Personal Background:
Sam Kaplan is a Still-Life/Object photographer, born in Boston, Massachusetts, who takes photos in his studio, located in the Manhattan area. He studied at, and earned a BA from, Wesleyan University in Studio Arts and Art History. Additionally, he studied traditional photography and conceptual sculpture, which was where he really found his love for this field, and built the skills to succeed. He has been photographing professionally for five years, and works with his partner Laura, where he is behind the lens, and she brings the creativity. The Kaplans have worked hard to be very prominent photographers, and have photographed for major companies such as Google, Square, Target, and so many others.
Style:
Sam Kaplan has a style of making ordinary objects and things we see in our daily lives unique and interesting. He wants everything to matter in his photos, which is something we could compare to infographics. Everything in an infographic is planned out for and done for a reason. Sam Kaplan carries this style into his photography pieces, and believes that his photos should be "simple and well thought out and seem intelligent." Rather than constantly using objects that audiences have never seen before, Kaplan wants his work to be more conceptual. He doesn't throw together random objects together to take a picture of them–he plans all photography pieces out thoroughly before picking up the camera.
Philosophy:
Sam Kaplan has a very interesting one word philosophy that is: Simplify. Just like how Kaplan has a simplistic style, he goes by the philosophy of simplifying his work. Fancy things aren't the best thing to photograph, which is why Kaplan uses simple objects and turns them into complex designs. I believe Sam Kaplan is trying to tell us, through his photographs, about the beauty in everyday objects. For example, he turned tubes of toothpaste into an unforgettable picture, with an incredible design. Many times, the best photos are taken with the most ordinary objects, which is definitely something that is shown throughout his portfolio. This philosophy of simplifying things is something that makes him such an amazing photographer, because he thinks outside of the box to make extraordinary pieces of work.
Influences:
Sam Kaplan is constantly influenced by the environment that he lives in, which is the Manhattan area. For example, simple things like the subway ride can inspire and influence a photo that Sam Kaplan takes. These influences show how the photos that Kaplan takes can actually be thought of as a representation of different aspects in his life. Sam Kaplan has also influenced me by showing me, through his photographs, how important it is to think about your photos beforehand. Kaplan doesn't need a bunch of fancy objects to photograph. He uses simple objects, but he thinks very deeply about how to set up and shoot his photos. I will always remember this, because work and effort are crucial in photography–you can't throw a photo together. Kaplan's lesson has taught me to always plan ahead before accomplishing tasks, which has helped me create really powerful photos in photography.
Compare & Contrast:
This image came out really well, and I'm really proud that I was able to make it look very similar. In my image, I used the same amount of pretzels, and placed them similarly in a circle. For some reason, my pretzels weren't holding their shape that well, even though they were baked, so I had to space them out a little bit. In addition, my pretzels were very pale at the start, so I made them more golden brown in Photoshop to resemble the original photo. The background also came out really well, and the blue background is a nice contrast to the pretzels. This image took by far the longest to edit, because there was a lot of erasing and editing to make the background look blue. The dimensions of these two pictures are also very similar, with a similar distance between the pretzels and edge of the image. Even though the pretzels are slightly different, there is a strong resemblance between the two photos which makes me really happy.
This image came out very closely to the original as well, and it looks really good. I was able to position the cinnamon sticks really closely to what was shown in the original. In addition, I spent a lot of time erasing around the cinnamon sticks to make sure that the background looked natural. While the original image has more cinnamon sticks, I was still able to fill up the image and follow the rule of thirds to create a successful picture. My photo also captures more of the natural look and detail that cinnamon sticks have, which can look a little different from Kaplan's picture. However, even though this can be interpreted as the images looking different, the placement of the cinnamon sticks, and the angle the picture was taken from shows how similar the photos actually are. There is also a strong resemblance in the background of these two images, which was necessary when trying to create a similar look to these photos.
This is my favorite image that I took, because while editing, I learned a new skill in Photoshop! I learned how to add shadows to a photo, which was very important to know in order to resemble the first image. The first image had a very yellow background, with a yellow fry, and an intense shadow. To create this background with two shades, I used the gradient tool along with the paint brush. The background came out so similar, I'm really impressed that I was able to experiment with Photoshop to do this. The fry I used for this photo didn't have as many crinkles as the original, and it wasn't as yellow. However, I was able to persevere, and I added crinkles to the fry by using the eraser tool, and I made the fry much more yellow that it was originally. I made the fry color very yellow, however since I used a different kind of fry, making it even more yellow would have looked unnatural. The original shadow was very crucial for the composition of the photo, which is why I made sure to create one in Photoshop. I wasn't able to line my shadow up directly next to the fry, because it gave the photo a look that the fry was levitating. However, adjusting the positioning of the shadow made it look much better.
Artist Statement:
I really enjoyed taking these photos and using my photography skills to put together a really cool report. I chose these images to recreate because it represents a part of my personality. I love trying new things, such as trying new foods, and these images really capture that feeling. When taking these photos, I made sure that I kept the Elements of Art, Principles of Design, and 10 Rules of Photography in mind. Using these different techniques, I was able to make sure that my photos came out well. Sam Kaplan taught me that simplifying your photos is one of the best things that you can do. When taking these photos, I remembered that, because I spent a lot of time setting up my pictures, even though they can be thought of as simple photos. The thought and story behind pictures are the most important part of them, and I was able to add this to my report.
Resources:
https://www.digitalphotopro.com/profiles/sam-kaplan-the-problem-solver/
https://thekaplans.studio/
https://www.commarts.com/fresh/sam-kaplan
https://www.connectionsbylebook.com/ny2019/nominee/sam-kaplan
https://thekaplans.studio/
https://www.commarts.com/fresh/sam-kaplan
https://www.connectionsbylebook.com/ny2019/nominee/sam-kaplan
Resource For Images:
https://thekaplans.studio/