Sam Taylor-Wood

 

By: Sam Taylor-Wood 

1. Sam Taylor-Wood did a collection of photos titled "Crying Men." She photographed famous men asking them to play a role and cry for the camera. Each role that the men are playing is different, but we know that it is all an act.  Overall, the collection shows what it looks like when Hollywood men cry. 

Taylor-Wood explains, “Some of the men cried before I even finished loading the camera, but others found it really difficult. People can decide for themselves which they think are the authentic tears and which they think are fake. It’s about the idea of taking these big, masculine men and showing a different side.”

2. This photo, and collection, stood out to me because you don't see men crying everyday. Everyone builds up the stereotype that men are big, buff, manly people who aren't suppose to show their emotion, let alone cry. This photo of Daniel Craig is just amazing to me. The main film I associate Craig with is James Bond, the sexy, arrogant, British spy. I would never think to see James Bond cry. The other photos in the collection are all of tough men you would never think to see crying, such as Sean Penn and Laurence Fishburne.


3. One reason I think its a good portrait is the composition. She uses a small aperture so that only Craig is in focus. Then, I think she does well in capturing the sadness in the photo. If I didn't know that he was acting or that he was an actor, I would believe he really was crying. Although, because its a photograph, and he is looking directly at the camera, most people would guess that it was staged, and those aren't real tears. But the collection as a whole was also an interesting idea to photograph. It is something that the public doesn't see everyday and gives them something to ponder.

I also liked photos from another collection of hers: http://www.whitecube.com/artists/taylorwood/