Pretty Pictures

The day before yesterday our class went to FOAM, the Amsterdam photography museum, to see a large exhibition of a photography duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. It was breathtaking!

I had seen ads on the street but was afraid I'd missed it, fortunately I still got to see it in their last week. And I even got to buy a poster.

We had to pick three pictures and do a quick write of everything that crossed our minds, later on we'd have to write a careful review on one of them. I will do that on the photo above of Antony Hegarty of Antony & the Johnsons.

I also really liked the one of Hilary Swank, which you really have to see in full size to experience the full effect and which got me a little teary-eyed myself, and this somewhat unusual one of Natalie Portman that I just couldn't pull myself away from.

It wasn't until the last room I saw this gorgeous picture of Tilda Swinton, she looks a bit alienesque, but as a portrait I find it absolutely gorgeous. And the colors! How most of it is muted grey and sepia, apart from the hair and the eyes. It's such a powerful image.

Somehow I only posted more conservative portraits, they had some pretty unconventional ones too and a whole bunch that was edited in a way that goes way beyond the usual touch ups on photoshop. But I am always really drawn to portraits that show someones personality, their whole being. I haven't found anything that can capture those intimate moments apart from photography and it got me addicted from the start.