1. “Black and white are the colors of photography. To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.” — Robert Frank Truth: Photographers used black and white because 1) it was much cheaper than color; 2) color chemicals would eventually cause permanent physical damage; and 3) It’s easier…
Coming Next: Part 10 – The Rule Making Epoch: Faurer to Arbus We are back, after a 3-month respite, due to the frenetic pace of life and the underwhelming response to Part 9. We intend for this series to appeal to more than those simply looking for interwebs shots from the photographers involved. In fact,…
There’s been a lot of debate about the use of raw processing (including some in the Jones-Phillips household) and whether its benefits outweigh the storage burden. After some early raw trials on my Nikons, wherein I determined that for all but the completely failed shots raw was superfluous, I have to admit I was firmly…
A photograph is an illusion of a literal description. A camera saw a piece of time and space. I’ve sorted through a few videos on Garry Winogrand, and I thought this one is the best for understanding him as a photographer. Winogrand is speaking to students at MIT (and frustrating the 1970s-version of Hipsters in…
Sometimes you’re lucky in your life, and you get a benediction from somebody who actually speaks your language and cherishes that you’ve joined the tribe … you’re no longer lost.
In order to photograph in a meaningful way, you have to be photographing your world. — Nicholas Vreeland Before you can make a photograph, you first have to see something. As Joel Meyerowitz mentions in the first video, some photographers go out with an idea in mind. The problem with that is that if you…
Documentary photography, especially news or war photography, isn’t for everybody. It’s certainly not for the squeamish. There’s the obvious — danger, death, etc., but there’s also the simple matter of having to photograph people who don’t want to be photographed. Even more important, quite often it’s to the photographer to show us things that we…
“It’s the closest I come to not existing, I think. Which is the best … which to me is attractive.” – Garry Winogrand “I invade their space and try to make something happen with the camera. You do trespass on their space with the camera.” – Mark Cohen “Basically I’m photographing my own curiosity. What…
Part 9 – The Rule Making Epoch: Brassaï to Lisette Model We are back, after an approximately 6-week break, due to the frenetic pace of life, and, frankly, the lukewarm reception of Part 8. We intend for this series to appeal to more than those simply looking for interwebs shots from the photographers involved. Indeed,…
Part 8 – The Rule Making Epoch: Izis Israëlis “Izis” Bidermanas (Lithuania) – 1911 to 1980 Israëlis Bidermanas, who worked under the name Izis, was a Lithuanian-Jewish photographer who made his mark photographing Paris from the 1930s through the 1970s. He was part of the French humanist movement, a clever term for mostly street shooters…
The Artists' Sanctum 