Power of Photojournalism 1/2

I understand this isn't about the photographic trends but it explores documentary photojournalism. It explains the different images such as portraiture, sport, news and to in depth picture stories. This video also displays work from the winners from the 66th Pictures of the Year International. If this is what your interested in doing after study then this is an excellent video to watch.

Wedding Photojournalism

This is a bit late but I'm looking at the style of wedding photography that we're seeing more and more of these days. It's unposed, natural and candid with a photojournalistic quality to the images. Photographers such as Dan O'day, Jonas Peterson and Feather and Stone work with this style extensively and it seems couples are more and more after this kind of work.

Berenice Abbott

Paraphrased from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berenice_Abbott

Bernice Abbott, was an American photographer best known for her black-and-white photography of New York City architecture and urban design of the 1930s. -

Abbott went to Europe in 1921, to peruse her fine arts training in sculpture. In 1923, when Man Ray, looking for somebody who knew nothing about photography and thus would do as he said, hired her as a darkroom assistant at his portrait studio in Montparnasse. Ray was impressed by her darkroom work and allowed her to use his studio to take her own photographs. In 1926, she had her first solo exhibition (in the gallery "Au Sacre du Printemps") and started her own studio on the rue du Bac. After a short time studying photography in Berlin, she returned to Paris in 1927 and started a second studio, on the rue Servandoni.

Her initial works were portraits of people in the artistic and literary worlds eg. including French nationals (Jean Cocteau), expatriates (James Joyce)

In 1925, Man Ray introduced her to Eugène Atget's photographs. She became a great admirer of Atget's work, and managed to persuade him to sit for a portrait in 1927. Abbot & Atgets lives became intertwined, the story of which is outlined in the documentary- New York & Paris; The world of Abbot & Atget , an excerpt from which is below.

Influenced by Atget's photographs cataloguing the changes in Paris, Abbot embarked on a project to do similarly in New York City

"In early 1929, Abbott visited New York City ostensibly to find an American publisher for Atget's photographs. Upon seeing the city again, however, Abbott immediately saw its photographic potential. Accordingly, she went back to Paris, closed up her studio, and returned to New York in September. Her first photographs of the city were taken with a hand-held Kurt-Bentzin camera, but soon she acquired a Century Universal camera which produced 8 x 10 inch negatives.[13] Using this large format camera, Abbott photographed New York City with the diligence and attention to detail she had so admired in Eugène Atget. Her work has provided a historical chronicle of many now-destroyed buildings and neighborhoods of Manhattan. - wikipedia"

Pennsylvania Station

Detail of Manhattan Bridge (1936)

Flatiron Building (1938)

"Abbott was part of the straight photography movement, which stressed the importance of photographs being unmanipulated in both subject matter and developing processes. She also disliked the work of pictorialists such as Alfred Stieglitz, who had gained much popularity during a substantial span of her own career, and therefore left her work without support from this particular school of photographers.
Throughout her career, Abbott's photography was very much a display of the rise in development in technology and society. Her works documented and praised the New York landscape. This was all guided by her belief that a modern day invention such as the camera deserved to document the 20th century - wikipedia"

Twilight

In looking at contemporary digital architectural photography what differs from earlier film photography is the ability to shoot in lower light, typically around twilight. The move to digital photography brought with it an escape from the constraints of fixed and comparatively low ISO that happened film photography. This ability to shoot in low light means less dependance on sunlight, a hazard when shooting any reflective surface outdoors. No longer was glare, flare and specular highlighting a problem as photographers were now able to shoot well past the point the sun would cause such problems. It also meant that the artificial and controlled light sources of the building or introduced light sources could be used to highlight details and key features, giving them the attention they deserve and that may have been lost when shooting in daylight. Combined with the developments of digital HDR photography, these new techniques allow architectural photographers to extract details from within shadows.

A prominent australian architectural photographer who readily shoots in the near-dark to great effect is John Gollings

via - http://www.360degreefilms.com.au/eye-for-architecture

Albury Library Museum (VIC) by ARM, Photographer: John Gollings via http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/australian_architecture_award_winners_announced/

Melbourne Theatre Company by ARM. Photo by John Gollings - via http://gasket-gallery.com/artist-profile-john-gollings/

There is a great documentary about John called 'Eye for Architecture' highlighting his work and showing his process that's definitely worth a look. Occasionally this airs on SBS so keep an eye out for it.

Here is a small sample:

Anyone who has looked into HDR photography will have stumbled upon the work of Trey Ratcliff and his site http://www.stuckincustoms.com/ . While not a strictly architectural photographer he does serve as an example of how HDR can be used to great effect when doing so.

via - http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2012/03/04/on-talent-and-curiosity/

via - http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2012/01/29/the-mighty-ship/

NYC back in the day

Manhatta is a doco made in 1921 by photographer Paul Strand and painter Charles Sheeler. It shows New York in a very busy construction time when the skyline was constantly changing. It obviously looks very different to our eyes today and is an interesting comparison to make.

"The film spans an imaginary day in the life of New York City, beginning with footage of Staten Island ferry commuters and culminating with the sun setting over the Hudson River. It has been described as the first avant-garde film made in America. Its many brief shots and dramatic camera angles emphasize New York's photographic nature." (Met Museum)

The doco was inspired by Walt Witman's poem of the same name which I've included for you below.

Mannahatta

by Walt Whitman

I was asking for something specific and perfect for my city,

Whereupon lo! upsprang the aboriginal name.

Now I see what there is in a name, a word, liquid, sane, unruly,

musical, self-sufficient,

I see that the word of my city is that word from of old,

Because I see that word nested in nests of water-bays, superb,

Rich, hemm’d thick all around with sailships and steamships, an

island sixteen miles long, solid-founded,

Numberless crowded streets, high growths of iron, slender, strong,

light, splendidly uprising toward clear skies,

Tides swift and ample, well-loved by me, toward sundown,

The flowing sea-currents, the little islands, larger adjoining

islands, the heights, the villas,

The countless masts, the white shore-steamers, the lighters, the

ferry-boats, the black sea-steamers well-model’d,

The down-town streets, the jobbers’ houses of business, the houses

of business of the ship-merchants and money-brokers, the river-streets,

Immigrants arriving, fifteen or twenty thousand in a week,

The carts hauling goods, the manly race of drivers of horses, the

brown-faced sailors,

The summer air, the bright sun shining, and the sailing clouds aloft,

The winter snows, the sleigh-bells, the broken ice in the river,

passing along up or down with the flood-tide or ebb-tide,

The mechanics of the city, the masters, well-form’d,

beautiful-faced, looking you straight in the eyes,

Trottoirs throng’d, vehicles, Broadway, the women, the shops and shows,

A million people–manners free and superb–open voices–hospitality–

the most courageous and friendly young men,

City of hurried and sparkling waters! city of spires and masts!

City nested in bays! my city!

*** I choose a YouTube audio remix version because the original music was super annoying - sorry to the purists! Everything else is original!

Architecture has provided primary subject matter throughout history of photography and has become a unique niche in the world of image making.

When photographing a building theArchitectural photographer is often faced with a delima of do you add essence using composition perspective or other techniques to produce compelling and beautiful photographs.

Architectural photography started about 170 years ago and photographers have worked on aesthetic and technical issues since that date which have evolved through a succession of styles as the field developed in technology and fashion.

An example found in the photography of Frederick Evans.

Architectural photography tended to be unimaginative and really just for record photography, however Frederich Evans looked for particular effects for exam[ple showing the strength of stone in his photograph " The Sea of Steps " 1903
This is excellent photography.
Another comparison is work by Francis Bedford "Christchurch Gateway" 1860 showing the effects of light and balance.

Inspiring architecture photography

I started looking for amazing architecture photography for this post and came across this blog.............


http://www.noupe.com/photography/50-beautiful-examples-of-architecture-photography.html


Instead of trying to replicate what has been done here, please jump across and have a look for yourself for pure inspiration and WOW moments! :D

Street fashion photography

Street fashion photography

My post this week is on street fashion photography. It has become a very modern trend with blogs, fashion magazines, coffee table books all covering street fashion. Even the free MX newspaper has a whole page everyday dedicated to a punter each from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Your average mall has always been a bit of a catwalk/fashion parade, just now people are documenting it.

This blogger takes a photo of herself everyday - http://whatiwore.tumblr.com/

(she even gets given clothes to advertise!)

For visual comparison, here's some pix.........................

Here are some western street fashion photos:

Here are some Japanese street fashion photos:

Even festival fashion gets coverage:

And lastly a country comparison:

We are all voyeurs with this trend and love to see what others are wearing for inspiration, curiosity or jealousy!

Contemporary Architecture

Andrew Prokos is a New York City based commercial and fine art photographer. Andrew has worked on assignments and commissions for clients in advertising, publishing, design, real estate, government, and corporate art. Andrew's photos have been widely published in magazines and corporate annuals, and are featured in printed product lines sold in the United States and Europe.

Andrew's archive of color and black and white New York photographs is one of the largest and most comprehensive of any single photographer. His New York photography archive includes photos of the city's most famous architecture and landmarks. His photography has been exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York and his New York City skylines, cityscapes, landscapes, and architectural photos are included in private and corporate art collections throughout the United States and Europe. In addition to his photos of New York, Andrew also has an extensive archive of Washington DC photos.


Although Andrew Porkos isn't a well-known photographer, I think his work is beautiful and original.