http://www.justinbitely.com Justin Bitely | Photography Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:39:05 +0000 http://www.justinbitely.com en http://www.justinbitely.com/About-Justin-Bitely http://www.justinbitely.com/following/justinbitely.com/About-Justin-Bitely Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:39:05 +0000 Justin Bitely | Photography 379227 jb@justinbitely.com 917.267.2478Brooklyn, NY http://www.justinbitely.com/Some-Birds http://www.justinbitely.com/following/justinbitely.com/Some-Birds Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:05:23 +0000 Justin Bitely | Photography 379491 2009 - present <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/379491/birdsdreams_01.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="450" width_o="600" height_o="450" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/379491/birdsdreams_01_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/379491/bird.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/379491/bird_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/379491/parrot2.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/379491/parrot2_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/379491/091224-088.jpg" border="0" width="450" height="600" width_o="450" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/379491/091224-088_o.jpg" align="left" /> $(document).ready(function() { pageTracker._trackPageview("/Birds-Dreams" ); }); http://www.justinbitely.com/Imaginary-Friends-II http://www.justinbitely.com/following/justinbitely.com/Imaginary-Friends-II Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:06:59 +0000 Justin Bitely | Photography 339402 Composite and straight portraits. 2010 - present. Artist's Statement People are strange looking. I can walk down any street in Manhattan, look around myself, and observe an entire world of crags, valleys, bumps, scars, colors, and other features visible on every face. A large portion of the vast advertising industry's budget is devoted to ironing out these flaws, to creating fictional representations of perfect humans. These faces surround me as well - on the sides of buses, billboards, and subway posters. My series Imaginary Friends began with a three week trip to Florence, Italy in 2008. While there I planned to create images by digitally combining pictures of multiple tourist destinations, fashioning familiar but unreal travel photographs. Although this idea proved impractical at the time, I have remained interested in the idea of creating imaginary photographs. This idea gave birth to a series of portraits comprised of pieces of many individuals' faces. During the process of constructing these faces, I came to appreciate how interesting the real faces we see every day can be. Following this train of thought, I began a second iteration of this project. Imaginary Friends II features sets of three faces - one a straight portrait, and two composite faces based on that portrait. By placing the real and the imaginary next to each other in these triptychs I wish to examine how intriguing the face of a regular person can be. Combing through hundreds of faces and thousands of individual pictures to find the perfect pair of bushy eyebrows has greatly changed my definition of "perfect". I find it much harder to ignore the barrage of manipulated faces I see in advertising. Similarly, this work strongly influences the way I look at individuals I photograph. Whereas a traditional portrait artist might pay careful attention to something like a smudge in makeup, I find myself concerned with trying to keep both ear hair and nose hair in focus and well lit, or coaxing a subject into contorting their face so that wrinkles become more pronounced. Learning to pay attention to the small, unique details that each person shares with me when we exchange a glance has transformed the average subway ride or supermarket visit into intimate gallery openings filled with inspiration. Rich<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339402/1_Rich.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339402/1_Rich_o.jpg" align="left" /> Alan<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339402/2_Alan.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339402/2_Alan_o.jpg" align="left" /> Dan<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339402/3_Dan.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339402/3_Dan_o.jpg" align="left" /> Clarence<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339402/4_Clarence.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339402/4_Clarence_o.jpg" align="left" /> Jesse<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339402/5_Jesse.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339402/5_Jesse_o.jpg" align="left" /> Stefan<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339402/6_Stefan.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339402/6_Stefan_o.jpg" align="left" /> $(document).ready(function() { pageTracker._trackPageview("/Imaginary-Friends-II" ); }); http://www.justinbitely.com/Roadside-Attractions http://www.justinbitely.com/following/justinbitely.com/Roadside-Attractions Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:17:00 +0000 Justin Bitely | Photography 339409 2010 - present. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_09_1500.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="427" width_o="900" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_09_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_01_1500.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="422" width_o="910" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_01_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_02_1500.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="481" width_o="799" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_02_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_03_1500.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="427" width_o="900" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_03_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_04_1500.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="427" width_o="900" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_04_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/portrait_12.jpg" border="0" width="451" height="600" width_o="451" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/portrait_12_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_05.jpg" border="0" width="458" height="600" width_o="458" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_05_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_06.jpg" border="0" width="400" height="600" width_o="400" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_06_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_07_1500.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="427" width_o="900" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_07_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_08_1500.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="427" width_o="900" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_08_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_10_1500.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="427" width_o="900" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_10_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_11.jpg" border="0" width="451" height="600" width_o="451" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_11_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_13_1500.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="427" width_o="900" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_13_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_14_1500.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="427" width_o="900" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_14_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_15.jpg" border="0" width="400" height="600" width_o="400" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_15_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_16.jpg" border="0" width="400" height="600" width_o="400" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339409/mot_16_o.jpg" align="left" /> $(document).ready(function() { pageTracker._trackPageview("/Magic-of-Technology" ); }); http://www.justinbitely.com/Imaginary-Friends-I http://www.justinbitely.com/following/justinbitely.com/Imaginary-Friends-I Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:14:40 +0000 Justin Bitely | Photography 339405 Composite portraits created from multiple individuals. 2008-2009. Artist's Statement People are strange looking. I can walk down any street in Manhattan, look around myself, and observe an entire world of crags, valleys, bumps, scars, colors, and other features visible on every face. A large portion of the vast advertising industry's budget is devoted to ironing out these flaws, to creating fictional representations of perfect humans. These faces surround me as well - on the sides of buses, billboards, and subway posters. My series Imaginary Friends began with a three week trip to Florence, Italy in 2008. While there I planned to create images by digitally combining pictures of multiple tourist destinations, fashioning familiar but unreal travel photographs. Although this idea proved impractical at the time, I have remained interested in the idea of creating imaginary photographs. This idea gave birth to a series of portraits comprised of pieces of many individuals' faces. During the process of constructing these faces, I came to appreciate how interesting the real faces we see every day can be. Following this train of thought, I began a second iteration of this project. Imaginary Friends II features sets of three faces - one a straight portrait, and two composite faces based on that portrait. By placing the real and the imaginary next to each other in these triptychs I wish to examine how intriguing the face of a regular person can be. Combing through hundreds of faces and thousands of individual pictures to find the perfect pair of bushy eyebrows has greatly changed my definition of "perfect". I find it much harder to ignore the barrage of manipulated faces I see in advertising. Similarly, this work strongly influences the way I look at individuals I photograph. Whereas a traditional portrait artist might pay careful attention to something like a smudge in makeup, I find myself concerned with trying to keep both ear hair and nose hair in focus and well lit, or coaxing a subject into contorting their face so that wrinkles become more pronounced. Learning to pay attention to the small, unique details that each person shares with me when we exchange a glance has transformed the average subway ride or supermarket visit into intimate gallery openings filled with inspiration. Edith<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_01.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_01_o.jpg" align="left" /> Franklin<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_02.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_02_o.jpg" align="left" /> Reginald<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_03.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_03_o.jpg" align="left" /> Rose<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_04.jpg" border="0" width="598" height="600" width_o="598" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_04_o.jpg" align="left" /> Greg<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_05.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_05_o.jpg" align="left" /> Sam<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_06.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_06_o.jpg" align="left" /> Hannah<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_07.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_07_o.jpg" align="left" /> Jacob<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_08.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_08_o.jpg" align="left" /> Crystal<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_09.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_09_o.jpg" align="left" /> Rob<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_10.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_10_o.jpg" align="left" /> Jasper<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_11.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_11_o.jpg" align="left" /> Julie<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_12.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_12_o.jpg" align="left" /> Margaret<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_13.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_13_o.jpg" align="left" /> Gary<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_14.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/27765/339405/IF_14_o.jpg" align="left" /> $(document).ready(function() { pageTracker._trackPageview("/Imaginary-Friends-I" ); });