Richard Avedon Portraits

Richard Avedon is a particularly interesting portrait photographer because of the subjects that he chooses for his images. In most cases they are presumably from rural areas and they show evidence of perhaps hardships and hard labor in their faces, poses and clothing.

In this image we see two teenagers, possibly a couple, posing together. I think this is a particularly interesting piece by Avedon because of the irony that is present. The girl on the right is wearing a shirt that says "Mann" when she is clearly a woman. I also think there may be a statement being made here about gender roles. The stance that the man is making with his hand in his pocket and his other hand around the neck and shoulder of the girl is clearly one of assumed power while the girl holds her arms behind her back and looks off into the distance in a sort of submissive way. I may be wrong but I think if this is what Avedon had intended then it is a very subtle and interesting way of making a statement.

"THE RICHARD AVEDON FOUNDATION." THE RICHARD AVEDON FOUNDATION. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.

Lauren Greenfield: THIN

 "Thin" is an in depth photographic documentation about the treatment of eating disorders. Thin provides a window into the complicated and difficult process of treatment, the culture of rehab and the experience of struggling with an eating disorder.

In therapy the residents in the facility were made to eat "fear food" such as Pop Tarts, doughnuts and candy bars and then discuss their feelings afterwards.

Where an image such as this could be easily staged the clear emotions that Greenfield captures on the faces of her subjects give us an immense sense of sympathy for what is occurring in this particular moment in time.

The residents in the facility are on a regulated meal plan and their individual therapists check their plates after each meal to ensure a sufficient amount of food has been consumed by each patient.

An image like this is incredibly powerful because it essentially shows the cause of the problem and the result. The initial cause was obviously food leading to poor self image and the effect is the brittle figure shown by this poor woman's bony hands. This creates a powerful self-telling image that leaves the viewer awestruck.

"Lauren Greenfield Photography - Thin Photographs." Lauren Greenfield Photography - Thin Photographs. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

Street Photography

Garry Winogrand

Winogrand is a painter turner photographer. In 1948 at Columbia University he was shown his first darkroom and he never looked back. Described as "an undisciplined mixture of energy, ego, curiosity, ignorance, and street-smart naiveté," the Bronx native photographed incessantly, mostly on the streets, working as a freelance photographer for a picture agency and eventually publishing journalistic images in numerous magazines throughout the fifties. 

In 1960 he began to take a more artistic approach to his work which is how he truly left his mark on the world of photography. He was known for this candid shots, especially of women on the street. 

 

"Garry Winogrand." / Biography & Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

"Garry Winogrand (Getty Museum)." Garry Winogrand (Getty Museum). N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

Robert Capa and Documentary Photography

Capa photographically documented five different armed conflicts: Spanish civil war, second Sino-Japanese war, World War 2, the 1948 Arab–Israeli war and the first Indochina war. Capa also documented also the course of World War 2 in London, Northern Africa and Italy, the invasion of Normandy of the allies and the liberation of Paris. In all of his photographs there is a narrative clearly laid out. He also conveys a sense of emotion in his images that draw us in and give us a more personal glimpse into what is happening in the image. 

Without knowing exactly what the subject matter is in this photograph we can tell that it is during a time of war and it appears that this soldier is trekking through a body of water. This photograph was in fact taken during the storming of Normandy beach. Capa was on multiple occasions accused of staging his photos but he would reply by saying "The truth is the best picture, the best propaganda." 

"Robert Capa - Masters of Photography." Robert Capa - Masters of Photography. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2013.

My HDR Shots

In order to create a High Dynamic Range shot you need to take a series of photographs shot at various exposures. Your ideal range would have highly overexposed photograph that could capture the details in the dark areas of the composition and a highly underexposed photo that could capture the detail in the lightest lights. You then use the feature "merge to HDR pro" feature in Adobe Photoshop which compiles these images into one shot with a full range of value and maximum detail. This feature can also make corrections in the alignment of the photographs to create the sharpest image possible. These are some examples of my attempts with HDR shooting. 

Jeff Wall

"I begin by not photographing"

 

When Wall first sees something that he likes or finds interesting he does not photograph it. He looks at it and thinks about it but does not capture it in an image. He then goes back a rebuilds the scene in which he remembers and takes photographs of the remake. He tells a story of walking by three or four young people covered in tattoos, sitting under a tree on a summer day. When Wall decided to recreate this piece it took him nearly a year. He went back and used a more pictorally interesting tree and background setting and different people but still with the same idea of the scene that had caught his eye before.

 

 

 

"The reconstruction is a transformation that leads to something faithful"

 

 

 

"Jeff Wall: "I Begin by Not Photographing"" YouTube. YouTube, 07 July 2010. Web. 05 Mar. 2013.