Helmar Lerski (1871-1956), born in Alsace (a then German city of Strausburg). His family moved in 1888 to Zurich, SwitzerlandHe moved to New York in 1896 to become an actor. He worked at a couple theaters; the Irving Place Theater and the German Pabst theater. The theater is where he discovered the posibilities of lighting. He started doing photography (1910) after he meet his first wife who was also a photographer. He latered returned to Europe and worked as a cameraman for special effects for many films. In the 1920's is when he was noticed for his portraits. He mostly took portraits and utilized his expertise and skill in using mirrors. Many of the subjects he photographed were beggars, labourers and people found in welfare.
I love how he gets the light to pick up on every little line, scar and freckel. The shadows that are casted are amazing. Some of the photos almost don't look real or like a wax sculpture in a museum.
August Sander (1876 –1964) was a German portrait and documentary photographer who has been described as "the most important German portrait photographer of the early twentieth century." In the early 1920s, Sander began a project documenting contemporary society in a portrait series. His work, Face of our Time was published in 1929.
Sander’s work and personal life were impacted by the Nazis. “His son Erich, who was a member of the left wing Socialist Workers' Party (SAP), was arrested in 1934 and sentenced to 10 years in prison, where he died in 1944, shortly before the end of his sentence. Sander's book Face of our Time was seized in 1936 and the photographic plates destroyed. Around 1942, during World War II, he left Cologne and moved to a rural area, allowing him to save most of his negatives. His studio was destroyed in a 1944 bombing raid.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Sander) Something that I find fascinating about Sander’s work is his categorization of his portrait subjects by profession or social class.
“Sander believed that society was organized into a hierarchy of occupations. One section of his project is dedicated to the skilled tradesman, including master craftsmen, industrialists, technicians, and inventors. Subjects associated with intellectual or "white-collar" labor were usually photographed indoors in three-quarter-length poses, while master craftsmen were portrayed in their working environment with the tools of their trades. Portrayed as he emerges from the dark basement of a building, the coal carrier in the image above belongs to the lower ranks of labor and is symbolically associated with the bowels of German society.” (http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/sander/)
Ansel Adams, famous photographer and environmentalist, was born into a wealthy family in San Francisco, California. Adams was shy and socially awkward. He never really fit in at school and spent much of his time alone. This solitude enabled him find joy in nature. He spent nearly every day hiking around the Golden Gate area.
“If Adams's love of nature was nurtured in the Golden Gate, his life was, in his words, "colored and modulated by the great earth gesture" of the Yosemite Sierra (Adams, Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, p. xiv). He spent substantial time there every year from 1916 until his death. From his first visit, Adams was transfixed and transformed. He began using the Kodak No. 1 Box Brownie his parents had given him. He hiked, climbed, and explored, gaining self-esteem and self-confidence. In 1919 he joined the Sierra Club and spent the first of four summers in Yosemite Valley, as ‘keeper’ of the club's LeConte Memorial Lodge.” (http://www.anseladams.com/)
Although Adams became famous in the 1930s, he struggled financially. He turned to commercial photography and was quite skilled, but the work was not steady and his financial situation remained difficult until late in his life.
Here are a few very different examples of Adams’ wide range of nature photographs:
I appreciate Ansel Adams’ art, but I also respect his lifelong activism for the cause of wilderness and the environment. The stark beauty of Adams’ iconic black and white photographs have become symbols of America’s wilderness. His work even helped persuade President Franklin Roosevelt to establish the King's Canyon National Park. In 1980 Adams was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his efforts to preserve America’s scenic places.
Henry Peach Robinson (1820 – 1901) was a pioneer of pictorialist photography and was considered one of the greatest photographers of his time. He was primarily known for his combination printing and was very influential until Peter Henry Emerson introduced naturalistic photography.
Robinson started out as a painter, but was introduced to photography in 1850 and decided to become a professional portrait photographer a few years later. Vignetting prints was his novelty. Here are some interesting examples of his portraiture using this technique:
Fading Away (1858) is one of his most famous compositions.
Fading Away is a composition of five negatives, in which he depicts a girl dying of consumption (tuberculosis), and the despair of the other members of the family. This was a controversial photograph, and some felt that the subject was not suitable for photography. One critic said that Robinson had cashed in on "the most painful sentiments which it is the lot of human beings to experience." It would seem that it was perfectly in order for painters to paint pictures on such themes, but not for photographers to do so.
However, the picture captured the imagination of Prince Albert, who bought a copy and issued an order for every composite portrait Robinson produced subsequently. Fading Away is a composition of five negatives. If one examines a large copy of a print closely one can see the "joins", particularly the triangle of grey with no detail in it. One has to remember, of course, that these were contact prints - there were no means of enlarging at that time. (http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/history/robinson.htm)
Another famous Robinson picture is When the Day’s Work is Done, an albumen print from six negatives. When the Day’s Work is Done
I like Robinson’s aesthetic because he approached photography like an artist might approach a painting, choosing simple objects or scenes, then capturing them in a way that turned ordinary subjects into artistic works.
Andre Adophe was a famous photographer from the 1800's. He was born on March 28th 1819 in France. He studied art as a young child and led his life as a commerce,acting and politics. He becam even more famous when he took a picture of Napoleon III, that is called "Carte de visite" which was taken in 1859. He began his photographic career in eithier 1848 0r 1849 as a daguerreotypist (modern science) in Brest, France where his wife was born. In 1843, he married Genevieve Elisabeth Disderi, she was a photagrapher as well and became Adolphe's partener in the business he was running in 1848 or 49. In 1852, Disderi relocated to Paris, France so he can get better opprotunities, which he did. He met up with a named Joseph Dioss, which allowed him to have access with swome of the most famous,wealthy people in Paris,France. Disderi achieved being famous and wealthy, but died in poverty by the end of his life.
This is a famous picture that Andre Adolphe took and is credited for.
Napolean III. 1859
Here are some more picture that Adophe Andre took that I liked:
Minor Martin White was born in Minneapolis, MN in 1908. After getting his Bachelors in Botany with a minor in English he moved to Portland and this is where his photography career really took off. During World War II he served in the military intelligence and afterwards moved to New York City where he studied at Columbia University under Meyer Schapiro. He began to work closely with a group of photographers such as, Ansel Adams and Alfred Stieglitz. White was very interested in the types and forms of emotions that were created when someone looks at a photograph. That is why he was very critical of his own work and very particular in its appearance.
One of the most interesting qualities of his photographs, are
his subject matters. He photographs things that to many people may seem mundane or "usual," but it is the way he portrays these images and the emotions they encompass. This is why I was drawn to his work, this is the type of photography I love, pictures of nothing, but the photographer found a way to make them look beautiful, a rare talent.
Photographed below left is one of White's most famous works, called Frost. It is simply a photograph of a frosted window pane, but White used angles and light to make it look like a work of art.
George Eastman is one of the greatest inventers of all time. His life wasn't easy, but still through all the struggles he went through in his life time, he still managed to be successful.
Eastman was born in the village of Waterville, New York. He was born into a family of three kids and a loving mother and father. But all of Eastmans struggle in life started when his father died. Eastman was only able to go to school until he was 14 years old, he was forced to dropo out of high school and finf employement to meet his family needs. Eastman found a job as a meesenger boy with an insurance firm that paid him only 3 dollars a week. A year later he found another job that increased his pay by 5 dollars a week by beconming a office boy, he took charge of policy filling and even wrote policies.
But even with 5 dollars a week wasn't enough to support his family, so he studied at home in the evenings for acountings. Five years after serving insurance businesses, he finally got a job at a savings bank as a junior clerk. His income tripled to more than 15 dollars a week.
Eastman's interest to photographs did not start until he bought a photographic outfit with all the tools that come with it. From there he spent his whole nights after work experimenting in his mother's kitchen. His mother said that some nights he would be so tired that he couldn't undress and would fall asleep on the floor, but slept on a blaket beside the kitchen stove.
After spending three years of experimenting he finally found a formula that worked! Eastman knew the importance of advertising his product, so he made posters and catch phrases such as "Kodak" or "You press the button, we do the rest." The word "Kodak" was invented out of thin air by Eastman himself, he simply like the letter "K" and want the word to end with a "K" so Kodak was what he came up with. Soon after he advertized his product, he become oe of the richest man in the U.S, with an increase income by 60 dollars a week compared to 3 dollars a week when he first started working at the age of 14 years old.
Eastman died at the age of 77 years old on March 14,1932. He died by his own with no childeren and no wife. Eastman is not only known for his invetion but how kind he is to spend his fortune to the public people.
The Camera Club of New York (CCNY) was founded in 1884 by many "well-to-do gentlemen" of the time. Since then the club has become extremely open-minded in its acceptance of women (the first woman member accepted in 1887) and its ideas about what photography is.
Today the CCNY offers lectures, classes, private lessons, exhibitions, and internships and residency opportunities for students. The facility itself is open 24/7 everyday of the year and its amenities include; a black and white darkroom, a color darkroom, a fully equipped shooting studio, a color viewing area with balanced lighting, computers, scanners, and much more speciality equipment as well as a gallery for displaying photographs.
Let's just say if I lived in New York City , I would be here all the time. This looks amazing!!!
One thing that the CCNY has prided itself on is that the place is seen as an on-going forum for photography, new ideas, old ideas, and in-between ideas, all come together and create an apex of photography knowledge and a comfortable environment for it all to thrive.
*all photos from the official CCNY website, to check out the website on your own click here.
Bromoil Print also known as "muck spreading." This process was started in 1907 by a man named E.J. Wall, this process was based on the fact that water and oil do not mix. When making an image and once its enlarged it was bleached in a chemical that is called, potassium bichromate which caused all the black silver to be removed. Which left it in a condition that was easy to spread different types and colors of grease to form pigment in the photo (with special brushes.) This new form replaced what is called gum bichromate. which was invented a decade before the new process.
Im guessing that this process is a long on at that. I looked up the steps and there is 24 different steps that you need to do to be able to accomplish this type of print! If you want to try and make this print, click here for all steps. The pictures look kinda cool. I think it varies on the type of color of grease you use. Some of them are nice because its like they come with a natural sepia tone or black and white to them and no editing is needed.
here is a lady doing the process.... kinda interesting to see the picture just slowly come to life....
CHARLES DARWIN- Expressions of emotion in man and animals:
Charles Dawin, as we all know- has done a variety of studies at the Galapogus Islands studying evolution of animals. What you may have not known though, is that Charles Darwin wrote a book called, The Expression of the Emotion in Man and Animals. The book itself is basically about the behavior of various animals: chimps, kitty cats, humans, and various other animals. The cool part about it though, is that pictures followed with it all!
YELLOWSTONE
Yellowstone, located in Montana, has been photographed repeatedly throughout history. If you haven't been there, I suggest you visit! Its a really cool place- which also for an added bonus has some really neat spots you can photograph!
Anyways, I googled it, and found some really cool images- ENJOY!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Web Work #5 - Barbara Morgan... Photographer & Painter.
Since very soon we will be tackling our Fast-Slow projects, I thought I would share a bit about an amazing woman who was very good at capturing images of dancers in movement, but doing it in such a way so we are able to see the image clearly - for a lack of a better word - Frozen. (Which is how I will feel if we get anymore snow :)
Barbara Morgan was born in Buffalo, Kansas in 1900... Died in 1992. She lived in both California and New York. Married Willard Morgan ( writer/photographer), met Ed Weston (photographer) which after seeing his work - she realized the value/potential of Photography as Modern Art.
She probably best know for her...Light drawings, photo montage and dance photography. These themes are shown throughout her work which was based on movement and living energy.
A Quote and an image for you to enjoy - "Previsualizing is the first essential of dance photography. The ecstatic gesture happens swiftly and is gone; unless the photographer previsions in order to fuse dance action, light and space simultaneously, there can be no significant dance picture."
I love these pictures (above and below) - the detail is amazing - she most likely used the fastest shutter speed her camera had. The model must have been really moving to get that large dress flowing so smoothly. I bet she had to "previsualizing" a lot - it must have taken many rolls of film to capture these images correctly. But so worth it, truly amazing images.
Barbara Morgan has a great history - she received art training at UCLA (1919-23), Joined the UCLA Faculty in 1925, was an advocate for modern art - when many others veered toward a more traditional approach to art. Assisted her husband in photographing modern architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright and Richard Neutra. In the beginning she just thought Photography was only useful as a record, not as an art and Lucky for Us...When she helped Weston set up for a showing, she realized that photography is an Art.
Just a few things that Barbara Achieved.
1941 Awarded American Institute of Graphic Arts Trade Book Clinic Award. 1945 Solo Exhibition Modern American Dance, Museum of Modern Art, NY. 1959 Art archaeological trip to Crete, Greece, Spain, Italy, France and England. 1972 Solo Photography Show, Museum of Modern Art, NY. 1978 Included in a book and exhibit, Recollections: Ten Women of Photography. 1988 Awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by American Society of Magazine Photographers. 1968-88 Prepared major exhibitions and delivered numerous lectures and seminars.
Barbara also did Light Drawing and Photo Montage, here a few examples of that..
She described herself as a “kinetic light sculptor,” creating light drawings with an open shuttered camera in her darkened studio.
This is a video of Lois Greenfield images -Couldn't find a good one on Barbara Morgan but this one show excellent examples of capturing movement in dance.
I think Barbara would have enjoyed this type of Light Sculpting. Very similar to what she was doing but in video format.
Anna Atkins maiden name was Anna Children. She was born March 16th, 1799. Her mother died shortly after the birth of Anna. In 1800 from giving birth to Anna, her mother had passed away from birthing complications. Anna became very close with her father who was a scientist. Anna married in 1825 to her husband John Pelly Atkins. When they move to Halstead Place in Sevenoaks, Anna became interested in botany. The first thing she started with was collecting dry plants. Anna used Cyanotype to make her photos.
Anna got her first camera in 1841. There are two people that may be the first female photographer. Anna is one of them and the other is Constance Talbot. Unfortunately, no one will ever know who really the first was, because no photographs survived to prove. Anna was the first to publish and illustrate a book made of photographic images. There were three volumes of her book titled “Photographs of British Alge: Cyanotype Impressions.” Her books were released from 1843-1853. There were only 17 known copies of the book. Later on Anna did make 8 other books with a friend by the name of Anne Dixon. Anna Atkins later died in 1871 of “paralysis, rheumatism, and exhaustion.” Anna was 72 years old when she died. I found Anna Atkins work really interesting. I like how she may have been one of the “first” female photographers. I would enjoy finding one of her books and looking at all the photographs she has in them. I read that since her books are so rare that they are very expensive.
I have attatched a link where I found impages from Anna's books.
Now usually i would start out with part A but i'm going to start with part B simply because its suuuper cool. This guy is a blind photographer that uses sound to help him visualize what he's photographing and was recently sponsored by a well known art company called "Artists Wanted" This got him a lot of attention and several galleries.
Doris Ulmann was definitely beyond her time era as a woman in the early 1900's. She was a native to new york city and became very independent as an artist and a person. She was most famous for her portraits in the Appalachians. She did a very good job documenting the life of the poor and african american culture in the early 1900's. I couldn't imagine how much ridicule she must've gotten for the following reasons, she was an independent working woman and she was spending a lot of time with african americans which was not acceptable back then. She is still known as one of the best american photographers thus far.
One of the most intriguing types of printing process out there is the Platinum print. This process is named after the platinum compound that is used to develop the print. The platinum compound gives the finished photo a longer overall lifespan as writer Tim Gray states "In the larger scheme of things the difference between 100 years or more for an inkjet (some archival BW inkjet prints are pressing towards several hundred years) and 500 or more for a platinum print..." While this longevity is a pretty amazing aspect, photographers have to pay through the nose to print like this. The average estimated cost of a 8x10 platinum print is $6-8. That is almost 12 times as expensive as a normal silver print. However platinum prints also have a high dynamic range and, as many photographers and art collectors find, attractive aesthetics. The tonal range of platinum printing are rich and full with a subdued feel to them which also makes them attractive in the eyes of collectors.
If you are interested in making a career out of platinum printing look no further than the infamous writer and photographer V. Tony Hauser author of Facing Artists and Stage Presence. These last three videos are some of his tips, tricks and experiences for successful Platinum Printing.
Jacques Henri Lartigue was a French photographer and painter born in 1894 and died in 1986. He started photography at the young age of 7 and his passion kept growing till the end. Lartigue was best known for taking pictures at automobile races, sporting events, and of fashionable women. His work was shown in several magazines and in 1974 he won the award at the Musee des Arts Decpratifs. A fun fact is that two of Lartigue's works were referenced in Wes Anderson's films: Rushmore and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
The french Salon is a particular period and event that began in 1725. Between 1748 through the 1890's the french salon was one of the greatest annual art exhibitaion event in the Western world.The salon was held at the Palace of the Louvre in 1725, when it became kown as the French Salon, or the Salon de Paris. By 1748 a jury was introduced to judge the artists work and award it's members. The salon also exhibited paintings in every square inch available, from floor to ceiling.One of the biggest problems that the french salon had was that it was not an easy place to exhibite painters art work. The juries would usually reject or place the painters art work at a poorly place if the painting was accepted. Finally, in 1863 Napleon III has began his own exhibite of paintings that the salon has rejected that year. Between 1840's to the 1900's, the french salon was also a place where the yearly exhibitation was "poked fun of. " Because of the salon's wierd displays of paintings and scupltures. Honore Daumier, was one of the biggest names in the French Salon because he did painting,sculptures and self importance displays that were rather humerouse to some people.
This one of Honore Daumier's most famous drawings that was displaced in the French salon in 1864.
-Pictorialism is images that are altered by hand scratching or brushing the negatives to soften or blur certain parts of the photograph during the printing process. -People that used this process were called Pictorialists, and they sought to differentiate their work from amateur photographers. * They also used combination printing (multiple negatives), soft focus on their camera, and gum bichromate. - Gum bichromate greatly lessened the detail and produced more of an artistic image.
August Sander (1876 –1964) was a German portrait and documentary photographer who has been described as "the most important German portrait photographer of the early twentieth century." In the early 1920s, Sander began a project documenting contemporary society in a portrait series. His work, 
