Went to Annenberg last night to hear Leonard Nimoy and see some of the images he's produced over the years. He is a charming, humble man whose intention in shooting photography is solely personal expression.
Nimoy has been photographing all his life and while his early work included landscapes, his recent work is all portrait-based. Looking at a small sample of that work, a picture emerges of a man who's deeply inspired by the human potential, one who takes great pleasure in letting the humanity of his subjects shine through. Nimoy's approach to photography is not especially sophisticated nor is it intellectually deep (though he himself is). For example, his remake of the Herb Ritts photo above not only lacks the charisma, power and composition of the original, it's technically lacking as well.
OK, so he never claimed to be the next Herb Ritts. What his work does offer is a refreshing optimism, a warming counterpoint to an art world that often seems jaded, dark and sarcastic. His work may not be as thought-provoking as many, but it is illuminative of the human spirit.
Nimoy has been photographing all his life and while his early work included landscapes, his recent work is all portrait-based. Looking at a small sample of that work, a picture emerges of a man who's deeply inspired by the human potential, one who takes great pleasure in letting the humanity of his subjects shine through. Nimoy's approach to photography is not especially sophisticated nor is it intellectually deep (though he himself is). For example, his remake of the Herb Ritts photo above not only lacks the charisma, power and composition of the original, it's technically lacking as well.
OK, so he never claimed to be the next Herb Ritts. What his work does offer is a refreshing optimism, a warming counterpoint to an art world that often seems jaded, dark and sarcastic. His work may not be as thought-provoking as many, but it is illuminative of the human spirit.
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