Response to Todd Hido’s Between the Two
By Zoë Gleitsman and Akari Stimler
Hido’s Between The Two, is a beautiful collection of color and black and white photographs. His images are very quiet and subdued; there isn’t any action in the photos, and all the subjects appear to be completely still and seemingly posed. From looking at all the photographs, we realized how stylized all the shots are. Everything in the frame seems to be very purposeful, and there isn’t any distraction from the main subject matter. The subject matter ranges from outdoor scenes of typical looking suburban homes to mostly nude women gazing at the camera from a bed. Maybe this contrast is related to the title of the book, Between The Two.
Most of the photographs are warm color photographs but there are a few black and white ones included as well. Hido does a good job setting a tone while using both color and black and white images. The colors in his photographs are extremely beautiful; the interesting tones in his streetscape photos and portraits makes the collection all around more intriguing and unique.
There’s a peculiar level of mystery to these very subdued shots. Part of this comes from Hido’s creative use of lighting and shadows. Every image has a light and/or shadow that adds to the overall composition. This series is definitely one of the most interesting and cohesive collection of photographs we’ve ever come across.
Monsters & Madonnas 