Inspiration from Master Photographers

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1 Inspiration from Master Photographers We wanted to provide inspiration and motivation by highlighting the creativity of some of the masters of photography. You will be given a quick introduction to their lives, their specific interests within photography and their contribution to the world of art photography. Ansel Adams Ansel Adams was born in 1902 and became best known for his black and white photographs of the northwest. Adams was born into a rich family but his father pulled him out of school at the age of 12 and pushed Adams to focus his efforts on Greek and piano playing. Adams took a great interest in the piano and went on to split his time between photography and piano. Adams was inspired to get into photography when he saw negatives of Paul Strands. In 1932 Ansel Adams along with other photographers formed the group f/64. The members of this photography group focused their efforts on achieving the greatest depth of field with the sharpest possible reproduction of details. The members of the group f/64 were obsessed with the precision that photography could achieve. In the early 40 s Adams created what is known as his zone system, which is a system that helps photographers determine the correct exposure and a desired development time to help optimize for the most ideal gradation of gray values. More specifically the zone system is a technique which allows photographers to translate light into specific densities and negatives which gives the photographer much more control over the look of their final product. Adams gained exposure by touring with his photographic works, giving seminars and publishing books. In 1946 he founded the Department of Photography at the California School of Fine Arts. Adams spent a considerable amount of time in National Parks. He published 24 books on the parks, which he used to help generate public interest in the parks. Below we ve posted a handful of black and white photographs created by Adams. Notice the precision with his focused depth of field. Also notice his interest in texture and providing a broad tonal range (white to black). For those interested in black and white photography studying Ansel Adams in more depth will serve to better you substantially as a black and white photographer. We dedicate an entire lesson to the betterment of your black and white photography, but until then you can admire the works of Ansel Adams below. These photographs are also worth re- visiting after you complete the lesson on black and white photography. You ll see the pictures in a new light once you understand the foundation and complexities of black and white photography.

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4 Brassai Gyula Halasz, better known by his pseudonym Brassai (derived from de brasso, his place of birth located now in Romania) was self educated in photography. He went to Paris in 1924 to become a Journalist. He loved the city of Paris and needed to learn French. He learned French by reading many French books. During this time he also became friends with many intellectuals and artists, many of whom would continue on to become some of the world ś most prominent artistic figures such as Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse to name a few. During these years he would spend quite a bit of time wandering the streets of Paris taking pictures of the night scene. He would take pictures of both people and deserted streets and squares. The photographs he took during this period were published in his world famous book Paris de Nuit. Apart from the almost surreal backdrops he used in his photography (thanks in great part to the breathtaking architecture of Paris), his work was also celebrated for its technical achievements and breakthroughs. As you will soon find out in future lessons, night photography is no easy task. It poses certain technical challenges that many photographers seek to avoid. Many art fanatics and passive art spectators admire Brassai s work for his characters. Brassai was fascinated with how society amused itself at night and loved to photograph the interesting characters that came out during this time. However, he was also interested in Paris high society spending much of his efforts photographing ballets, operas and portraits of intellectuals. The result is an eclectic portfolio of some of society s most marginalized characters and wealthiest individuals. Below are a handful of Brassai s works of photographic art. While these photographs alone do not encapsulate the range of skill that Brassai possessed, they are meant to show you a specific style of photography and introduce to you the specific interest of this photographer.

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7 Robert Capa Robert Capa was born Andre Friedmann and studied political science at the University of Berlin from 1931 to He was also a self taught Photographer. In he worked as a Photography Assistant at a news agency. In 1933 he immigrated to Paris (due to the rise of Nazism in his homeland) and changed his name to Robert Capa and began work as a Freelance Photographer. He took photographs of the Spanish Civil War, which drew large amounts of attention to his name in Paris. His first series included a photograph called Death of a Spanish Loyalist which can be seen below. This photograph is his most famous photograph and is in fact a photograph of a man being shot and falling to his death. The photograph of this man ś death has been confirmed by his government and the name of the man has been identified. From this point on he travelled to China, Italy, France, Germany and Israel. He photographed 5 major wars: The Spanish Civil War, Second Sino- Japanese War, World War II, the 1948 Arab- Israel War and the first Indo China War. Some of his most famous work came out of World War II. Following is an amazing and true story. Robert Capa was aboard a ship with Troops as they washed ashore for the first assault on D- Day, June 6th He was prepared with two cameras and a lot of film. He took 108 pictures within the first couple of hours of the invasion. Robert made it out of this situation alive and ensured his film made it to the darkroom of Life Magazine. At this point one of the lab technicians made the mistake of setting the dryer too high which in turn ruined the pictures. Only 8 frames in total were salvaged (a couple of which can be seen below). When Life Magazine printed the photographs in their publication they contained captions which included language such as slightly out of focus they claimed which was due in large part to Capa s stress and excitement for being on this particular D- Day battlefield. Capa denied the statement and claims that the pictures were ruined in the darkroom, not by his shaky hands. In fact, Capa s humour shines through when he publishes his autobiographical account of the war, which he titles Slightly Out of Focus. In May of 1954 he was fatally injured in Thai- Binh, Vietnam. His death was a tragic consequence of his motto if your pictures aren t good enough, you re not close enough. He gained great admiration because he could portray strong human emotion and reality in his war photographs. Capa s photos explore the intersection of where the human spirit seeks to live and at the same time walks into self destruction. His work served as a manifesto against war, against injustice and against oppression.

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9 Ed Van Der Elsken Ed Van Der Elsken studied art in his hometown. He later moved to Paris to work as a Freelance Photographer and to work as a correspondent for a Dutch newspaper. He later took a trip around the world and took many awe inspiring socio- political photographs. At first he worked only in black and white but later took up colour. He shot a photographic series on Jazz between and did not use flash illumination because he wanted to preserve the atmosphere and emotions of the movement of natural light conditions. Elsken published Sweet Life in 1963 along with numerous photographic books about Amsterdam, Japan and China. Elsken expressed the drama of social injustice through photography. You will see the power in his photographic work through a small selection of photographs below. He was most interested in the people left to the margins of society. He wanted to capture the realities of the everyday struggles of people. You can see it in the expression of the face of the Chinese girl carrying the bucket below. As you can see, his black and white photography has great composition and a unique atmospheric element to it. His shots are misty and mysterious. His photographs aim to educate and teach us about social injustice (notice the South African apartheid picture below).

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12 Floria Sigismondi Floria Sigismondi was born in 1965 in Italy. She has gained international fame for her work as a Photographer and Director. She has been hired to work for many famous musicians to help create award winning music videos. She has directed videos with Christina Aguilera, The White Stripes, David Bowie, Sigur Rós, Sheryl Crow, Björk, Amon Tobin, Marilyn Manson and Incubus to name only a few. The work she has done on these videos has gained her international recognition and she has recently won awards for her creative vision including such awards as a 2004 Juno Award for Best Music Video, for "Fighter" (Christina Aguilera). Also a 2003 MTV European Award for Best International Video Award, for Untitled (Sigur Rós). She has also received the 1999 German Kodak Photobook Award, for her book Redemption. Again these are only a few of the many awards she has won over the years. Her work is often very dark and disturbing. She herself describes her subjects as "entropic underworlds inhabited by tortured souls and omnipotent beings. It is this style, which has gained her a spot on the international arts stage. Take a look at her photographs below to see her work.

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