Virtual Essay – Richard Avedon

The photographer that I have chosen to work on is Richard Avedon. He was able to create instantly iconic and memorable images. Professional photographer called him the number one most influential photographer of all time. Avedon is most known for his fashion photographs and portraits, Andy Grundberg said that, "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century." Avedon became the first staff photographer for The New Yorker in 1992 . He has won many awards for his photography, including the International Center of Photography Master of Photography Award in 1993, the Prix Nadar in 1994 for his photobook Evidence, and the Royal Photographic Society 150th Anniversary Medal in 2003.

Now we will be looking at some photographs from other photographers that were inspired by Richad Avedon and have many similarities to his work.
In the following photograph we see that this fashion photographer is shooting cars as well as models of course. This photographer used a van to capture the motion wind causes implies motion which is the perfect motion for a car shoot.

Photographer: Noah Fallis

The next photograph is a wedding photo taken in central park New York City.


Photographer: Michael Creagh

The similarities with these two photographs compared to the works of Avedon is that he didn’t conform to the standard technique of taking fashion photographs, where models stood emotionless to the camera. Instead, Avedon showed models full of emotion and many times in action. Both these photographs above are just like that in motion, the photographers wanted to capture more then just a still face.

This fashion photograph is very inspired of Richard Avedon. This was a magazine fashion shoot photograph that has earned Michael Creagh a nomination with the 4th Annual Black and White Spider Awards in the category of Fashion in January 2009. It is a photograph with the subject in motion as you see the model in the middle of a jump which Avedon was famous for capturing motion. Other techniques that Richard Avedon used in high fashion shoots were his use of strobe lights in fashion as well as the white background. Theses are all elements that Micheal Creagh uses in this particular photograph as well.


Photographer: Michael Creagh

In this next photograph is from Le Pink Lingerie Autumn Winter 2010 Campaign. This photo shoot was taken in the middle of the woods beside a cabin and here we see the model walking away with the clothing or lingerie very much in display. This is very important in a fashion shoot because all though the subject is important the number one concern must be the clothing. As in Avedon’s work we see that his portraits are easily distinguished by their minimalist style, where the person is looking squarely in the camera just like the subject in this photograph is doing as well.

Photographer: Michael Creagh

The last photograph here is more of a portrait which Richard Avedon was also very famously known for. This photograph was from a photo shoot taken on the sandy beaches of Windward side of Oauh. This photograph was taken in black and white with the subject looking off into the sunlight. The use of light as well the use of black and white photography to convey drama through the contrast in color was used by both these photographers. Avedon was always interested in how portraiture captures the personality and soul of its subject with the use of black and white photography. What made Avedon so different from other photographers was that he would produce images revealing aspects of his subject's character and personality that were not typically captured by others.

Photographer: Fierce Ecseki

References

http://www.professionalphotographer.co.uk/magazine/photographic-inspiration/100-most-influential-photographers-of-all-time

Grundberg "Richard Avedon, the Eye of Fashion, Dies at 81. the New York Times, October 1, 2004

PBS American Masters, Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light, Directed by Helen Whitney, 1995

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Avedon

http://michaelcreagh.wordpress.com/

http://www.noahfallis.com/photographer/calgary-fashion/fashion-photographer-zrauto-01.php

http://ferenc.biz/dramatic-black-and-white-sunrise-portraits-with-elise-on-sandy-beach/

Journal Topic 3

There has been an impact of photo alterations on journalistic photography because most argue that it is unethical to change photographs especially press photographs for the reason of misleading. Pictures tell the public a story if we change the photo we are misleading the audience to believe what we want them to believe. I also do think that photography alterations on journalistic photos are unethical for the reason that press photos are meant to tell the truth not half of the truth.
The following are two examples of photographs that have been altered and have caused controversies.
There was the New York Times who had a photo of soldiers in Iraq gazing upward at a member of the Purrfect Angelz dance group in Iraq. Critics were suspicious because it looks as tho the cord has disappeared. (Irby) When it come to stories about the war critics are more critical because it is a sensitive subject. The public wants to know what is really going on especially on topics that affect them or their country.

Photographer: Jim Wilson



Then there is the controversial photo manipulation of 1982 where National Geographic cover was featuring Egypt. The editors photographically moved two Egyptian pyramids closer together so that they would fit on a vertical cover. This case triggered a debate about photo manipulation in journalism; the argument against editing was that the magazine depicted something that did not exist, and presented it as fact. Robert Gilka, was the former director of photography at National Geographic magazine.




References

Irby, Kenneth. "Photojournalism in the age of Scrutiny." PoynterOnline. Poynter, 2006. Web. 23 Mar 2010.


http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/faking.html

Journal Topic 2

The next two pictures are press photographs, the first photo shows two men free-running which is a new trend out their today. The second photograph was taken at the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup during the first semifinal race at the Snowboard-Cross competition in Vancouver.
PHOTOGRAPH #1

Reference: photograph by: Siro Micheroli source:urban free flow

PHOTOGRAPHY #2

Reference: photograph by: Jonathan Hayward source: the Canadian press

The next two photographs are art photographs, the first photo was taken in Toronto, Canada its called "Night Rain" the photo was a archival pigment on a photo rag and the second photograph is called "Fog at old man 's cave".

PHOTOGRAPH #1

Reference: photograph by: Bret Culp source: the beauty of impermanence

PHOTOGRAPH #2

Reference:photograph by: Martin W. Quinn source: vision light

Some differences between press and art photography is that press photographs are meant to capture reality there should be no alterations to the photographs taken because they need to tell a true story weather the story be about war or sporting events such as the press photos i have above. Art photographs on the other hand can be altered to express the artists feelings or artistic vision. Both art photographs i have above have been altered either with color or taken differently.

Some similarities between press and art photography and between these photos is that although there are different uses of these photos all of them express the artist's vision weather it is altered or not. All four pictures were all taken in order to capture a perfect moment weather it be at a sporting event to see who will win to final run or just to capture the right night of perfect rainfall or fog.

Assignment 3 - Photo Manipulation

The following photographs were edited and changed from its original state,i will show you the original photo and the edited one.
The first photo is a landscape portrait taken in the city of Braga, Portugal from the top of a mountain at a famous church called "Bon Jesus" .

Before:

After:

For this photograph i didn't do to much editing, i used exposure editing tool to make a dark contrast. The reason why i choose to do that was because i wanted to give the olusion that it was taken at night instead of the day. It does contrast with reality which i find a little humorous because in reality the sky do not look like that at night. At night you don't see so many clouds as you do at day time, the detail of the clouds at night is something that doesn't happen. Another observation is that n the editing version the sky is lighter than the land which is unrealistic but at first glance most people would be fooled to think this photo was truly taken at night. This city in particular has alot of forestry, this photograph was taken at a high peak mountain in the city and i think the edited version really shows you how much of the city really is covered by forestry. The contrast you see in the dark shows that their is very little building and lights in this city.

The second photograph was a portrait taken of my niece one afternoon, as you can she she was striking a pose.
Before:

After:

For this photograph i did a few editing changes, the first was an editing tool called Focal b&w which lets you focus on one part of the picture in terms of color. I choose to highlight her headband because of the bright color. The second editing tool i used was called focal soften which lets you pick a part of the photo that you want a clear focus on while the rest of the photo is softened up. I choose to make the focus on her face while the rest of the picture has the olusion of a soft hazy feeling. The reason unlike the first photograph was not to confuse people but it was to show the beauty of a portrait. I chose the headband as a focus point because like the picture of a child it represents childhood. The headband is a Hannah Montana a popular children television show and a poster child for the children. This picture is fun, the child is happy and this picture represents children and their childhood. In this generation that means having fun posing for a photograph and wear everything Hannah Montana.

Reference List

Both photographs where taken my me, Amanda Azeredo
editing was done my me, Amanda Azeredo

Journal Topic 1

The main differences between portraits in the past and today is that in the past social class determined the subject and the quality of the photograph is different because of technological advancement. The main similarities is that both in the past and today people are the main subject used in portraits.

The subject of photographers in the past depended upon one's social class. Originally, royalty and the upper class were the main subjects. This portrait below was taken in 1860 of Abraham Lincoln the photographer is unidentified which was common in the past.

Today,photography has no boundaries is available to everyone. Portraits today are also more creative people are not the only subjects being photographed. Below is a portrait of a women and a snake taken by Ricard Avedon.


The impact that technology has had on photography, portraits in particular has changed. The quality of the photographs have improved and is more faster then the past, where people had to wait hours to get their portrait taken. In the past daguerreotypes were popular for portraits it was a polished copper plate which an image was directly exposed. The technology today is much different, today images are printed onto paper from transparent negatives.

The frist photographers!

In 1827, Joseph Nicephore Niepce made the first known photograph using the camera obscura. This is the photo below...


Louis Daguerre after developed a convenient method of photography named the daguerreotype. Here is a daguerreotype portrait of Louis Daguerre by: Jean-Baptiste Sabatier-Blot in 1844.

Photos!!

Hey everyone i wanted to start this blog by sharing with you all some personal photos from some travels. Enjoy!