The Genius Of Photography We Are Family Q and A

Q.1:  What kind of work did Diane Arbus Do?


Diane Arbus was a professional photographer born in New York in 1923.  She was known for taking black and white square photos of people. She is said to have been afraid that she would be known as the photographer of freaks and this phrase seemed to be used when talking about her work. This was due to her taking photos of outcasts, people with deformities, circus performers and people on the edge of society. She was keen for her photography to reveal the truth about people including their flaws.  This  gave her photos a psychological edge leaving viewers to look at her photos in a certain way. 

One of her most famous photos is entitled ‘The Boy with The Toy Hand Grenade’.  The photo consists of a young boy played by Colin Wood standing in Central Park New York holding a hand grenade in his right hand while holding a bizarre expression on his face.

The Boy With The Toy Hand Grenade 

Q.2 Do Photographers tend to prey on vulnerable people?



You can look at it at both ways. Photographers look for inspiration including from people who are marginalised or have a sad story to tell.  Vulnerable people often have a story to tell and very often that is what the photographer is trying to do.  There is concern about photographers who are taking photographs of people on the streets or who have been the victim of crime and disaster whose images are being used to sell papers.  It is important to think about whether the person or their family has given consent and whether the image is ethical.   In my opinion it depends on what the photographer is looking for and how they shoot it. 






Q.3:  What is Larry Clarke’s Tulsa Project About?

Larry Clarke’s Tulsa project was a book of photos published in 1971. The photos were of young people that Clarke associated with during his time in Tulsa. The title is a reference to Tulsa Oklahoma the place where Larry Clarke grew up. The photos go into great detail of Larry Clarke’s life growing up in this place especially his secret life of drugs sex and violence. He took shots of these personal private moments and made them public for everyone to see.

Larry Clarke 1971

Q.4 what is the title of Nan Goldin's most renowned work?

The title of Nan Goldin’s most renowned work is "The Ballad of Sexual Dependency" This depicts scenes of drug use, violence, abusive couples and scenes based on her own life.

Nan Goldin

 Q.5 what does Araki photograph and what is his philosophy?

Nobuyoshi Araki is a very prolific photographer.  He is well known for erotic photography some of which is regarded as pornographic. Some of his material has been banned and exhibitions closed.  He has published over 350 books;   He is obsessed with women and feels he talks about life through his photographs. This has included work involving his wife before and after her death.

Sentimental Journey

Q.6 what is Richard Billingham’s work about?

Richard Billingham’s photography is well known for his candid portrayal of life in his family -   In particular the shots involving his alcoholic dad Ray and tattooed crazed mum Liz.  Billingham experienced photography through painting when he took still photos of his father to paint portraits. He released a book entitled ‘Ray’s a Laugh’. The photos were taken during his time living with his family and took the form of a family album. Instead of getting a warm family feel that most family albums would have his book was quite different as it went the complete opposite and had a dark and depressing tone to the work Bellingham’s book was about his personal life, his bizarre life and odd family moments like his mother’s addiction to puzzles or his dad’s alcohol problems.  There is something quite sad and yet poignant about his work

Roy and Liz Richard's Parents 

Genius of Photography Snap Judgements

Q1: How many photos are taken a year?

It is believed that around 800 million photos are taken in a year.


Q2: How does Gregory Crewdson work?
Gregory Crewdson’s approaches photography in the similar way a film director does to a film. Crewdson hires production crews, scouts for shooting locations and actors. He goes to extreme lengths to find that perfect image. Quite unusual for a photographer he doesn’t take the photos himself hiring a camera operator instead. He is a very in demand popular figure and his work is believed to be worth $60,000 an image. He is known for creating pictures using every day household setting and placing models in unusual positions on the set that look away from the camera. This gives a surreal edge to his work.   

Example of Gregory Crewdson's work

Q3: What prints command the highest price and what are they called?
The prints that command the highest price are the one's made by the well known photographers themselves and as close to the time the photos were taken. These kinds of prints are sometimes referred to as vintage.


Q4:  Seydou Keita - What is different in his pictures in Africa compared to images you usually see?

Seydou Keita was a well-known African photographer in his day.  He was best known for taking good portrait photographs of people. He had his own props for people to work with including a variety of western props that could be used with models who were dressed in tradition African costumes,   His photography focused on the person and pose; he   made the people in the photos look at ease which made the photos stand out even more. The photos that Seydou Keita took gave a more positive image of Africa. This was shown by how happy the people in the photos look and this took away any negative views that are associated with third world countries.

Girls on Bike- Photo by Seydou Keita

   Q5:  How does Ben Lewis see Jeff Walls photography?
Jeff wall is a Canadian photographer known for producing big scale photos. Ben Lewis an art critic has stated that Wall’s photography style is important because he brought it back to the 19th century when painting was important and art is creative.  He compared his work to painting in the sense that everything on his photos look like it was made from scratch even the characters.  Lewis also stated that Wall’s puts a lot of debatable themes into his work like racial stereotypes and how people women and men look at one another.

Mimic By Jeff Wall

Q.6: How many photographs Andreas Gursky produces and what scale (size) are they?
Andreas Gursky, a German visual artist produces large photographs particularly large landscape colour photographs. Some of these are 6 x12 feet.  Gursky uses a large format camera which means that the negatives can be enlarged to make even bigger prints. It is difficult say how many photographs he has produced but art exhibitions have included up to 65 of his works. 

Andreas Gursky Photo

Ways Of Seeing By John Berger

Way Of Seeing 

Ways of seeing by John Berger

This was a BBC TV series of four 30 minute documentaries made in 1972. In them Berger is seeking to challenge the way that people think about and view art

The topics covered were old masters, the nude; oil paintings and photography. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ways_of_Seeing)

In the first episode of the series John Berger looks at how original pieces of European art 1400 to 1900 are being reproduced and the negative impact it has on the value of art.

Berger focuses on the impact of the camera which he describes as a "mechanical eye” on art and the impact it has had on mass reproductions. 

In the show Berger states that the "process of seeing a painting is dependent on habit and convention” so the context in which we view art work is important.  

Berger explains that original paintings can only appear in one place in one time and are often unique to the place where they were made or designed for. Historically paintings were vital to the place where they were made and they were used to represent moments in history.   He gives the example of church art which were meant to sit in churches,   over alters or as part of the inlay in arches of the church itself.   Many people would have traveled to see a piece of religious art in its natural environment - a church or a cathedral -   now with so many reproductions the art work is now coming to us  to be put up on living rooms and offices and we no longer go to see it.

He feels reproductions have distorted both the image and the experience of art.  Taking the image outside of the church means it loses its meaning   what you are seeing is an image not the painting.

Berger's view is that original art is silent and cannot be manipulated. When paintings are reproduced they become what Berger calls "transmittable” The reproduction is no longer a constant.  It is an image which is affected by what comes before it or what comes after it.
Paintings  can be tampered with as part of the reproduction  process for example the media will use parts of the portrait e.g. the head of a painting in order to  draw attention to it  or they may change the focus  of a painting in order to sell something . They are being used for financial gain where as hundreds of years ago they were made to be gazed upon by art lovers.

Reproductions demean and devalue the original Berger argues that art is becoming increasingly easy to manipulate. it is not just reproductions by camera that are a problem but also replicas.  He gives the example of  the  "virgin of the rocks"  by Leonardo di Vinci which 2 galleries claim they  have the original .  He also argues against the cash value that is given to some paintings that mean that they have to be kept away from public view or be seen behind bullet proof barriers.   

When you stare at a painting Berger feels you should be able to note its stillness and silent presence which to a viewer gives them an idea of what the painting means to them.  

When a camera zooms on to an image the value of this image is taken into account not the painting, likewise when sound is added the viewer’s mind will get distracted so the painting loses its original meaning. The same happens to a painting on film or television these types of media get different views across to people watching. The camera will zoom onto a certain part of a painting and illustrates a different point taking away from there original meaning. An image can mean different things to different people depending on what they see or where they see it.

He takes us through a number of experiments in the programme including one where he asks a group of children to describe a painting which is reproduction of a Caravaggio painting.  He can demonstrate how children relate to what they see to their own experience. For example   the children pick up some confusion about the sexuality of the principal figure without knowing anything about the painter who was homosexual.  

Berger accepts that reproductions can help reconnect people with their own experience with art.  Ironically he also points out that his show is distorting the images of the art work he has presented as part of the documentary.

This is a documentary that you have to watch a couple of times in my opinion to really get the points that Berger is trying to make.  It is effective in getting you to think about how images can be manipulated and how important it is to see original art work.

Compostion and Light

 

Pattern

Depth Of Field 

Color

Texture

Lines

The Lift Review By Mark Isaacs

The Lift is a short film shot at a tower block in London by filmmaker Mark Isaacs. Issacs himself films everything in the lift as residents of the block come in and out on a daily basic.

Isaacs way of giving the film life is by interacting with the residents as they enter the lift. Asking them questions Isaacs finds a way of getting into their head and we as the audience members learn much more about the people living in the tower block then we did at first glance.

Isaacs who sits in the lift hours on end day by day meets the same people on a number of occasions. They will enlighten one another and continue where they left off from their previous encounter, this gives the audience a continuous storyline and keeps them engage. 

The Lift keeps you guessing you don't know who's going to appear next and what sort of personality they hold. This documentary has it funny moments, it's scary moments and it's unexpected moments. In a way Mark Isaacs brings out the best in the residents and gives the audience at look at them behind closed doors.

Giant Coke Can - Impossible Photography

Coke Can

Buildings

Giant Coke Can

Photosprint/Photomarathon

Street Art 

Love is in the Air 

Halloween 

Dirty Old Town 

Street Style  

Photo Montage

Airbrush and Slimming

Before

After

Before

After 

Exposure = Aperture and Shutter Speed

Slow shutter Speed 

Planning Shot 

Fast Shutter Speed

Shallow Depth of Field 

Great Depth of Field

Photoshop Excerise

Before 

After 

Before

After

Before 

After

Cropping

Before : 

Change 1

Change 2 

Change 3

Before 

After