Loretta Lux

In German photographer Loretta Lux's photographs, striking portraits of well-dressed, doll-like children is digitally placed in a pastel tinted landscape or a studio backdrop while immersed with a cold, post nuclear light. Lux executes her compositions using a combination of photography, painting and digital manipulation. She poses her models, children of her close friends, mostly on a plain white wall and digitally manipulates the background. Her landscape backgrounds are her original photographs taken during her many travels. She also manipulates the proportion of the children's body to create unreal and inharmonious image. Children's eyes are brightly colored, clear, glassy, and expressionless. These children seem like they have no interest in the people looking into the photograph. In fact, they almost seem senseless, uncomfortable with their surrounding.

Loretta Lux's photographs are simply "odd"--weird like a Tim Burton film, a dream I had as a child, or a foreign language I have never encountered. Instead of capturing the reality of childhood, Lux portrays the world that children live in the perspective of an adult's eye. At first glimpse of the image, the children seemed flawless, wearing perfect, adorable looking costumes while placed in a flawless environment. However, this seemingly perfect image made me wonder what may be wrong with these children. After a deep conversation with the photographs, I asked myself what it means to be a child.

Loretta Lux's usage of familiar objects and environments to convey a mysterious surreal image inspires my way of creating art. Through her work, I have learned that a small change of contrast, light, and proportion is enough to create an eye-catching surreal image. Similar to Loretta Lux, I also often find surreal value from mysterious lighting effects, environmental elements, and setting of the photograph. Interestingly, I have also learned that Loretta Lux photograph's compositions are never chaotic. She uses the most simple way to composite her images, and this has shown me the beauty and profundity which can be found within simple image.

What attracts me the most is her admiration towards the discipline of painting. She uses her camera as a tool to approach painting in a different perspective. Not to mention her painter background, she sometimes combines her painting on her photography. I as a digital artist strives the same concept.

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