Project #1 - Inspiration from other photographers.
Renato D’Agostin, www.renatod‘agostin.com
I think that this photo is really interesting, and it reveals a lot about the person in it. Although it’s a very limited view - a leg and part of a street, I still think that it has a lot to say. I like the idea of taking close-ups of different body parts other than a traditional portrait of a face. We usually think of the face as being the most important part of a person, but I think it’s interesting to see what can be revealed about a person by leaving out their face and instead photographing another part of them.
Aaron Siskind, www.aaronsiskind.org
I mainly chose this photo because of its use of the different elements of design that we’ve worked with in class. This photo includes diagonal lines, horizontal lines, vertical lines, and curved lines, and I think that they all work together really well. Also, it is a close-up and it is obviously part of some bigger construction, but because this part is emphasized, the nature of the image changes and you notice things that you probably wouldn’t notice if the shot included more of the construction.
Bill Brandt, www.billbrandt.com
This image is another example of the use of various elements of design. I think that the most important element in this shot is the use of implied lines. Although the legs are very close to the camera and therefore take up a lot of space, what’s really in focus is the foot and the window that the foot is pointing to. The white legs almost work as a frame and what becomes important is the darker and more detailed background.
Robert Frank, http://www.atgetphotography.com/Photographers/Robert-Frank.html
I think that this photo is both beautiful and disturbing. Beautiful because of the aesthetics, disturbing because of the subject matter. I like the soft tones of the picture. The shallow depth of field as well as the white dress against the dark background really make the girl stand out. Even though the girl is looking in the direction of the camera, she doesn’t seem to acknowledge its presence, which I like.
Martin Parr, www.martinparr.com
This picture is really funny I think. It looks like a festive event such as a wedding, but it is not the traditional depiction of a wedding that you would expect. Again, the main focus is a close-up of a person where their face has been left out. The woman is dressed in a (too) tight dress and has a visible stain right down the middle of it. The woman in the back looks very tired and depressed. The reason why I think this picture is so funny is that it is so anti-climatic and it goes against what one would expect from of a picture from a wedding.
Arnold Newman, www.arnoldnewmanarchive.com
This is one of my all time favorite pictures, and Arnold Newman is one of my favorite portrait photographers. He has taken a series of photographs of various well-known people, but he always displays them in a way that we don’t normally see them. This is a picture of Marilyn Monroe taken in 1962 - the year she died. This portrait was originally cropped from a bigger picture, which was just a test shot. Newman was supposed to come back and take the real picture later. However, Marilyn Monroe died in the meantime, so Newman decided to use this photo for the portrait. Usually Marilyn Monroe is depicted as smiling, sexy, and glamorous, but in this picture she looks completely different. If it wasn’t for the characteristic mole on her cheek, it would be difficult to tell who this woman is. Like the previous example, this image challenges one’s expectations and I really like that in a photo.
