The Genius Of Photography – Part 5

The Genius Of Photography – Part 5

Who said “The camera gave me the license to strip away what you want people to know bout you, to reveal what you can’t help people knowing about you” and when was it said?

Diane Arbus in the 1960’s . She was outspoken about the cameras ability to exploit and steal other peoples lives and faces. She tried to be good, but was drawn by society to the marginal characters. She referred to them as freaks, people in her estimation that already passed their test in life.

Do photographers tend to prey on vulnerable people?

Yes they do, especially with public demand to know about celebrities and the vulnerable. It is kind of human nature. We may ask does the person behind the camera feel compassion for the subject or are they driven by hunger.

Who is Colin Wood?

Colin Wood was a young 7-year-old boy when Arbus took his photograph in Central Park holding a toy grenade. It was the era when America was embroiled in the Vietnam War and crazed violence. Colin Wood had just experienced his parent’s divorce and it captured an emotional time in his life.

Why do you think Diane Arbus committed suicide?

Why would anyone? However, Arbus had some personal challenges. Whilst professionally thriving. Her marriage ended in 1969 and was a sufferer of Depression

Why and how did Larry Clark shoot “Tulsa”?

Larry Clark first published his book titled “Tulsa” in 1971. It was an era of Sex, drugs and Violence. It was his life and it became a personal confession, which he wrote as a diary. The book was seen as an impolite genre and confessional photography.

Try to explain the concept of “confessional photography” and what is the “Impolite genre”?

It is about real life, very intimate and personal. They may be scenes that offend and that people may not want to see, however there are always people that will want to see and know about. Impolite genre is rude, subjective and descriptive. Some may feel uncomfortable at looking at them, they can be shocking and sometimes quite disturbing.

What will Araki not photograph and Why?

Araki will not shoot anything he does not want to remember. He sees photography as his medium for memory and focuses on that. He says, “ If you don’t shoot photography, you don’t really remember much, so having these photos helps me to remember”. His most precious are “Sentimental journey” and “Honeymoon with Yoko” are about his life with his beloved wife who has since died. They captured her dying and after she had died as well as their honeymoon.

What is the premise of postmodernism?

We are in a world of multi media and saturated with media imagery and media models of how people are living, that we are what we see in the media and portrayed as such. There seems to be no individualism in this postmodernists world

The Genius Of Photography – Part 4

The Genius Of Photography – Part 4

Why did Garry Winogrand take photographs?

To see what the World looked liked Photographed.

He had a sense of whit and Irony that was quite wicked, which was displayed through his photographs.

Why did “Citizens evolve from blurs to solid flesh’?

When technology changed, so the camera became more sophisticated. High Shutter Speeds enable people to be frozen in movement instead of being blurs.  Early street photography was posed.

What was / is the “much misunderstood theory”?

“The decisive moment” coined by Henri Cartier Bresson

Who was the godfather of street photography in the USA?

Garry Winogrand was the pack leader, “The God Father” of street photography in the USA. Driven, obsessed and had a great spirit. He had an energy where things responded to his energy. Things always happened when he was around.

Who was Paul Martin and what did he do?

A Victorian Photographer, in 1896 he shot Great Yarmouth using a camera disguised as a parcel in a brown paper bag. He photographed the magic of the beach at work. It was a Victorian population and beach scene

Who said “ when I growing up, photographers were either nerds or pornographers”?

Ed Ruscha

Why does William Eggleston photograph in colour?

Eggleston photographs in colour, as colour is more dominant. Colour could twist the whole content of the image and Colour can influence the composition. He assumed that colour was realistic, authentic and a significant role in the photograph.

What is William Eggleston about?

 He was “At war with the obvious”.  His images are democratic pictures. He is about photographing Life today!

The Genius Of Photography – Part 3

The Genius Of Photography – Part 3

What is described as one of the most familiar concepts in photography?

The Decisive moment Henri Cartier Bresson, photographed in 1933, showed a man jumping a puddle, with his reflection. It was taken at a time of European society leaping into the unknown with the advent of World War 2.  For a photographer, it is being in the right place at the right time. Capturing the fraction of a second at the right time. Being able to see the possibilities of what is going to happen.

Should you trust a photograph?

No. It is a moment that is captured not the full story. Manipulation can take place and with some setting up it can appear completely different from the truth.

What was revolutionary about the Leica in 1925?

The Leica was compact, quiet, instant and with the latest lens technology.it enabled the photographer to watch the world while taking the image as the view window is on the left. It was portable and flexible to use as it did not require the use of a tripod.

What did George Bernard Shaw say about all the paintings of Christ?

He believed that taking photographs is like capturing reality. He said” I would exchange all the paintings of Christ for one snapshot”

Why were Tony Vaccaros’ negatives destroyed by the army censors?

Tony Vaccaro was a soldier and photographer for the army. Vaccaros’ images contained scenes of dead GI’s. They were the decisive moment but not acceptable in their time. Vaccaro developed his images on the battlefield. He thought about photography not about survival. Unfortunately, the film was destroyed by the army censors.

Who was Henryk Ross and what was his job?

He was a Polish Jew  and  a photographer, who spent time in the Jewish Ghetto, Lodz. He was risked everything to document the Nazi war crimes along side his job employed by the department of statistics. He was a proper gander photographer. He produced ID cards and worked in a graphic department that promoted goods made in the ghetto. He kept a record of what life was like in the Ghetto.

Which show was a “Sticking Plaster for the wounds of war”’ how many people saw it and what cliché did it end on?

“Family of Man” held in New York in1955. It was an exhibition of a public statement on behalf of humanity. With over 500 images, representing 68 countries, from 273 photographers, both professional and amateur. It netted 9 million viewings by 1964. It offered a selection of photographs of human life. Eugene Smith’s photograph of his own children walking in his garden out into the light was a cliché about them beginning their sentimental journey through life was the final photograph that closed the exhibition. The exhibition toured the world and was photography’s biggest moment.

Why did Joel Meyerowitz photograph Ground zero in colour?

He photographed Ground Zero in colour as to photograph in black and white would be to keep it as a tragedy. He spent around 8 months taking his images.

The Genius Of Photography – Part 2

The Genius Of Photography – Part 2

What are typologies?

Typologies are a comparison of images that are similar. They are documented and are always ongoing as things are constantly changing. Typologies discipline unruly tendencies, just the facts and nothing else.

What was The Face of the Times?

A human Typology created by August Sander. His typologies use a system of 7 categories based on social types. Breaking down then into communities and workplaces, in their pecking order.

Which Magazine did Rodchenko design?

USSR in construction

What is a Photo Montage?

A graphic technique that uses different Images assembled together by cutting and pasting and retouching

Why did Eugene Atget use albumen prints in the 1920’s?

Although this method was outdated, Albumen prints were created in 1851, and although this method was outdated Eugene did not know how to do any other method than this. He could process them using sunlight. People tried to get him to use other methods, however he refused, as this is the only way he knew.

What is solarisation and How was it discovered?

Man ray first discovered Solarisation by accident although it was first reported in the 1840’s. it is exposing a print or negative to light. It is reversed in tone and metallic, quite robotic looking.

What was the relationship between Bernice Abbott and Eugene Atget?

Abbott was Man Ray’s assistant and took Atget’s portrait in 1927, she also bought a collection of his images, around 5000 and took them with her to America which had an influence on American photographers. Walker Evans was one of these.

 

Berenice Abbott

Why was Walker Evans Fired from the FSA?

Evans was a proper gander photographer for the FSA. Because he could not conform to the proper gander requirements of the FSA he was fired in 1937.  His understanding of Documentary photography was complex. He wanted to make the point that it was fact, but it was not objective. He rearranged scenes that crossed the lines from document into art. He could not make the conform to the requirements of proper gander by the FSA, although he remolded reality to fit his personal visual.