Part 1
Lars Tunbjörk
1956-2015
Personal Background
Tunbjork was born in Boras, Sweden, in 1956. He started doing photography to document his work experience at a local newspaper job. He was 15 at the time. After school he began freelance photography for Stockholms-Tidningen, A national Newspaper. He focused on depicting suburban and work life with his photography earned multiple awards throughout his career including Swedish Photographer of the Year. He passed away in 2015.
Style
Tunbjork started out as a black and white photographer but quickly transitioned to color. He focused his work on deadpan portraits of life and work. He uses flash in all his photos to provide bold, vivid, and punchy colors. He wanted to fill in all the shadows and make the picture pop. These colors make the photos feel almost surreal which is accompanied by unusual scenes or events.
Philosophy
Tunbjork shows that even the most tame and seemingly boring suburbs and towns can show something special about human life. His pictures often make the viewer wonder about what is going on. Some are almost shocking and confusing. Tunbjork also focused on office spaces throughout the world. He captured imagery from places such as the US and Japan. These photos show the chaotic, strange, and liminal aspects of the office.
Influences
Tunbjork was heavily influenced by the color photography in the US. Stephen Shore and William Eggleston were among his most prominent and visible influences. These influences shown through his color work catapulted him into the public eye. “I was looking for strange, absurd situations, going on endless tours to festivals, campgrounds, and shopping centers. If I found an interesting place, I could stand there for hours, waiting. I often get asked if my pictures are staged. They are not.” Tunbjork said in 2011 when speaking to The New York Times. In his earlier years he was also influenced by Swedish photographers such as such as Christer Stromholm.
Part 2
Compare and Contrast
This was by far my favorite image to recreate. I love how the eyes can show so much emotion. I wanted to recreate that emotion the best that I could in my recreation. I didn't need many props so it was pretty easy to get the resources. A challenge I faced was trying to get the shadows right. I think in the end it turned out pretty good.
I struggled to get the correct resources for this so I had to heavily edit the photo to match some of the coloring. I think I captured the same perspective that I wanted to in the end. I like the background as well as my subject being smaller, I think it adds to the recreation in a way that I like and makes it show something a little different.
I like how Tunbjork makes us focus on the different characteristics of a person's face in order to determine the emotion of the subject. I tried to recreate that emotion in my portrait. I didn't want any other distractions, just a clear view of someone's face in order to let the viewer decide how they're feeling.
Personal Artist Statement
I enjoyed recreating all of these images. I think each one came with a different challenge which made the assignment much more fun and interactive. This is also one of the few assignments where we had to gather certain resources and really try to get something as close to an exact photo. I tried to show emotion and tell a story in my photos. It's much easier to do that when you are taking a portrait, that's why "Work" was pretty challenging. I tried to play with the colors instead to reflect emotion. I'm pretty happy with how my pictures turned out.
Resources
https://time.com/3819762/lars-tunbjork-obituary/
https://www.askart.com/artist/Lars_Tunbjork/11275015/Lars_Tunbjork.aspx
https://www.1854.photography/2015/04/lars-tunbjork-obituary/
https://artpil.com/lars-tunbjork/