Sunday, June 5, 2011

Henri Cartier-Bresson



I chose this artist because I saw his exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Henri Cartier-Bresson is well known for his travels around the world and the pictures he has taken. He specializes in black and white photography, using a Lecia 35mm camera, and enjoys taking pictures in England, India, and Indonesia. Cartier-Bresson is claimed to be pioneer of photography. He took pictures of large social and political upheavals. Cartier-Bresson took pictures of the 1930s Depression, the rise of fascism, and the belief that human progress could only be made in struggles against the old cultural values and political institutions. He was born in France to a wealthy family that owned a textile mill. But instead of joining the family business he went to school in 1927. Cartier-Bresson set out to "paint and change the world" and in his early years took pictures of the political battles happening in France. In his later years he began to travel the world and take pictures that way.

I chose this picture because it was interesting to me and I enjoyed the contrast of it. Like how the person is all black while the puddle beneath him is reflecting the rest of the picture above it. The person is all blurred as if this picture was taken at a low shutter speed. Also it leaves a lot to imagination since what is happening is not explained in the picture. When I look at the picture I see a man walking on water, or the man could have fallen of of the ladder and jumped in order to save himself. The picture is not centered also adding to the interest for me. This picture makes me feel confused but also feel some suspense since I do not know what will happen after. This picture was an interesting and enjoyable picture to look at.

Untitled, Jeremy Dawson


Jeremy Dawson
Untitled. From The series Men in Suits. 1993.
Gelatin-Silver Print.
16x20 inches.
The photo I selected was from Photography Reborn: Image Making in the Digital Era by Johnathan Lipkin. Dawson’s photographs are somewhat humorous because the images combine street photography and surveillance like images together. After Dawson takes a photo he uses digital technology to alter the image or images. Dawson does this by combining two images together, usually one right on top of another image. He used a 35mm camera, but later put both images on a normal piece of photographic paper, so it looked like one image. The best part about his work is that the viewer does not know if the images have been manipulated or if they are real. Jeremy Dawson was known for these kinds of street photography images that have been manipulated.
The photo I selected was of a man with a briefcase walking past a group of business men looking through a fence in the city. The man with the briefcase doesn’t seem to notice what the other men are looking at, nor does he care. At first glance it’s hard to believe that the image is real. The man walking past the others does not seem to fit into the same scene as the other men. All the other men are very similar to one another, they are dressed the same and are all balding, which is actually kind of funny. The image is intriguing because we don’t know if it was manipulated, nor does the viewer know what the men are looking at beyond the fence. It’s a mystery and could even be a crime scene. Another reason it’s mysterious is because of what’s in the briefcase that the man is carrying.

“Retired man and his wife at home in a nudist camp one morning, N.J.”


Diane Arbus
 “Retired man and his wife at home in a nudist
camp one morning, N.J.,”
1963
 
 
Diane Arbus, "the photograpgher of freaks," gained that title by photographing the, well not so very often photographed. She was born in 1923 in New York City. Diane and her husband were both interested in photography and had a commercial phography business called "Diane and Alan Arbus" where she took on the role of art director and he photographer. They contributed to many famous fashion magazines but Diane quit the business in 1956 and began her own photographic journey. In 1971 she committed suicide while living at Wesbeth Artists Community in New York City. AS mentioned before, Arbus is known for photographing the odder folk growing up in society. Not the supermodels or gorgeous people that are slathered on evry page of most popular magazines, but moreso the people in the background, the "weird"-er folk. She found beauty in every single person and documented it throughout her life. The picture I chose of hers stuck out to me the first time I saw it, not so much because it was of a naked older couple in their living room, I wasn't interested in it until it came to my knowledge that the only way they would let her take their picture was if she was naked herself. And obviously, that's how it went down. Then I started to pay more attention to the photograph itself and started making connections with the people and the objects in the room. The first thing I noticed was that they were wearing slippers/sandals. Priceless. Then I noticed the picture of what looks like a 1950's Playboy Pinup girl, that seems to be naked or topless herself. And what also caught my eye is how wide open and welcoming the front door is. Thats how comfortable they feel in their own skin. We as viewers can't tell where the house is located because the bright light from outside but in the title it is mentioned that they are a part of a nudist camp. And the fact that they share such openness with surrounding families in this camp is kind of refreshing to me. Who needs clothes?

Sam Shere, The Hindenburg Disaster


2. Artist: Sam Shere
    Title:  The Hindenburg Disaster
    Date:  1937
    Medium: Silver gelatin print

3. Sam Shere was a news photographer during the 1930's. He was taking part in taking pictures of the Hindenburg landing as a publicity stunt. It was then where the aircraft burst into flames above their heads. At the time it happened he only had 2 images left to be taken on his roll. He was quoted saying "there wasn't time to lift it up to his eye he just shot it from the hip". Although similar photographs were taken of the event his images came to be known as "the most famous news photographs ever taken". On a rather unrelated note, the band Led Zepplin's first album cover featured his photograph on it.

4. well i was just flipping through that little book that i borrowed with all the random pictures in it and this one caught my eye. Several years ago i visited the air and space museum in Washington DC. while there i learned quite a bit about the Hindenburg. So this photo just kind of reminded me of what i learned and that trip and i thought it was pretty cool. As for the photo itself it is a really great shot for somthing that was not even properly aimed and of an even that happened in split seconds. 

Calla Lily, Robert Mapplethorpe


Image Name: Calla Lily
Creator: Robert Mapplethorpe
Date: 1988
Medium: Platinum Print
A.
Robert Mapplethorpe was significant in photography because of his work with male nude models, floral still images and pictures of children. I think that Robert Mapplethorpe is significant because he not only does not so tame images but also very tame images. I feel as though all of his images are smooth and well shot lighting and all. He specialized in creating all of his photos on fabric and luxurious cloth panels. Originally Mapplethorpe did not want to be a photographer but to create images of men from pornographic magazines from objects and paintings he had to turn to photography. Sam Wagstaff a curator, photography collector, and his eventual lover was very influential in Mapplethorpe’s photography.  Sadly, Robert Mapplethorpe passed away on March 9th, 1989 from complications to AIDS.

B.
This photograph to me was very appealing to the eye because when you first look at it you can’t really tell exactly what it is, then after staring at it and looking at it for a few minutes you can tell that it is a flower.  I also think this photo is a really strong image because of the contrast between black and white, also because of the negative space that created how close the image is. I selected it because it wasn’t one of his not so tame images and because it was a picture of a flower, not just an ordinary flower that has flaws either it was literally a perfect flower.  When I look at this image I get instantly happy because when I look at flowers I think of love and happiness. It is powerful image because of the negative space and contrast between black and white.

Ophella, Gregory Crewdson


Ophella
Gregory Crewdson
50X60
2000-2001

Gregory Crewdson was born in Brooklyn, NY, he was in a punk rock group called The Speedies. Crewdson studied photography at SUNY Purchase and received his Masters in Fine Arts from Yale University. Crewdson reminds me of Gustave Le Grey (pieced two photos together) and Henry Peach Robinson (pieced multiple photos together). His vision what of the photo is going to look like in the future is what amazes me. Planning the different layers to create an image I think if fascinating and difficult. Most of Crewdson photos represent small town America and depict subtle and disturbing images. He uses a large crew, props, and special lighting to stage his photos. Many of his images are derived from movies and various painters.

The reason I selected this photograph is because of the complexity of the layers and the lighting. I myself tried shooting different photos and layering or cutting the negatives to get a desired affect. This process for me very difficult, trying to match up natural lighting and framing is very much impossible at my skill level. This photo also has an eerie feeling to it; the photo could be interpreted into in so many different things. I feel the photo represents the drowning suburban housewives feel and their entrapment within their homes. Just beyond the reaches is the light that shines so strongly within the house. Much like the rest of his photos there is something surreal and at the same time disturbing in the image. I feel like every photograph is a single frame in a twilight episode.

Shaft Miner at the 2500 Foot Level Station Before Drilling


Artist: Louie Palu
Picture: Shaft Miner at the 2500 Foot Level Station Before Drilling,
Louvicourt Mine, Val d'Or, Quebec,
Book: Cage Call: Life and Death in the Hard Rock Mining Belt, Published in 2007

Louie Palu is an artist who is mostly known in Canada. He held an internship with photographer Mary Ellen Marks in New York. After his internship he moved back to Toronto where he was a staff photographer for Canada’s national newspaper The Globe And Mail. In 1991 he began what would result in 12-years of field-work documenting the working lives of miners collaborating with writer Charlie Angus which would become the critically acclaimed body of work Cage Call: Life and Death in the Hard Rock Mining Belt, which won the Critical Mass Book Award.
The body of work in his book called Cage Call: Life and Death in the Hard Rock Mining Belt, examines life in Canada’s geologically enormous hard rock mining belt. The photographs are documents of the people, land and work involved in underground mining and smelting. Louie’s photos tell the true life story of miners and the dangers and benefits of the life they live. Many of his pictures in the book were of the miners and their families, and neighborhoods. Palu's workers are both tragic and heroic; the world they inhabit is dark and dangerous but it is also beautiful and compelling.
In Shaft Miner at the 2500 Foot Level Station Before Drilling, Louvicourt Mine, Val d'Or, Quebec, we see a solitary figure from behind, bathed in light from above, hands raised in a an empathetic yet unclear gesture. At first glance, without prior knowledge of the picture that is taken in the mines, it seems as though the aliens are coming, and man is welcoming them. The reason I chose this photography book is because, I find mines fascinating and horrible at the same time. I liked this picture because of the contrast and the glow from the above ground. I also like the glow the lone miners hat bounces off around the darkness.  I also find the shapes involved of the mine, vertical, horizontal, and circular shapes to bring depth to the image. The image itself is powerful as it creates a scary notion of being alone in a mine, with only a metal object coming from the light. Because the image is so real looking, I wouldn’t change it because it would take away from the authenticity of the authors work on portraying the real life involved in mines.

Dovima with Elephant: evening dress from 1955


Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon was an American photographer born in New York City to a Jewish Russian family on May 15, 1923. He started his life as a photographer at Merchant Marines in 1942 taking identification pictures of the crewmen. Working his way up through the company he finally opened his own studio. He then began shooting photos for vogue and life. He shot pictures of famous models such as Brooke Shields and Gianni Versace. Since the beginning of Richard’s Career, he has been interested in the way portraiture captures the personality and soul of a subject.

Avedon became the first staff photographer of The New Yorker in 1992. He also won awards such as The International Center of Photography Master of Photography Award in 1993. Richard Avedon died on October 1, 2004.

The specific photo that I found compelling of Richard Avedon’s is the Dovima with Elephant: evening dress from 1955. I was drawn to this photo because of the combination of animals and humans. Animal behavior and human behavior have been compared for centuries and combining the two and having do similar poses makes for an interesting relationship. I like the rough texture of the elephants skin and the smooth material used for the woman’s dress. Also the contrast between the elephants gray skin and the ladies white and black dress, really draws in the viewer to a focal point. I feel the photo is well balanced and holds an interesting composition.

Victorian Farmhouse by Luke Swank


Luke Swank
Luke Swank was called a modernist photographer. Most of his work dated in the 1930’s due to an untimely death in 1944. Luke’s grew up in an affluent family, where his father had diversified his business interests in different areas. Later Luke would live off of a trust from business ventures while pursuing his hobby of photography. Luke went to college at Pennsylvania Agricultural College (now Pennsylvania State University) and enlisted in the Army. He married Grace Ryan and had a daughter.
Luke Swank was a self-taught photographer. He claims to have learned a lot thru trial and error. In 1930 he was selling cars in his hometown of Johnstown Pennsylvania and two years later the Museum of Modern Art; New York featured his work of Steel Plant. Swank experienced success at subsequent shows, but eventually the depression had its effect on him as well and he had to get a job and support his family, now with an added son. He soon went to work for H.J. Heinz Company where he started a season of food photography.
Victorian Farmhouse by Luke Swank
The photograph called Victorian Farmhouse was created 1940-1943. I was drawn to this picture initially because it looks like the cliché Haunted House. I can’t tell if the house is old deserted or if it is the black and white coloring making it look like it is old and decrepit. This could be a very well kept Victorian home decorated with all the colors that were popular. If I were to find an old deserted Victorian home today and took a picture, I think it might look very similar. I love the sky, where there is no sign of clouds. It looks like a charcoal drawing that has been smoothed and blended. Or maybe there is a dust storm coming up behind the house. If this is so, the chickens in the front yard are not concerned. The chickens are the only thing in this photo that offer up a little hope….  

B29 Bomber Coming Out of the Factory



Artist: Laura Gilpin
Title: B29 Bomber Coming Out of the Factory
Date: 1994
Size: 10x13 in


Laura Gilpin started taking an interest in photography at a very young age. When she was in the learning process of photography there were no light meters to make sure the exposure was right. Everything was done by experiment and just getting the right feel for the light. Gilpin then went to the Clarence H. White School in New York to further study photography techniques.  At the school, Laura learned that her interest in music was directly related to her interest in photography.  In music one is continual with sound and in photography one is continual with ton. After her schooling, Gilpin worked closely with Mrs. Gertrude Käsebier to keep getting critiques.  Then, for a period of time during World War II, Gilpin worked as the official photographer for Boeing Airplane Company. Laura considers herself mainly a landscape artist but her work with other subjects like the Navaho has taught her patience and perspective on the subjects.
                Laura Gilpin’s photograph of the B29 Bomber Coming Out of the Factor really struck an interest with me because the lights behind the plane in the factory and the composition of the sky. In a way, the lights are glorifying this bomber plane when reality is the World War II was a very depressing and terrifying time for many. The complexion of the sky, how there is a glow around the factory indicates that this photography is taken around dawn when the bomber plane is most likely out on its way of its first journey. Because the sky is still so dark it hints to the darkness and depression that is out in the rest of the world while the brightness of the lights contradict this.  I think the contrast in this picture is excellent and the sharpness of the details focuses the picture even more on the plane. The reflection of the light on the water under the plane just adds more of a glorifying touch to the picture.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

The Face of Today's Digital Cameras, John Burgess


The photograph title is “The Face of Today’s Digital Cameras” by John Burgess. Burgess was born in California. He is a famous photographer from San Francisco. Burgess started photography as an outdoor education instructor. After that he started to work as Santa Rosa’s Press Democrat editor. Burgess brings his expertise in location lighting to transform an ordinary scene into dynamic, graphic images. He understands the need to make adaptations in style to fit each subject. He is an important photographer because he is a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated and his work has appeared in dozens of publications. Burgess has won over 100 professional awards for his photography, and is a frequent speaker at many workshops on photography. He took some human face pictures at local camera shop. It transformed digital cameras into a human face. Burgess arranged and photographed their LCD screens to form a single face.

I love the picture because I was inspired from the picture. I usually take some pictures, when I go to local electronic store too. However, I have never thought like his arrangements. Moreover, there is an incredible point that it looks like a Transformer Robot. It was the most favorite thing for me. There are some great points too. Burgess chose grass men at the top left, but he didn’t choose grass man at the top right side. I guess I can’t think about the composition. Burgess also chooses different color and shape of cameras. I really like his choice that is the bottom one. It seems human face line. I also like blurred background. I also like blurred background. It is compared between the cameras and the background. I thought I want to learn this blurry and arrange techniques from the picture.

Icarus Atop the Empire State Building, Lewis Hine


*Title on Object:  “Icarus Atop the Empire State Building” 1931
*Published Title: "Sky Boy" 1931
*Photograph by: Lewis W. Hine
*Gelatin Silver Print, 8.8 x 6.5 cm

*Lewis Hine has significance in the history of photography because his photographs were used as a means of social reform. In the early 1900s he worked with the National Child Labor committee and was assigned to a job to photograph child labor practices. Hine's work (which documented the “horrors of work”) greatly influenced the change in the public's attitude towards child labor and was used as a main tool in the fight for stricter child labor laws.
In 1930, Lewis Hine was hired to photograph the construction of the Empire State Building. On this job, he took hundreds of photos that, in this case, depicted the “dignity of labor.” These photos, along with photos of factory workers and other laborers, were published in a book by Hine titled “Men at Work” in 1932.

*I chose this photograph because I think that its overall composition is great. That is what drew me to the photograph. I liked that it has this diagonal line, and this includes the person being part of this line, through the whole photo which makes it more interesting than if this line (with the person) were straight down the page. Another thing was that the line was not just one straight line, it was broken up by the lose piece of cable/rope that was wavy and had a circle at the bottom. This break in the line and the line itself created a sort of whole/cavity that looked big enough for the person to fit if anything.
Another thing that interested me about this photograph was the layout of the positive and negative space throughout the photo. Along with the diagonal line created by the rope and the man in the photograph, there were metal parts of the building laying in the bottom left side of the photo that were dark and gave this mainly gray photograph darker parts to sort of balance out the color. The river in the background created another diagonal line that was opposite the rope in the foreground for great contrast, as well

His Hashemite Highness King Abdullah, George Rodger


Information- George Rodger
Title-His Hashemite Highness King Abdullah
date unknown
                 
George Roger was born in Great Britain in 1908. He joined the British Merchant Navy with whom he sailed the world twice from 1925-1929. While in the navy he wrote about his travels and became a self-taught photographer. The outbreak of World War Two inspired him to capture the spectacle of battle. His photographs landed him a job as a war correspondent for Life Magazine. He is most notable for being the first photographer to enter the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen just after Germany’s surrender; his photographs were highly influential in showing the reality of the War. He was also particularly interested in documenting tribal culture in South Africa, Uganda, and southern Sudan. In 1949 he was granted permission to spend time with tribes in Africa. Life Magazine once said, “George Roger has gone to more sweat and pain to get a few pictures than any other photographer.

I don't know if this photo really affects me in a huge way or even if it is that important but to me this is a very well taken photograph because of the way he did it. I picked this photo because i really enjoyed the way it was shot. He use a shallow depth of field by making the image blurry in the front and back but is sharp and focused on the king. I also really like how he developed the picture, making the blacks black and the whites white. The Kings face is my favorite part of the photograph because it has this element of thought to it and that makes me think that he didn't set this photo up....that it just happened. All in all, looking through George Roger’s work, he has become one of my favorite photographers.  

Mary Ellen Mark, Lillie with Her Rag Doll


Mary Ellen MarkLillie with Her Rag Doll, Seattle, 1983
22.6 x 34 cm (8 7/8 x 13 3/8 in.)
Gelatin silver print
 
Mary Ellen Mark currently lives in New York City, but was born in Philadelphia in 1940. Mark gained notability as a female artist who focused on documentary photography by capturing the world's diverse cultures. She spent many years in India photographing Mother Teresa, circuses and brothels in Mumbai and gained worldwide recognition. Afterwards in 1983 she did a photo essay for LIFE based on runaway children in Seattle. Later her work in Seattle become the basis of a film called Streetwise, and was nominated for an Academy Award. Mark contributes to The New Yorker and has published in LIFE, New York Magazine, Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. More than anything else Mark's images are known for human experience and social environment by conveying human reality and truth. 

 Mark's photographic series of homeless children in Seattle are shocking, entertaining and real. Seattle was seen as a clean and ideal American city. Her photos, on the other hand uncovered the reality of the city and the social problem that is everywhere in America. The photo selected shows a girl who is acting tough by smoking a cigarette, however she is holding a rag doll with her other hand. I selected the photograph because its a powerful image that shoes reality. The girl is smoking which makes her seem older, but the doll in her hand lets the audience know that she is just a child. Mark shot in black and white because the image was meant to have a feeling of no hope, and of being abandoned. She is alone and homeless and the image forces people to realize what is occurring and the problems others are facing.
 
Sources:
Mary Ellen Mark.com Bio and Resume. 2011
 
National Museum of Women on the Arts. Role Models: Feminine Identity in Contemporary American Photography.Scala Publishers Limited: United Kingdom. 2008.
 

Jerry N. Uelsmann, Floating Tree


2. Artist: Jerry N. Uelsmann
    Title: Floating Tree
    Date: 1969
    Medium: Silver Gelatin print

3. Uelsmann was a teacher of photography at the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1974. He is a fellow of the Royal Photographic society of Great Brittan. His works have been featured in more than 100 individual shows in the united states as well as abroad over the past 40 years. A lot of his works are composed of multiple image negatives being cut apart and put back together to create more elaborate pieces.

4. I personally like this piece a lot because its very creative in its composition and how it was made. He took the background and mirrored it down the middle then took pictures of trees and flipped two to create the "roots" of the floating trees to give them the appearance of floating  he then took an image of a bean pod and placed it in the water of the surrounding lake to create what almost seems to be a hole the water is floating into. this piece makes me think of a fantasy world that doesn't exist but makes you question it because it is well put together of real images.

Plantation Overseer and His Field Hands


Dorothea Lange born in 1895 started her photography career at 17 years of age. She worked in studios doing odd jobs while learning photography. She owned her own studio in San Francisco and it was there that she was discovered and offered the job for which her work is most famous.
Lange began working for the Farm Security Administration in 1935, a new program under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Administration. This work took her across America to farming communities. During this time, she captured some of the most well known pictures of the Great Depression. Her contribution to photography was her foresight to capture what was real in a time in U.S. History that was not glamorous. Her photographs add humanity to the equation of economics.

During World War II, Lange worked on another U.S. Government project, the War Relocation Authority. On this assignment, she was to photograph the Japanese people who were forced in to internment camps.
The work of Dorothea Lange’s that I like most is that of The Great Depression and her pictures of the South that raise racial questions. I have chosen to post this picture called “Plantation Overseer and His Field Hands” with subtitle of “Mississippi Delta” 1936. I think this is a great photograph; I like the lighting and the shiny car. I like the way the “Overseer’s” shirt is so pristinely white. Is that the Overseer’s car? He looks quite comfortable there. I wonder, is it a coincidence that the African Americans are so thin and the Overseer so rotund? In the seventy years or so since African Americans were emancipated, what was the relationship here? Clearly, they are not captive, but clearly, they are not privy to the same comforts as others.

Sebastiao Salgad


Sebastiao Salgado

            Sebastiao is on of the most respected photojournalists working in the present day.  He was born on February 8th, 1944 in Aimorés, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.  In college he studied economics, which plays with the subjects Sebastiao decides to photograph.   In 1967 he married to Lelia Deluiz Wanick who is also a photographer her self.  Salgado is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and an honorary member of the Arts and Science in the USA.  The particular photo I choose is from a tribute documentation of the process of coffee from the illycaffe and the men and women that grow the raw coffee.  The journey started in Brazil advanced to India next Ethiopia and then Guatemala.

            I was drawn to this artist because I saw a lot of rhythm, interesting lines and depth.   The particular photo I choose caught my eye from the repetition of the women being lined up with bags of coffee beans to pick through.  The aspect of coffee and the everyday use relates to this photo in the way the workers make rows that reminds me of a calendar. The lines drew me in as well, from the lines that the people make, to the negative spaces on the floor.   The angle is interesting and how it puts the viewer in a supervisor position and how one would look out over the progress of the workers.  Everything in this photo reminds me of repetition especially relating to the way the employees work.  It’s like the repetition and cycles of a machine but instead the people still serve as the machine.

Spain Collapses, Robert Capa


Robert Capa (1913-1954) was born Andrei Friedmann of Budapest, Hungary.  Friedmann moved to Paris, where he assumed the name “Robert  Capa.” He participated in almost every great tragedy of his time; and achieved fame as a war correspondent in the Spanish Civil War for his “close-up views of death.”
The Spanish Civil War was just the beginning of Capa’s photographic career. During World War II Capa photographed the war from Africa, Sicily, and Italy; and his images of the Normandy Invasion became “some of the most memorable of the war.”  
In 1946 Capa became a United States citizen, and joined with other photographers and founded Magnum Photos, the first international freelance photographer’s agency. In the year of 1954 Capa volunteered to photograph the French Indochina War, and was killed by a land mine.
“Spain Collapses” is just one of Robert Capa’s amazing photographs displaying the reality of war.
I picked this specific photograph because of the impact that it holds over its viewers.  Upon a quick glance, the soldier almost blends in with his surroundings. With a closer inspection, we are able to identify the soldier, and the terrible conditions in which this soldier of war must fight. Devastation is his only surrounding. The broken debris of what seems to have once been a home lies on the ground around him, creating a barrier; the only thing between him and the enemy.  From far away, a war can seem surreal. “Spain Collapses” brings the war to reality in the home of every individual.

Eggs Reflected and Multiplied, Carlotta M. Corpron


Title: Eggs Reflected and Multiplied
Artist: Carlotta M. Corpron
Date: 1948
Medium: Gelatin Silver Print

Carlotta M. Corpron was an American photographer that spent majority of her childhood in India.  During college, Carlotta was interested in learning more about Indian religion but more specifically Indian architecture, sculptures and art. It was during her teaching at University of Cincinnati that Carlotta began photographing and falling in love with it. However it wasn’t until she was asked to teach a photography class at Texas Woman’s University that she started becoming the artist she is today. It was during this time that she switched from photographing flowers, leaves and nature to light, distortion and reflection. Carlotta quickly fell in love with making shadows and playing with how different like looks over different objects and this is what she is best known for.  She likes to consider herself a designer with light and aspires to give her photographs life.
I selected this picture because I was really drawn to how the light reflects in the lines in the mirror behind the eggs.  Those lines add a great contrast to the ovals of the eggs in the foreground. Also, the lines in the floor make the oval eggs really pop out of the picture. I’m really drawn to how the light comes in like rays across the entire image. This is just such a great example of playing with light and distortion.  This picture makes me feel intrigued and curious as to why Carlotta chose eggs versus other round objects and just the mystery the shadows and the bends of the mirror create. If I were to change anything about this picture I think I would add another mirror facing the other mirror so the eggs would multiply even more and create even more illusion.

margaret bourke white, chrysler building gargoyle


margaret bourke white.
chrysler building gargoyle.
1929-1930.
 
Margaret Bourke-White is known to be one of the first female photographer for Life magazine. She was also the first female to document World War II and is known for documenting the Soviet industry. She was born in New Yorkin 1904 and moved to New Jersey. Before working for Henry Luce at Life magazine she was a staff memeber and photographer for Fortune magazine. She is known for documenting important people and places, such as Ghandi and the Statue of Liberty. Her photograph of the Fort Peck Dam was the first photograph on the cover of Life magazine.
 
Margaret Bourke White was not only responsible for documenting world changing events, but she gave people the real look at those events, people, places. Her pictures were used to fill the entire cover of Life magazine, so they were taken and printed showing huge scale. She was the first woman to eb allowed to take pictures in combat zones of WW2. She was fearless and would go above and beyond to take any picture.
 
The photograph I chose was the Chrysler Building Gargoyle one she took in 1929. This image stuck out to me because I remember in one of my first media classes we discussed Bourke-White and were shown copies of her work. The photograph that I remember is one where she is on the edge of the b uilding setting up her camera to take the picture of the gargoyle, I remember thinking 'now thats dedication.' Sure it is just a picture of a gargoyle, in cities they are lurking off buildings everywhere, but what also sparked my interest for this photograph was the way she took it. It is at an incredible angle, one that everyday people walking along the sidewalks of a busy city don't get to experience without the help of Bourke-White. We're so used to staring up at a gargoyle, seeing its claws extended our way. Bourke-White made this gargoyle look like a lion in the wilderness, the city skyline being its' jungle. Everything about this photgraph seems perfect, even the glare that is reflected off of its cold hard skin. Bourke-White used her technique and skill in photography to take this very static creature and bring it to life.

Interior of Cast House, Molten Pig Iron and Runners, c. 1930


Luke Swank
Interior of Cast House, Molten Pig Iron and Runners, c.1930
Luke Swank was a photographer in the 1920’s and 1930’s Great Depression era, with his work cut short in the early 1940’s. He is not a well known photographer, as he passed away at an early age and at such a short length of being well known, but many studies have accumulated a great interest in his pictures. After attending Pennsylvania Agricultural College now Penn State, Swank began to pursue his interest in photography. Swank has contributed pictures that reflect the natural state of the American scene, particularly pictures and objects he felt was vanishing. Some of his work includes machinery, circus, people, the Amish, and buildings.    
What I really enjoy about Swanks photos is the angles, lines, shadows, and highlights, he gives in almost all of his pictures. When I first began looking through the book Luke Swank: Modernist Photographer, by Howard Bossen, the first images I really enjoyed were the pictures of the Amish Children. I love these kinds of old time photos and have always wanted to create similar shots, I still just might do so for the final project. I also was intrigued by the circus pictures including the clowns, the depth and emotions on their faces and interesting subject matter create fascinating pictures. I chose to discuss the Interior of Cast House photo, because of the contrast and highlights and shadows used in the print. The sharpness, steam, and lighting of the molten iron create an eerie glow. The depth of the picture makes the image look like your looking in to this scene, the dark sides and building adds to this connection of the image with the vertical and horizontal lines. I feel as though this is a powerful image and wouldn’t change it.  

Blind Woman, New York 1916


Blind Woman, New York 1916
Paul Strand (1890-1976)

Paul Strand is known as one of the first photographers of modernism and adapted his skills from the teachings of Lewis Hine in the beginning. He later evolved his photography skills after Alfred Stieglitz. Strand first took photos of people as it was not common at the time to take pictures of art and call it art. After a showing of Picasso, Braque and other photographers unique pictures, Strand started to work with shadows and abstract objects. Strand started to work with abstract objects and shadows and in 1916 he took what he learned and photographed people in the same way, using the dark windows of the Morgan building on Wall Street and the shadows of the people waling down the street he was able to create a whole new approach to photography in the United States. Strand was also known for his photos in the the magazine Camera Work, which was published from 1903-1917, with the last publication completely dedicated to Strand. Strand enjoyed taking pictures of culture and this lead to many pictures of his pictures to of urban sites. What I found most interesting about Strand is how he is recognized as one of the first candid photographers.

Paul Strand created a way to take candid photos by using a Ensign reflex lens point straight while having the real lens point at a right angle underneath his left arm. On of the first he made this way is of the Blind Woman who sold newspapers on the corner of a street. What really interest me in this type of photography is about the way people truly act when know one is watching. Creating a scene is almost ten times easier then trying to capture it in the moment, but there is something said about a photo that is of something real than recreated. With the photo of the Blind Woman there is a bit of irony with this candid photo. The whole purpose of taking a candid photo is to capture the "real", Strand went to all the work of concealing his camera to capture people in the moment with out noticing and took a picture of a blind woman who would not have noticed in the first place. Either way her head and attention seem to be focused somewhere else this is a very unique candid photo, I would never of thought about sneaking a picture of someone who is blind, I would just take it.

Ansel Adams; Cascade Glacier National Park, Montana 1942


Ansel Adams; Cascade Glacier National Park, Montana 1942
Artwork Details
Dimensions:  Image: 31.7cm x 20.5cm
Medium:  Gelatin silver print
Creation Date:  1942

I chose Ansel Adams for my first personal artist examination assignment because Adams is one of the most renowned black and white, nature photographers in American history. Adams used a photographic process known as “straight photography”, in which the photographer uses a clear lens and little or no darkroom manipulation in order to present the most realistic view of pictures taken. Adams would eventually become known for his unbridled enthusiasm in the process of “straight photography.” However by using processes known as “burning and dodging” and his personal creation of the Zone system Ansel was able to manipulate photographic tonality. This allowed him to “create instead of simply record.” Because of this style of photography and his vast knowledge of photographic technical aspects Adams was able to become one of the most recognizable names in the black and white production of landscape portraits.
            
This photo produced by Ansel Adams I found to be amazing because of its setting and use of shutter speed manipulation. In this picture the setting is remarkable because the flowing of the water appears to be moving down a set of stairs or large cliffs. This idea is unique because there are no other objects in the photo that allow this setting to be estimated in size. Therefore this flow of water could be a trickling stream down a small rock staircase or this could be a mighty river cascading down an enormous set of cliffs. I also really appreciate this picture because of its apparent use of shutter speed manipulation. It can be seen that river flowing from the sky appears blurry and therefore Adams used a slow shutter speed meanwhile keeping all of the motionless objects in perfect view. When trying to find a flaw in this picture I find it very difficult because in my opinion this picture has so many different meanings and metaphors that it can promote. For example the first thing I noticed aside from this being a beautiful photograph of a flowing water fall, is the fact that this picture makes it appear that this water is flowing directly from the sky. Being that I have a strong background in Greek mythology I determined that this picture produces an idea that water is in fact a gift from the gods that sit a top mount Olympus. Although this is only one interpretation the sheer beauty and setting produced in the photograph allows for viewers to have a variety of possible interpretations.

Bradford Washburn, Mountain, 1978


Creator: Bradford Washburn
Date:  April 2nd, 1978

Bradford Washburn was the founding director of Boston’s Museum of Science. He was the director of the museum for 2 decades before his death in 1985. He traveled around the world for over eight decades taking pictures of landscapes from mountains to the Grand Canyon. He pioneered the use of aerial photography for the analysis mountaineering and planning the mountaineering expeditions.  He was also responsible for creating maps of various mountain ranges that are still used today. Bradford gathered many awards over his career and life ranging from nine honorary doctorates, and the Centennial Award of the National Geographic Society. He also received the King Albert Medal of Merit.  He specialized in Aerial photography and his maps made of many Alaskan mountains are still being used today as maps for people that are hiking the various paths.
I selected this photo, because when I saw it, it reminded me of being home and seeing the side of a mountain after an avalanche. I also like the way the photo makes you feel when you look at it. I see it and it makes me feel like I am in the picture on the side of the mountain. I can feel the cold air hitting my arms and legs and a shiver goes up my back. I also feel like this picture is unique something that you wouldn’t see from anyone. I feel like this is a powerful image, the reason being if you compare the sky to the snowy mountain they are so different color wise that it really makes the snowy mountain pop out of the image. I would change it so that a person in the picture so that I could have a size comparison.