3 Photographers I'm interested in:
Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth is a photographer known for his cityscapes done in black and white. He specializes in capturing the city as a whole: including the culture, emotion, and sense. Compared to other photographers he posts few photographs of each city. Often only three to four pictures of the city, but no more than ten. Struth makes black and white photographs with a central perspective of architecture by including a large amount of detail in the background. Pictured below is the work from a Japan trip taken by Struth in 1986. In the Shinjuku series, Tokyo is pictured from different areas of the city. The photos are taken using a silver gelatin print camera producing the black and white effect. I enjoy the full frame photos with a central street structure.
Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth is a photographer known for his cityscapes done in black and white. He specializes in capturing the city as a whole: including the culture, emotion, and sense. Compared to other photographers he posts few photographs of each city. Often only three to four pictures of the city, but no more than ten. Struth makes black and white photographs with a central perspective of architecture by including a large amount of detail in the background. Pictured below is the work from a Japan trip taken by Struth in 1986. In the Shinjuku series, Tokyo is pictured from different areas of the city. The photos are taken using a silver gelatin print camera producing the black and white effect. I enjoy the full frame photos with a central street structure.
Shinjuku Tokyo 1986
Cat. 2301, Silver gelatin print, 68,0 x 92,0 cm Cat. 2311, Silver gelatin print, 84,0 x 66,0 cm Cat. 2321, Silver gelatin print, 66,0 x 84,0 cm
Cat. 2301, Silver gelatin print, 68,0 x 92,0 cm Cat. 2311, Silver gelatin print, 84,0 x 66,0 cm Cat. 2321, Silver gelatin print, 66,0 x 84,0 cm
Paul Strand
Paul Strand is a photographer who focuses on showing the theme of a city through motion, abstractions and street portraits. These are structured images showing slow movement or no movement of a single person. Strand's photos are an alternative (subversive) to the typical studio portraits of glamour and power of a city. His photographs are completed in black and white. Grainy nature of the two pictures to the left are due to the technology at the time. From left to right: Men of Santa Anna, Michoacan; Man with Hoe, Los Remedios; Sheik Abdel Hadi Misyd, Delta, Egypt. Quote: "Cityscapes that have faces for subjects" I enjoy the realistic picturing of people. Even though they are structured and planned ahead does not lose the feeling of the surroundings.
Paul Strand is a photographer who focuses on showing the theme of a city through motion, abstractions and street portraits. These are structured images showing slow movement or no movement of a single person. Strand's photos are an alternative (subversive) to the typical studio portraits of glamour and power of a city. His photographs are completed in black and white. Grainy nature of the two pictures to the left are due to the technology at the time. From left to right: Men of Santa Anna, Michoacan; Man with Hoe, Los Remedios; Sheik Abdel Hadi Misyd, Delta, Egypt. Quote: "Cityscapes that have faces for subjects" I enjoy the realistic picturing of people. Even though they are structured and planned ahead does not lose the feeling of the surroundings.
Michael Eastman
Michael Eastman creates pictures with one color as a focus. Photographs are of either modern, luxurious, "expensive" areas. He has spent his career documenting interior and facades in a contemporary nature. His collection urban luminosity highlights these characteristics with pictures of Atrium, Shanghai; Golden Escalator, Tokyo and Bloomberg Tower, New York City. I enjoy the modern feeling of these pictures, and the use of colors adds an interesting dimension.
Michael Eastman creates pictures with one color as a focus. Photographs are of either modern, luxurious, "expensive" areas. He has spent his career documenting interior and facades in a contemporary nature. His collection urban luminosity highlights these characteristics with pictures of Atrium, Shanghai; Golden Escalator, Tokyo and Bloomberg Tower, New York City. I enjoy the modern feeling of these pictures, and the use of colors adds an interesting dimension.
Presentation Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZjjjVGgYBy1Q0SVxYhqea1mQxURt0LbfXihovmgB9WM/edit?usp=sharing
MINI - CRITIQUE
FINAL
Modeling after Thomas Struth brought me to follow his methods, differences between my work and his, reflecting on challenges through the process, and how learning a new process expanded my photography skills. In Thomas’s early work photographing the Japanese landscape he uses a few key aspects: clarity of background, close layering of landscape with a central use of a street, natural front light in dark grey atmosphere, and focusing on capturing the an empty emotion. I set off striving to mimic these aspects. The work differs from the work done by Thomas Struth because of the use of editing. Thomas Struth uses a method of silver gelatin print which is completely analog. Also, the prints are much smaller than my artists’. His prints ranged from 2 feet all the way up to 4 feet in the collection I was modeling. Finally my collection does not include a portrait view of the city. One challenge that I had was time. Only the early morning or late afternoon the sunlight was appropriate lighting. If I had more time to capture more of these (or with better planning) there would’ve been more material to work with taken around the city. My skills in taking black and white photos was started in this project. I’ve never taken photographs like this, so the experience was new. Learning also how to modify landscapes in Photoshop. Overall I enjoyed this experience of mimicking Thomas Struth.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lM7U0oMQJdwcQXrgZZMFHLKmRoRIDty1