M E D I A 203 Advanced Digital Photography
WEEK 1: Barriers to Seeing and Color Expression. Take photographs of one color. Pick three images and present them together as a collection. Then, take a different image, duplicate it twice, change the hue and present them as a collection. Lastly, select a photograph of a famous photographer. Explain why you chose it in terms of it's visual elements, design, method/equipment used and feelings or mood.
G R E E N
No creatures were harmed in the making of these photos. My dog Sam, aka Big Dude, and his favorite squeeze toy, Little Dude. Both expressions tell the story. My house is a breeding ground for Lady Bugs, the one in the photo is very much alive. After a few drinks of water, see the drop in the background, she perked up and began moving around so much I couldn't photograph her anymore. The Hummie feathers were gathered off my porch from underneath the feeder. There were so many that year I went through ten pounds of sugar a week.
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G R E E N W I T H H U E C H A N G E S
A L O N G T H E W A Y
the perfect counterpoint to green, click to see enlarged versions
S E B A S T I A O S A L G A D O
“I was raised in the shadows.”
Brazilian Sebastiao Salgado is considered by many to be the most influential of contemporary photojournalists. Spending years at a time immersed in his subjects, he documents people, animals and nature around the world, portraying cultures and environments in crisis and turmoil. He began his professional life with a masters in economics, then gave it up to photography in the early 1970s. He has created a nature preserve and conservation institute in Brazil.
In reading about Salgado I learned that his intent is also to convey hope and beauty in the midst of these challenging circumstances. When I saw his images of penguins I could see that intent illustrated quite clearly.
In the beginning he shot only with Kodak Tri X black and white film, using Leica and Pentax. “I have a big excitement for the greys,” Salgado says. Eventually, he resigned himself to digital, frustrated with his film being damaged by airport security scans. Even though his Canon digitals shoot in color, all photos are converted to black and white. Color, he feels, distracts from the subject and is not always accurately represented by the camera. His photos are enhanced with software that mimics the grain of the Kodak film, solving the problem of digital ‘flatness’. His style is to shoot against the light, developed he feels from a childhood spent in the Brazilian rainforest. He believes all photographers’ styles are resultant of their childhoods.
In the first photo I see the trepidation of the penguin heading for the sea, while the others seem like they're waiting to see what happens. The black and white captures the stark ruggedness of the environment, while the shape of the bergs mimics the shape of the penguins. The light at the horizon separates the berg from the background, the rule of thirds is well illustrated by the composition of penguins and landscape, and there are no distracting elements. In the photo below a penguin launches himself into a swirling sea, so tiny against the looming ice and turbulent ocean. The range of light and contrast is enormous, from ice white to black. The overall tone is dark and bleak. One’s eye follows the line of penguins to it’s conclusion, a brave fellow, doing what one must, often against staggering odds.
Brazilian Sebastiao Salgado is considered by many to be the most influential of contemporary photojournalists. Spending years at a time immersed in his subjects, he documents people, animals and nature around the world, portraying cultures and environments in crisis and turmoil. He began his professional life with a masters in economics, then gave it up to photography in the early 1970s. He has created a nature preserve and conservation institute in Brazil.
In reading about Salgado I learned that his intent is also to convey hope and beauty in the midst of these challenging circumstances. When I saw his images of penguins I could see that intent illustrated quite clearly.
In the beginning he shot only with Kodak Tri X black and white film, using Leica and Pentax. “I have a big excitement for the greys,” Salgado says. Eventually, he resigned himself to digital, frustrated with his film being damaged by airport security scans. Even though his Canon digitals shoot in color, all photos are converted to black and white. Color, he feels, distracts from the subject and is not always accurately represented by the camera. His photos are enhanced with software that mimics the grain of the Kodak film, solving the problem of digital ‘flatness’. His style is to shoot against the light, developed he feels from a childhood spent in the Brazilian rainforest. He believes all photographers’ styles are resultant of their childhoods.
In the first photo I see the trepidation of the penguin heading for the sea, while the others seem like they're waiting to see what happens. The black and white captures the stark ruggedness of the environment, while the shape of the bergs mimics the shape of the penguins. The light at the horizon separates the berg from the background, the rule of thirds is well illustrated by the composition of penguins and landscape, and there are no distracting elements. In the photo below a penguin launches himself into a swirling sea, so tiny against the looming ice and turbulent ocean. The range of light and contrast is enormous, from ice white to black. The overall tone is dark and bleak. One’s eye follows the line of penguins to it’s conclusion, a brave fellow, doing what one must, often against staggering odds.
IMAGES: ft.com treehugger.com INFORMATION: sebastiaosalgado.net amazonasimages.com blog.ted.com/2013/05/01 bryanappleyard.com/sebastiao-salgado-the-unfiltered-lens |
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