Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Quiz #9

Today's quiz is a variation on the line drawing challenge from last week. Instead of using pen and ink, I've translated 12 well known photographs into low-res pixelations. For example this mysterious field of colors


is a pixelated version of Alec Soth's Charles, Vasa, Minnesota, 2002


Your challenge is to decipher the twelve photographs below. As in the last quiz, these are all well known images by prominent photographers. I've tried to design these with a broad range of difficulty. First correct answer wins a free print.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

19 comments:

  1. This seems almost impossible. I got two—including the Soth one at the beginning. I will have much respect for anyone that can get more than four or five.

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  2. looks like #1 is a classic ansel adams, #3 is the damm family, mary ellen mark, #10 is stephen shore, and #6 is maybe the sternfeld of the fireman pumpkin shopping?

    Hope that helps some other sucker whose eyes will be hurting momentarily!

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  3. #2 has to be Gursky 99 cent

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  4. #9 is Candy Cigarette by Sally Mann

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  5. It seems impossible but already half of them have been solved. Hint: if you stand away from the screen and squint the images may suddenly pop out.
    Another hint: All of the photos are from the past 100 years.

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  6. #7. Lifesavers by Ruth Bernhard.

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  7. Bloody ridiculous.
    It could take me years to solve these!

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  8. #8 is definitely one of Jill Greenberg's monkey portraits.

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  9. I have all but 4, 11, and 12...blast. This evening has been far less productive than planned...

    4 feels like Crewdson, 11 like Robert Frank, and 12 like Wall, but I can't find anything in their images that really fits.

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  10. #5 looks like a Cindy Sherman film still.

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  11. Dammit, I have all of them except for 4, 11, & 12, too. I was going in a different direction for #11 than ZT, and 12 is driving me nuts. But there's no way #4 is that well-known. That composition, those colors... it makes no sense.

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  12. #4 could be Alex Webb?

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  13. All except for 4, 11, & 12 have been correctly identified. #4 is not Alex Webb but someone whose style perhaps closely resembles him, and I think most people will be familiar with the image. Wall, Frank, and Crewdson are not correct.

    I'll put a hint up later in the week if no one has solved it by then.

    Since this has been a team effort, the person who identifies the last unsolved image will be arbitrarily declared the winner. Same rules as nineball.

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  14. Alex Webb seemed most likely for that one, based on the colors, but there weren't any corresponding images. Sometimes DiCorcia pushes into those saturation levels (the male hustler series). I was trying to find a Burtynsky match for 12, but no luck, and had immediately assumed either Atget or Cartier Bresson for 11. But now the round shape on the right seems to be more dramatically foregrounded and self-conscious, leaving me at a loss. Since it no longer matters who gets them all correct, here's what I have so far:

    1. Ansel Adams, Yosemite Valley, 1942
    2. Andreas Gursky, 99 Cent Store, 1999
    3. Mary Ellen Mark, The Damm Family in their Car, 1987
    4.
    5. Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still, 1978
    6. Joel Sternfeld, MacLean, VA, Dec 1978
    7. Ruth Bernhard, Lifesavers, 1930
    8. Jill Greenberg, n.t., n.d.
    9. Sally Mann, Candy Cigarette, 1989
    10. Stephen Shore, El Paso Street, 7/5/1975
    11.
    12.

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  15. Yeah, chas, same here obviously. I found a few more of the full titles, but you have dates.

    1. Ansel Adams - Yosemite Valley Clearing Winter Storm
    2. Andreas Gursky -- 99 Cent
    3. Mary Ellen Mark -- The Damm Family
    4.
    5. Cindy Sherman -- Untitled Film Still #21
    6. Joel Sternfeld -- McLean, Virginia
    7. Ruth Barnard -- Lifesavers
    8. Jill Greenberg -- Kenuzy Scream
    9. Sally Mann -- Candy Cigarette
    10. Stephen Shore -- El Paso Street, El Paso, Texas
    11.
    12.

    Yeah, like you I have been reduced to going off of color palettes. 4 seems like it could be David LaChapelle or, like you said, diCorcia. I thought 12 had to be Burtynsky but I haven't found any exact matches -- although this is frustratingly close.

    I must admit that 3 and 8 I never would have gotten without comments here.

    Personally I find it helps if you look at them very small.

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  16. #11. Eugene Atget -- Avenue De Segur, 1925

    Two more!

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  17. #12 is john pfahl - altered landscapes

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  18. 4. Raghubir Singh -- Pavement Mirror Shop, Howrah, West Bengal, 1991

    !

    The newer "hint" version has enough in it for tineye to recognize it. I 100% guarantee that I couldn't have come up with that myself.

    (This was far too much of a community effort, I think, for me to merit a print.)

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  19. Congrats to ZTDavis (and to everyone else who contributed answers) for solving the final clue. Please email me your address and I'll get your print out.

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