20 Photographer Assignment

I had already completed more than half of the assignment when the post went up. So, the first half of my photographers are famous but some are still comtemporary. I finished up with strictly historical black and white photographers. All of my contemporay choices have had long and distinguished careers. I will be away from my computer until the next class so I am posting this a little bit early to make sure that it gets in on time. Thanks!


Photographers


ART WOLFE

I don’t know if I am more obsessed with the photographs or the places that he traveled to take the photos. In a word – WOW! Art Wolfe is a master of color and composition. His pictures of the Serengeti migrations are my favorite. In one picture he captured like a hundred wildebeest and zebra all massed together in a giant assembly and yet the viewer can still distinguish the individual animals. He actually has an entire book dedicated to migration. He has also taken some of the best pictures I have seen of my favorite, soon to be new home state of Alaska. Art Wolfe takes pictures in the digital and film media and his fine art prints have been digitally altered. I am okay with that as the end result is astounding. His landscape photographs are a stunning display of nature at its best. The play of light over a mountain at the top of Mount Everest or the gorgeous display of colored light at the setting sun over the plains is prominent in every picture. I would definitely like to follow in the footsteps of Art Wolfe with regard to both his travel adventures and his photography career.

MOOSE PETERSON

Moose Peterson is a wildlife photographer. To just say it like that almost makes it sound mundane. His photographs are amazing. He takes pictures in the digital media and either he is crazy or uses a lens that cost more than I make in a year. He uses a small aperture number to ensure that the focus is on the animal itself and the background is usually blurred. The detail on the animals is phenomenal. I was looking at a picture of a wet grizzly bear and he had captured a tiny drop of water dripping from his muzzle. The individual hairs and the whites of the eyes make you want to either reach out and touch it or run like the wind. Another photo caught a small pika frozen in mid air as it leapt from rock to rock. I love the vibrant colors that come through in the parts of the landscape that is not blurred. I also looked at some of his actual landscape photos and the use of light and color is beautiful. My favorite was a picture of the huge sequoia trees with the rays of sunlight shining through the trees. These are the kinds of photographs that I would like to take. Wildlife is difficult to photograph because they move quickly and do not respond well to humans. In most of Peterson’s photographs, it looks as though the animals stopped and posed just for him.


TUI DE ROY

I am slowly developing an appreciation for black and white photography, however, I am most definitely still a color girl. I have often said that there are no better colors in the world then those that are seen in nature. Looking at the photographs of Tui de Roy just reestablishes my love of natural colors. Tui de Roy spent the majority of her career photographing in the Galapagos Islands. The number one place on my list to visit is the Galapagos (hoping for 2010). The scenery is stunning, and the animals are not afraid of people. The possibilities for incredible photographs are literally at every turn. Tui’s latest book is on the Albatross. I am partial to the blue footed boobies myself; however her photos of the Albatross are so rich in detail that it is hard to believe they are real. Her underwater photos capture the vibrant blue color of the sea along with the play of shadow and light glistening off the back of a playful sea lion. I want to be there – period – end of story. That is what her photographs do for me.


ANNIE LEIBOVITZ

I know Annie Leibovitz’s photography from her celebrity portraits. Portraiture photography has got to be difficult. To me a great portrait can capture the essence of a person’s personality. I think Annie does that. No doubt it helps that her sessions include elaborate expensive sets, costumes and abnormally pretty people most of the time. Her photographs of Angelina Jolie captured the physical beauty of her subject, but also gave you a hint of the person inside. Depending on which photo you looked at, a little bit more of the personality behind was revealed. The emotions emanating from the photos ranged from playfully sexy to vulnerability. I would bet that the subjects of her photograph are actually surprised when they view the final prints. They may wind up getting more than they bargained for. Like the saying says, “a picture is word 1,000 words.”

FRANS LANTING

I’m back to wildlife photographers. The first thing I ever wanted to be was a wildlife photographer for National Geographic, which of course Lanting was. I guess I would still take that job if they offered it to me. Anyway, Frans Lanting epitomizes my two photography obsessions of color and animals. His brilliant displays of colors would be appealing even without the fantastic portrayals of animals in nature. What I like best about the photographs are the truly natural ways the animals have been captured on film. His prints show the emotional state of the animal subjects. As in human portraiture, the emotional state of the animal is just as important. A photographer may not be able to capture the personality of an animal, but they can sure get any extreme emotions that are displayed. It is obvious that the “for sale” prints have been touched up as the color is either too vibrant or slightly unnatural in appearance. I assume this is what happens later as more experience is obtained. The end results are gorgeous.

ANSEL ADAMS

I cannot take a black and white photography class and not mention Ansel Adams. His landscape photographs show beautiful contrast and the capture of light in black and white photography. His incredibly powerful pictures of Yosemite National Park depict the mountains, rocks, trees and amazing waterfalls of the park. Even after all the decades that have passed, his photographs remain as the iconic images of the park. Having recently visited and photographed Yosemite myself, the color girl in me still screams for the lack of color in his black and white prints. However, my new found appreciation for the skill required for his beautiful prints has made me take a closer look at the contrast of light and shadow that can be drawn from a skillfully produced black and white photograph. Adams was absolutely a skillful master of landscape photography. My interest in landscape photography is second only to my interest in wildlife photography. I can only assume that my appreciation for black and white will continue to improve as my skill level in the darkroom does.

JIM BRADENBURG

My brother got me hooked on Jim Bradenburg’s photographs. He is a wolf lover and Bradenburg has taken some awesome photographs of wolves. It is these that I am most familiar with from his books. Jim Bradenburg is another former National Geographic photographer. He is from Minnesota which offers him plenty of choices for his photographs of the wolves. He has photographed them in every season. He has pretty much been able to document the life of a wolf through photography. The pictures also show enough of the land and scenery around the wolf that you can appreciate the beauty of the northern Minnesota landscape. I love the pictures of the wolves in the snow. Somehow the contrast of the powdery white snow on the dark fur in the stark landscape creates an alluring scene. The fall foliage photographs are also fantastic with the brilliant color of the leaves. Any picture of a wolf puppy is adorable, but I almost like the gangly adolescent wolves best as the pictures capture them learning the ways of the wolf.

WILLIAM WEGMAN

DOGS – need I say more?? Okay, I’ll say more – William Wegman must use some extremely patient and well trained dogs. The expressive looks on the faces of his most used subject the weimaraner dog have inspired countless calendars and other widespread reproductions. Most of the photographs I have encountered of his are done in the black and white median, although I have seen a few that have color added. Being a mostly grey colored dog, the weirmaraner actually makes a fairly descent subject for black and white photos. Upon first glance, the dogs are not that impressive looking, but once you take a look at the way the camera captures those big brown eyes, they become more compelling. The coloring in his photographs is sharp and crisp. There is not much in the way of blurring or softness of color. I like the clarity of the photos. There is certainly a time for blending, however, I think the sharpness here keeps the attention focuses where it is supposed to be.

JIM REED

Jim Reed is a storm chaser. He takes pictures of extreme weather. His photographs are taken in the digital media and obviously capturing movement is extremely important. Extreme weather is difficult to photograph because of the severity of the movement and the inevitable bad lighting that it brings with it. His images depict the awesome power of mother nature. It is apparent when viewing the photographs of some of the more famous photographers, that a willingness to bring your camera into extreme conditions and take risks is a requirement to succeed. Jim Reed has obviously taken his camera into some seriously intense circumstances. I wonder if he was taking pictures of Ike?

NICK BRANDT

I take back every bad thing I have ever said about black and white photography. I had never seen any photographs by Nick Brandt before. I was looking at photography books at the bookstore and was stunned into silence by the incredibly artistic images portrayed before me. I can only imaging the darkroom skill required to obtain the clarity and color contrast that illuminates the wildlife subjects of these photos. The cover image of the elephant throwing dust over its back is a perfect image of the animal in motion and in its natural state. There are also fantastic images of lions both at rest and in motion. The end results of his photographs are simple, artful, and dignified animal portraits. I barely even noticed the absence of color as I gazed in awe at these truly remarkable images. After discovering the photography of Nick Brandt, I have decided that while I digitally follow in the footsteps of Art Wolfe, I will also carry a 35mm camera full of black and white film. For the purpose of the class assignment, I have chosen Nick Brandt as “my” photographer.

MICHAEL EASTMAN

I really enjoyed looking at the photographs of the horses. I was looking at a portrait of a horse. The fine detail of the veins and the texture of the hairs are apparent in the high quality photos. I also enjoyed his photographs of landscape as well as architecture. His landscape photographs display the extreme shape of the land and the comparison of land against wind and sky and rain. Some of the pictures of the “fire in the sky” from Colorado are masterfully presented. I can also appreciate the photogenic quality of some of the buildings that he captured and the elegant angles from which the photos were taken. Having recently tried and failed to correctly photograph architecture, I appreciate the skill and patience required to produce quality prints of this subject. He has a large collection of both black and white and color pictures along with both film and digital media.

SEBASTIAO SALGADO

His photographs are haunting. I had looked him up because I knew he took photographs of Africa. These were not the pictures of Africa that I was looking for. I can only hope one day to achieve this type of skill in the darkroom. I kept trying to get away from this one image, but it kept jumping back to the top of the screen. The picture was of an Ethiopian boy in the foreground and a stick tree in the background. That boy and that stick looked way too much alike! Overall, his black and white landscape shots were really spectacular. His photographs of people were simply haunting.

DOROTHEA LANGE

Most of the photographs of Lange’s that I looked at were the ones from the 1930’s of the migrant farm workers of pre World War II. Her pictures are very documentary. They definitely portray the emotion and the scene while giving the viewer the history. The portraits capture the various emotions of the subjects from despair to pride in the land. The background shots document the scene and detail what is happening at the location just as well as the journaling that goes with them.

RALPH MEATYARD

Well, I found one that I did not like. I do not know if it was because the pictures were old or if that was just the style, however, I thought that they were all too dark. I thought the subject matter was random and I just didn’t get it. What I looked at appeared to be someone’s personal snapshots as opposed to historical photographs. Anyway, I did not feel any connection with these pictures. I am actually pleased that I found one that I didn’t like. I was starting to feel like I was not being objective enough.

GARRY WINOGRAND

Once again, as I was looking at these pictures I just wondered who the people were. Most of his works were either untitled or vaguely titled. I saw one untitled print of what looked like a man falling from a building. The people on the street appeared to be laughing, so I assume it was either a stunt or Ebenezer Scrooge. The picture titled Central Park Zoo was kind of funny as it showed two nicely dressed people carrying nicely dressed chimpanzees. Otherwise, the pictures once again reminded me of somebody else’s vacation photos. I guess in this case I needed some words to go with the pictures for context.

LEWIS HINE

Because of the titles, I am able to place these pictures into a context of date, time, and relevance. I think Hine has some excellent pictures from American history. He seemed to capture the essence of turn of the century New York. The detail is amazing for pictures taken over one hundred years ago. These photos definitely have historical significance.

TINA MODOTTI

I am still learning to appreciate art. It confuses me when I see a black and white photograph of half of a typewriter and it is supposed to be art. Why is a portion of a wooden staircase art? These were some of the pictures by Modotti. If I took a picture of half of a typewriter, I don’t think anyone would consider it art. In my opinion, just because they are old does not make them art. She was not one of my favorites, in case you couldn’t tell.

MANUEL ALVAREZ BRAVO

As I was flipping through the available photographs I was again thinking how mundane they were. I did not think that he had very much contrast. The pictures looked flat and unimpressive to me. Then, I came across the picture of the dead worker. It is amazing that blood can still appear crimson in a black and white picture. Maybe it is because you still know what it is and what color it is supposed to be. Anyway, the lack of color did not take away the gore. As gross as it is, it was the only shot that made me look twice.

ALVIN COBURN

These pictures are so old and do not appear to be as well preserved as some of the others. They also appear kind of grainy. That being said, they definitely do have historical relevance. I like the pictures of the buildings and places from the early nineteen hundreds. It is interesting to see what has changed and what has not. One thing that has definitely changed since these photographs were taken is camera and photography technology.

CLARENCE LAUGHLIN

I wonder if his name is real or if he got his sense of humor from his last name. I wonder, because I enjoyed his pictures as they made me laugh. He apparently saw the humor in everyday situations and photographed it. I personally did not notice any technical brilliance in the prints, but compositional speaking, I thought they were great.