Brian Oglesbee, Author: Brian Oglesbee is an American photographer living in New York State. He has been exhibiting his photographs in group and one-man shows since the early 1980s. His work hangs in many public and private collections including the George Eastman House, Rochester, New York; the International Centre of Photography, New York; the Brooklyn Museum, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; and the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida.
Oglesbee is convinced that photography's power comes from its unparalleled ability to describe what is visible in front of the camera. He tries to provide subjects or combinations of light and substance which test that power. Oglesbee's photographs are very "straight;" in other words, the camera simply records what was in front of it—one standing at the lens would see exactly what the camera "sees." There is no manipulation after the initial single exposure of the negative, either in the darkroom or with the aid of computers.
Lesley Brill, Contributor: Lesley Brill has published essays on the photos of Diane Arbus, Eugene Atget, and Brett Weston, and books on the films of Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston. He teaches and is a professor and former Chair in the Department of English at Wayne State University in Detroit. His most recent book is Crowds, Power, and Transformation in Cinema (Wayne State University Press, 2006).