Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.

- Ansel Adams
 

Photography, as we all know, is not real at all.  It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world.

- Arnold Newman
 

I ran across the work of Sandy Skoglund on a visit to Rutgers when my son was considering enrolling there (he settled on Fairleigh Dickinson in Madison instead).  Skoglund teaches photography and other art forms at Rutgers-Newark and is chair of the art department.  She's interested in the abnormal and unnatural things she can do and record with a camera.  (What's that?  You could guess?)

Radioactive Cats

RADIOACTIVE CATS, ©1980 Sandy Skoglund
cibachrome color photograph; approx. image area 25 1/2" X 33"
Sculpted plaster cats and live models

Cats in Paris

CATS IN PARIS, ©1993 Sandy Skoglund
photolithograph: ink on Ragcote paper; approx. image area 20" X 25 1/2", sheet: 24" X 28 1/2"
Location: Paris, France; sculpted plaster cats and live model

The cats are 13 years older here.  Probably smarter, too.

Green House

THE GREEN HOUSE, © 1990 Sandy Skoglund
cibachrome color photograph; approx. image area 46 1/4" X 59 1/4"
Artificial grass, sculpted epoxy resin dogs and live models

Source: sandyskoglund.com Visit her site for loads more photos.  Requires a pretty fast connection, though, as each photo is about 2 meg and needs a Flash plugin.

See also:

Foxes, Squirrels and a Picnic on Wine (the next page in this section) - Part 2 of Skoglund's photographs, the titles of some of her other works - and my opinion (as if you cared)...

For photos of the earth and moon, stained glass, sunsets on Wellington Harbour, Lady Fair, Civic Square, the old mill, the Whippany River, historical houses, Lake Parsippany and more clicking the "Up" button below takes you to the Index page for this Photographs section.