Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Raymond Depardon

I wish I took this photo. It's very fun and you sense different personalities and each movement of the girls are interesting. This was shot in Queens, New York. Raymond Depardon is a photographer from france who does mostly documentaries. His work is very captivating and he has great tonal value in his photos. I'd look more into him and his work and this photo definietly inspires to get closer to people with my series.

Philippe Halsman

This photograph is very well known and maybe cliche to choose but i've always loved it. In this photo, theres so much chaos going on and i get a sense of humor from it. He famously collaborated with Dali and did many crazy portraits of him. The title of this photograph is "Dali Atomicus" and its because the painting in the corner is one of dali's named " Leda Atomica." It took 28 times to get the photo right. None of this messed with in the darkroom, the cats and water was really thrown. This picture gives me an uplifting and comical feel to photography.

Chien Chi Chang

Chien Chi Chang, is a photographer from the 90's who's work showed powerful emotion and beautiful meaning. He was born and raised in Taiwan and photographed illegal immigrants there and in america when he moved here. He mostly photographed in Chinatown, New York City. This particular image stands out to me because of the interesting perspective taken and the sense of scale i get from it. The man looks much bigger then the cars and he's calmly eating soup in his underwear. I get a sense of an uplifting side to his illegal immigrant series.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Albert Watson

I've tried emulating this photographer last year, but it was not very successful. His tonal range and concepts were far too advance for me. He's unique to me, especially since he's blind in one eye. Which is where he came up with his cyclops title of one of his books. This particular photograph strikes me because of the rich vibrant colors and color is what i'll always want to work with. I'd like to achieve colors like Watson does,The sky and clouds blend so beautiful together and the "god" sign is lit up perfectly.He must've does this in the morning or at sunset in Las Vegas. His Las Vegas series has always inspired me and I hope to make work as beautiful as Watson's.

Helmut Newton


Helmut Newton is another 1960's photographer He mostly did fashion work and was very succesful at doing so. In this photo, he has himself in the photo which i found really interesting. I love the tonal range and angle of the photo. The size of the women's back to Newton is really interesting. I love the legs next to the model's leg, adds a mystery to the photo. I also enjoy the woman's facial expression on the right bottom corner. Helmut Newton, wasn't a believer in back drops for fashion shoots. He always wanted something in the background or to photograph outside somewhere beautiful. This kind of changes my view on fashion photography.

Garry Winogrand

Garry Winogrand is a 1960's photographer who did an important series about New York City street photography. After looking at his photogrpah, I realized that I'm trying to go for the same approach when it comes to street photography. Though i'm no Winogrand, I can see similarities in our work as in terms of composition, distance from stranger, and horizontal view of strangers. This photo stands out to me because there's so much going on and three men looking at the camera gives a strong, odd feeling to it. I read that Winogrand would have his lens' pre-focused and would photograph people without them knowing. He's a brilliant photographer and I look forward to reseaching more of his work.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Leon Levinstein "Street Scene: Woman with white purse, New York City"

I was shown this photographer's work by fellow classmate Mary Catando! He and Klein have similar styles but Levinstein feels more modern and are mostly portraits of new yorkers. Levinstein shows rich, dark tones in these photos from his " Street Scene" series. In this photo he took it candidly and from an odd perspective. He must of had the camera to his stomach so that the subject doesnt know he's photographing them. The woman's body position is odd and the man's arm draws my eye to the right of photo. I've taken photos of similar perspective in the city and i'm glad i was shown this photographer.

Terry Richardson

Terry Richardson is a fashion photographer whose work has been on every fashion known to man. He's very successful and known all around the world. He mostly photograph celebrities and captures their personality or a sense of humor to them. I admire his work because the bright flash creates this honesty to the subject in my eyes. He only uses his flash and has the subject near a white wall to create these shadows. He influences my digital work and i'm looking forward to seeing more of his work in magazines.


William Klein "Grace Line, New York"

For my project i've been going to New York and trying to emulate a "Klein" timeless feel to New York today. I love New York City's energy and Klein's photos inspired me to go out there and photograph what i see in the city. In his photos, he takes very interesting horizontal angles of people that i find myself doing as well. I love the tonal range and expressions in the photo.