Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens

Annie Leibovitz is a very famous American photographer. She went to college at the San Fransico Art Institute to become an art teacher. She has a large body of work with reportage photography as well as celebrity portraits. In her early photography career her photographs were more reportage as she worked with the Rolling Stone. She left work with Rolling Stone for Vanity Fair in the 80's which is when her photography became more staged portraits with celebrities. Leibovitz had the opportunity to work with The Beatles, Hilary Clinton, Bet Midler, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Whoopi Goldberg and many other celebrities. She had the opportunity to photograph events like Nixon resigning from office or even concerts while on tour with the Rolling Stones. She even begged her editor at Rolling Stone to photograph John Lennon and Yolko Ono. I think a lot of Leibovitz's fame comes from her pushing the boundaries like with her photographs of Demi Moore. Additionally her fame comes from photographing people or events from a new, unobserved perspective. She became immersed in the scene like with her tour with the Rolling Stones, which made everything seem so real. It made the photographs come to life. It took everything from her relationships with the subject to the actual photograph to a more personal, intimate level. I did not really know about Leibovitz and her photography until we watched the documentary, however it was very inspirational.

Photo by: Annie Leibovitz

Photo of: Bruce Springsteen

Website: http://entertainment-memorabilia.bidstart.com/Bruce-Springsteen-and-Flag-1984-Annie-Leibovitz-Postcard-/21236349/a.html

Photo by: Annie Leibovitz

Photo of: Mikhail Baryshnikov

Website: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/mikhail-baryshnikov-dances-his-way-to-tel-aviv-1.393685

Photo by: Annie Leibovitz

Photo of: The Rolling Stones

Website: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/324329610636660688/

Photo by: Annie Leibovitz

Photo of: Mick Jagger

Website: http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/10/annie_excerpt200810

Photo by: Annie Leibovitz

Photo of: Whoopi Goldberg

Website: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/383509724488072513/

Photo by: Annie Leibovitz

Photo of: Demi Moore

Website: http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_305_if-famous-pictures-were-used-in-ads-modern-products/

Henri Cartier-Bresson

The Decisive Movement

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer who was born in 1908. He helped develop street photography and was one of the earlier photographers to use 35 mm lens which helped define his work. He traveled around the world and photographed the Spanish Civil War and the French uprising in 1968. He believed the editing to a photograph should happen while the shot is being taken. Cartier-Bresson joined the army in 1940 but not long after was captured by the German's and stayed at a prison camp for 3 years. He also shot photographs of Mahatma Gandhi.In 1952, he published his first book called The Decisive Movement. He died in 2004. 

http://www.biography.com/people/henri-cartier-bresson-9240139#man-of-the-world

Photo by: Henri Cartier-Bresson

Website: https://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/tag/henri-cartier-bresson/

Alfred Stieglitz

Photography as Art:

Alfred Stieglitz  was born in 1964 in New Jersey. He went to school in Germany for engineering. In 1890 he was determined to make photography was a form of artistic expression like painting. He was the editor of Camera Notes until people did not agree with his idea that photography can be used for aesthetic purposes and he left to work as a freelance photographer. He made many platinum prints and used natural scenes and painting to make his prints. His most famous photography was of Georgia O'Keeffe who he later married. He also realized that photographs are just as reflective upon the photographer's feelings for the subject as they are a reflection of the subject portrayed. He dies in 1946. 

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/stgp/hd_stgp.htm

Photo by: Alfred Stieglitz

This photograph is one the many he took of Georgia O'Keeffe.

Website: http://artblart.com/tag/alfred-stieglitz-georgia-okeeffe-neck/

Project 5

Shadows

Digital Work:

Film Work:

W. Eugene Smith and The Impact of Photographs to Promote Social Change

W. Eugene Smith was an American photographer. He was born on December 30, 1918. He began a job as a photographer at age 14 with two newspapers. After going to college, he began working for Life magazine to take pictures of World War II. Smith liked to shoot photographs that could potentially lead to an improvement in the world. He eventually went to work on his own and did many photo essays of suffering villages to raise awareness. Smith died on October 19, 1973. 

  This photograph was taken in Okinwa in 1945

Photo by: W. Eugene Smith

Website:http://spartacus-educational.com/USAPsmithE.htm

Much like Smith, I believe a photograph can have a large impact on society and help to promote social change. I think that people see certain photographs that make them passionate about what that photograph displays. I visited a National Geographic exhibit on vacation and saw these amazing photographs, but also watched a film about the photographers. It told about how they went to a war zone and were captured all while taking photos. They were all safe, but it made me realize how important photographs can be. Seeing photographs about topics like war or other social issues evoked many emotions in me. Taking photographs that make people feel sad or angry or even uncomfortable can lead to a memory. If people are shown photographs it puts an image in their head to add to the facts they hear. Remembering a photograph can help people think more about how they can fix the problem. Photographs of events like these help raise awareness as well.

This photograph was taken during the Vietnam war. I find this a very powerful image especially because you can see the emotion in the man's face. There are ruins around him and the conditions look terrible. I believe photographs like these can make people think more about what is happening and come up with ways to help. 

Photo by: Hugh Van Es

Website: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/vietnam-war-photos-that-made-a-difference/?_r=0

Project 5 Light, Shadow, and Reflection

Silhouette 

Photo by: Freek Bekaert

Website: https://500px.com/photo/8758437/white-outline-by-freek-bekaert

Silhouette and Shadows

Photo by: Mecuro B. Cotto

Website: http://beautifulbizzzzarre.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/mecuro-b-cotto.html?zx=1351f01d32418ed8

Photo by: Unknown

Website: http://webneel.com/i/photography/8-woman-black-and-white-photography-by-kirk-cypel/07-2013/d?nid=8760

Shadows

Photo by: Susan Grant

Website: Critical Mass

Photo by: Lei Han

Website: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sunsetnoir/7730483398/

Reflection

Photo by: Unknown

Website: http://art.ekstrax.com/2015/08/the-art-of-black-and-white-photography.html

Photo by: Jobst D. Küker

Website: http://www.fotoblur.com/images/486340

Back Lit

Photo by: Josef Koudelka

Website: http://onlinebrowsing.blogspot.cz/2010/12/josef-koudelka-gypsies.html

Part 2

Photo by: Edward Steichen
Website:  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/561261172287806548/

This image is a back lit silhouette with shadows. I think the photographer took his meter reading around the lighter flower section of the photograph because there is a dark underexposed shadow, but there is detail in the flowers. I think the photographer is going for a mysterious, but also calming mood. The shadow makes it eerie with the light surrounding it, but the image is beautiful. I think if the photographer metered the opposite, there would not be an intense shadow and it would be properly exposed. I do not think there would be as much of a strong mood to the photograph. 

Margaret Bourke-White

Margaret Bourke-White was a famous American photographer and journalist. She was born in New York in 1904. She went to Columbia University and transferred to the University of Michigan where she met her husband. She majored in biology however did a lot of photography throughout her years of schooling. In 1929 she was hired to be a photographer for the magazine Fortune. She traveled to Germany and Russia where she photographed the Soviet Union's plan for industrialization. She was the first woman and photographer to be permitted to photograph the Soviet Union. In 1934 her work on Dust Bowl farmers was published in Fortune, Vanity Fair and the New York Times. In 1936 she became a photographer for Life magazine. Margaret Bourke-White was the first woman photographer attached to the US military and she documented the horrors of World War II in Germany. She photographed Gandhi hours before he was assassinated and documented the Korean war in 1952. That same year she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and died in 1971.

Photo by: Margaret Bourke-White

Website: http://topyaps.com/top-10-photographs-of-margaret-bourke-white

This photograph is one of my favorites of Bourke-White's work. The light hits the subjects in a mysterious way as they are looking of into the distance. Also, the subject of the photo is very powerful because it shows two black figures in a cave working in very hot conditions shown by their sweat. The people do not appear to be happy showing this might be a result of racial discrimination or they are unable to find better work.