Famous+Photographer

= Brian Ulrich  = Contemporary photographer, Brian Ulrich was born in 1971, in Northport, New York. He currently resides in Chicago, Illinois as a freelance photographer, and teaches at Columbia College and leads the Gallery 37 program. Growing up on Long Island he would often visit the Walt Whitman Mall, but not buy anything because neither him nor his friends had any money. Brian moved to Akron, Ohio, as an undergraduate to study graphic design but wasn't very good at it since he couldn't draw very well. Brian had stumbled upon his love for photography after what some may say was a rebellion against his instructor, when he showed up to class unprepared, and snapped off a roll of film out of spite. In 1996, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Continuing this path of education and exploration, he graduated from the Columbia College in Chicago with a Master of Fine Arts degree in 2004

Pulling inspiration from many places, Brian Ulrich sure found an amazing source of passion and love for photography. From bike accidents leading to strange dreams, to the horrific events of 9/11, Brian has extracted inspiration for his work. After falling off of a bike, Brian was knocked unconscious, and experienced a dream that to him was something amazing. In this dream, he was walking around the street, taking black and white pictures of the area. Once he came to, he tried to re-create this dream sequence. "It was really the first time I became interested in the idea that what photography presented was, on the one hand, a distinct way of understanding your experience in the world and, on the other hand, a totally fabricated illusion not based on anything real. It was //that// kind of paradox to me." - Brian Ulrich

Consumerism is a focus of Brian’s, and when the US president said “If we’re really going to fight these terrorists, we need to go out and fight with our credit cards. Buy buy buy, and build our economy so no one can ever. . .” it got him thinking of the control marketers have over the population.

Another of Brian's major inspirations involved 9/11. On that day, when he was supposed to be signing up for classes, Brian was inside watching the events unfold on his television, and calling his mother to make sure that his father was not in the city at the time. When he stepped outside, something seemed different to him, and noticed that the grief had stricken the entire population. He began to be more interested in complete strangers, rather than his autobiography project. To him, this situation really showed the potential in the society, and he saw the conversations and connections shared between strangers. Photographing abstract emotions was his goal, so he began street photography. As far as looking to other’s work for inspiration, Brian admired the street work of Harry Callahan, Joel Meyerowitz, and Garry Winogrand.

Brian Ulrich is a contemporary, documentary photographer who revolves his work around the everyday activities that we, as consumers and normal human beings, experience. He captures the often-oblivious subjects during habit activities of consumerism. Not only does he photograph the people caught up in this mass of materialistic expedition for happiness, but he also documents the buildings and "graves" of abandoned malls, stores, and retail outlets. His project, Copia, incorporates a series of smaller projects called: the Dark Stores, Ghostboxes, and Dead Malls. Brian documents “the roles we play in self-destruction, over-consumption, and as targets of marketing”. When photographing the “hyper-real excesses of Western capitalistic spaces”, he describes his work as propaganda, rather than documentary.



The design elements that appear in the shot include: colour space, and direction (used in the grout lines of the floor). This picture is a good representtaion of Brian's work because it displays a scene in a grocery store where a puddle of spilt milk in the middle of the floor that hasn't been cleaned up. It shows the carelessness and lack of concern, while showcasing the "picture perfect" displays of products. The use of light in this shot most likely came from over head, being fluorescent tube lighting, that provided an evenly light space. The right side of the image, where the milk sits, was lit by the lighting that already existed.



The design elements that appear in the shot include: diagonal lines, colour space, and contrast. This is a good representation of Brian's work because the scene is of an abandoned shopping cart knocked aside in front of the store. It displays the after hours side of marketing. A source of light (construction lamp?) was used on the left hand side of this scene to illuminate part of the image, while also creating contrast, leaving the sky a inky black shade.



The design elements that appear in the shot include: diagonal lines, colour space, triangles, and depth. This is a good representation of Brian's work because the cinema display case is not only empty, but it's lighting is broken and torn down. It probably hasn't been used in months, and shows that this cinema probably is out of business. The lighting for this picture comes from the street lamps that can be seen in the reflection of the glass, and most likely another source of light coming from the right side (you can see a shadow on the left hand side of the case.



The design elements that appear in the shot include: diagonal lines, and colour space. This is a good representation of Brian's work because it's display of mass consumerism and the sheer volume of tills. This store is an example of mass comercialism, which is what Brian showcases. This picture uses displays the bright commercial light found in large department stores. It provides a bright light source that evenly illuminates the entire scene.



The design elements that appear in the shot include: diagonal lines, texture, and depth. This photo represents Brian's work because it shows a mall abandoned by it's consumers and possibly shut down because of it's economic hardships. When looking through some interviews with Brian, the lighting technique of this particular picture was brought up. He had used a police flashlight to literally paint the scene with light simply because it was too dark, and to bring out the details of the scene.