PUS–EYE is a blog that I found a while ago which only posts work from new photographers. Maybe the stuff they were posting before was better, or maybe I got old, but I visited lately and felt bored—everything looked the same. I generally like Ye Rin Mok, but I didn’t even notice that she was featured on the site because the selection of her work made her look like everyone else. You could call the work featured on the site “lifestyle” photography, although I think maybe that internet discussion has come and gone. I hope so at least, I can’t see it being very interesting.
Still, the words “hard-flash color aesthetic” came up in conversation lately, and it provoked noteworthy responses. If we don’t use this are we dead? How long is this going to be hot for? Jurgen Teller is doing well for himself by using white backgrounds…
PUS–EYE is an effort to curate Flickr. I think it’s impressive that you can find so many people who are using this style. What does that mean? Who’s real and who’s posing? Who’s using the style to break with it? Or is this really the shape of things to come for the next X years? I’m more than positive that it is always the right time to destroy a style. We’re sitting here in front of our computers, waiting for you to do it!
I think it’s possible to create a “style” through curation – make it seem like this is how everyone is shooting, or even how one person is shooting as you mention above.
I had similar feelings (and referred to Pus Eye) when I reviewed the work of Hannah Davis. Even though they feature one of the same photographs, my edit and the pus eye edit feel very different.
Which makes sense, right? As photographers we should all understand the power of editing and sequencing. It’s the hard part!