from
books and incorporates them into her own
photographs, almost making a „cut-out‟ effect.
Gibson obtained a degree in photography from the
London College of Communication. The
photographer also exhibited her work in London and
after graduating, she worked alongside notable
photographers such as Wolfgang Tillmans and
Martin Parr, whilst experimenting and perfecting her
own unique photography style. Gibson‟s mixed
media style has cemented her as a respected
photographer. The audience member can interpret
the message of each photograph in their own
manner, creating an ambiguous element to the
photograph in which they are focusing on. Gibson
said (on her photography style) “'By slicing, cutting
and de-contextualising the images I start to gain a
greater appreciation of the works; I start
understanding why and how the these images have
been created”.

5. My brief analysis of a
photograph (Melinda Gibson)
This particular photograph is rather unique in
the sense that it has a cut-out element to
it, which makes it rather effective. I think that the
message behind the image is unique and
interesting, as the subject of the photograph
contains an image of a
picturesque, mountainous area that significantly
contrasts with that of the city background. It
shows that the silhouette subject desires to be
elsewhere in a sense. It makes the audience
feel for the anonymous subject, as they are
initially stuck in a frozen frame and want to
escape to their own, personal paradise.

6. My brief analysis of a
photograph (John Stezaker)
This particular photograph is unusual, as it
utilises the technique of mixed-media to
combine together two images together, which
are both diverse, but still capture the same
sombre emotion as each other, which makes
the piece as a whole highly effective. Stezaker
uses two individuals as the main focuses and
combines their shared sense of solemnness
together to show that we as humans can
experience the exact same emotions even
though we can be very diverse as people. We
all share something in common, which is what I
think Stezaker is trying to promote through this
specific piece.

7. My brief analysis of a
photograph (Bagrad Badalian)
This particular photograph is rather effective, as
it displays an image that could possibly be taken
using scanography, where the subject looks
almost trapped or in despair, but we cannot
detect the facial expression of the subject, as it
is masked by the grey paint, which is
significant, as grey connotes dreariness and
unhappiness, which is what the subject is
feeling. I think it is interesting how Badalian has
used these effects to display emotion, with
using a set colour scheme, as well as hand
movement, which contrasts to that of
Stezaker, however, I think that this effect is
equally as effective, as the viewer is able to
determine how the main subject feels, even
without viewing their facial expression or
through means of audio, which shows that a
visual aspect can speak louder than words.