Inspirational Photographer: Jay Maisel

 

Jay Maisel is an American photographer, born in Brooklyn, New York in 1931. He studied graphic design and painting at Cooper Union in Manhattan and Yale University before starting his career as an artists in 1954. Maisel photographs scenes from everyday life, focusing on color, texture, and gesture as key elements of his compositions.

 

I am intrigued by Jay Maisel's work. I enjoy his color photographs for their graphic and abstract qualities. Maisel, often, zooms in on an image to capture just a part of a whole scene, a piece of a greater story. This limited focus, as I would describe it, sparks an increased level of intrigue for me, the viewer. Additionally, Maisel's selective focus makes his photographs a study in composition and color, some of the more abstract and less immediate elements of an artwork. Maisel uses color, light, and contrast in a manner which creates unique and graphic images. Many of his photographs look like paintings or illustrations from a comic book. Maisel's framing is deliberate. He takes photographs which create a narrative, despite their selective cropping.