Bill Armstrong

 Bill Armstrong

Bill Armstrong is an american photographer. He was born in Massachusetts in 1952, making him 72 years old. He has been shooting for 15+ years and he is most well known for his mandalas among other works. He is also well known for his experimentation with color and focus. He is currently a staff member of the International Center of Photography and the School of Visual Arts. (Wikipedia)

The first piece I am choosing to talk about is this one. One thing about Armstrong’s work that really intrigues me is how he uses super-saturated color as well as focus, or rather a lack of focus. In this piece specifically, I think using primary colors is very intentional. I think the high saturation in blue, yellow, and red makes it appealing. Another thing that’s really interesting about this piece is the out-of-focus aspect. In most photographs you see, I feel like the focus is very sharp and is a huge compositional factor but its clear that Armstrong intentionally takes his photos out of focus. This causes me to wonder what the photo would look like if it was in focus.




The second photo I am choosing to talk about is this one. This piece really gives me a Western/cowboy vibe. I imagine this guy is wearing a cowboy hat and is standing in front of a mountain backdrop. One thing I love about this photo that I think is really appealing is the contrast of the silhouette on the light background. Additionally I also really like the colors in this photo and I think the warm tones of the sky are very appealing.


All in all, I really enjoy Armstrong’s work. I think the intentional focus is really interesting and I think it’s a good way of pulling the viewer in. I think it makes people wonder what the photos would look like in focus. I also feel like it’s easy to see that he’s very intentional with his colors BECAUSE he doesn’t have sharp details to show.


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