Famous+Photographer

__Andy Goldsworthy__

Andy Goldsworthy is British artist and photographer who works with nature to create sculptures and figures. He was born in Cheshire, England, on July 26, 1956. When he was younger he worked as a labourer on farms, and he has said that this has helped him in patience and rhythm when making sculptures. He studied Fine Art at Bradford College of Art from 1974-1975 and at the University of Central Lancashire from 1975-1978. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the latter. After leaving University, Goldsworthy gradually moved farther north, eventually ending up in Penpont in the region of Dumfries and Galloway, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, where he still lives today. He received an honorary degree from the University of Bradford in 1993, and is currently a A.D. White Professor-At-Large at Cornell University.

His style consists of sculpture, rock balancing, and photography, as he takes photos of his work. He often uses brightly coloured flowers, leaves, and grasses in his work, as well as rocks, snow, ice, and various other items found in nature. The subject of his work changes with the seasons, when it snows he works with snow, when there are lots of leaves he works with leaves.

Depth of field is apparent in this photograph. Also, the use of lines to convey distance and the contradicting lines of the leaves brings them out more. This is a good representation of Goldsworthy's work because it is so simple, and that is what his work is. It's a simple nature shot, as well as being an art piece. He only ever uses lighting from nature, there is no other source of light. However, it appears in this photo that he was in the shade, so the leaves are not actually entirely in most of the light. Again, the use of Depth of Field is quite apparent. The photo wouldn't be quite the same without the big tree in the background. Additionally, one can clearly see the use of Diagonals. He also used black and white for this photograph, which he does occasionally (although I'm not quite sure if this photo has been edited from the original). This is a good representation of his work, again, because it's simple. His project is obviously the focus of the photograph, but he has all these other things around the project. One can see the leaves he used to create the project on the ground, so they are from those trees. The use of light is strange, as if he wanted the project to be a silhouette. The background is so light, and looks misty, that the in focus part of the photograph is darker, and you can clearly see the line in the leaves. The use of colour in this photograph is quite apparent. The yellow rock is the focus, and that is the first thing you look at. This is a good representation of Goldsworthy's work due to the vibrant colour. He often uses very bright colours, although his work depends on the season and where he is in the world at that particular time. Again, he uses natural light, and it appears to be an overcast day, so the lighting is slightly grey. Depth of Field is apparent in this photo, as well as Dynamic "S" Arrangement, due to the curving of the rock wall. This is a good representation of his work because this is a different side of his work. He does hire crews sometimes, and uses rocks from other sources, as this photograph clearly shows. He used natural lighting, and it appears to be a clear, sunny, summer's day. I believe it is summer because the ground is dry, although he could be in a place where it is hot all year round. Depth of field is very apparent in this photograph, as the only thing in focus is the horn. Also the use of colour is apparent, there are only two, and the green is in focus. This is a good representation of his work due to the fact that one can see the materials he used, and one can tell how much patience he has. He used thorns to pin together the leaves, and the horn looks very time consuming. He is in the shade here, but one can see patches of light that are quite exposed because he needed the horn to be in the perfect light. Background 20/20 Influences 4/5 Style/Genre 3/5 5 Photos and Description 25/25 Total 52/55