Great Black and White Photographers III

What first caught my eye was the realness of Dorothea Lange's photos. They all show the struggles that people went through during immigration times.



   I chose Dorothea Lange out of my three black and white photographers. I chose Lange because I really loved her photos and what they represented. Lange took photos of people and the specific photo I really liked, was a photo of a migrant women and her children. Lange took many photos of people during the times of immigration, showing the struggle people went through during this time. Also, it looks like the photo was untouched by photoshop and other editing material. The picture is raw and pure showing the subjects exactly as they were.

   I see, in the first picture, a child who looks as if he has been laboring away somewhere. He is clearly dirty and with the circles under his eyes, he may also be sleep deprived. In the second picture, I see a mother keeping her children close by. They also look quite dirty, with clothes tattered, most likely worn for several days.
   I smell the hot, sour tinged air, whirling through the sky, picking up dust as it goes. I fills the space with heat waves and makes you take in deep breaths. No other scent is present just the humid air.
   I hear the commotion of people trying to get to where they wanna go. I also hear cries of the young children traveling with their parents. I hear people arguing with each other and maybe even law enforcement.
   I taste the dirt and dust that is picked up by the wind whirling around. The texture is gritty on my teeth, I have to constantly have to spit to remove the taste and grit from my mouth. I also taste the sweat the drips from my face as I try to get the perfect shot.
   I felt a bit of sadness and frustration when I first saw this photo. Seeing what these families and people had to go through just to get themselves and their children to a better life is disappointing. I was specifically upset that the conditions were so terrible, and they were filth ridden. I still feel this way when I see the photos of kids, families, people, all dirty and wearing day old clothes, maybe even starving.

   I would most likely want to create a poster of Dorothea Lange's photos and what they stood for. Also, where she came from and how she came to be the photographer that she was. Most definitely including the reasons behind her subjects and why she chose to take these specific pictures. Also, having a poster would make it easier to show what I now know about Lange to others.

Abandoned Theme Parks

I would like to go to the Six Flags in New, Orleans called "Jazzland". What made me what to go there was the fact that this one is placed in the United States. Also, the disaster that took place there was fairly recent, about 16 years ago.  New Orleans is a very interesting city, so I would expect the amusement park there to be nothing less. Hopefully resulting in intriguing shots of the abandoned park.

Photo of the park after shut down


1)Okpo Land, South Korea
2)Prypiat, Ukraine
3)Lincoln Park. Dartmouth, Massachusetts
4)Lake Park, Medina County, Ohio
5)Rocky Point Park, Warwick, Rhode Island

   I think that it would be fu to go document at the Lake Park Amusement Park in Medina County, Ohio. I think it would be fun to visit there because the park was built in the late 1800's, and by now the park has got to be fully incorporated in the environment. Making it interesting to see what has become of the old family fun park. I would expect to take old pictures of the left behind, rusted, rides that should be intertwined with nature.

   I would need a good quality camera for sure. Also, I would most likely have to book a flight there and back, costing hundreds of dollars. There may be a cost to go and visit the park, but there isn't any laws against going there to look ,and shoot, at the old history there.

Africa

From reading the article, I can tell that Nick Brandt, the photographer, truly cares about his subjects. He is very much committed to these animals that are being killed by the thousands every year, by poaching and lack of needs. The photos that he has captured are breath-taking. Honestly, to me, they were amazing, capturing the animals true "state of being".

Favorite photo


   This is a photo of an elephant drinking. This picture is my favorite because elephants are my favorite animal, but also because its so clean and crisp. Everything is focused on the elephant, and i like how he made sure to get the landscape in the shot.
   I think that the photo rule balance is used because this picture is very symmetrical. If you cut the photo in half there would be half the elephants face on both sides.

   Nick Brandt uses a Pentax 67 camera. He chose this camera for the simplicity of it. He takes these photos because loves to capture the animals "state of being" and he is obsessed with observing them and capturing them in their natural state. Brandt hopes that his photos will spread awareness about the endangerment of these creatures. "In the photos of the animals, I am waiting for them to present themselves for their portraits. For me, there is no difference between photographing portraits of animals and humans – I want to capture the spirit of that particular creature."

Mural Project

1) A theme that I think we could take here at school is people socializing, and just candids of people talking, laughing, and learning. For off campus I think there could be a number of themes you could do. I would be most interested in colors.

2) I think we should be able to use phones and regular cameras.

3) I would want to put it on the walls right as you walk into the school.

Photoshop Tutorial

Before Picture:                                                   
Framing

Avoiding Mergers

Leading Lines

Simplicity

Rule of Thirds

Balance

Great Black and White Photographers Part II

      I chose Dorothea Lange out of my three black and white photographers. I chose Lange because I really loved her photos and what they represented. Lange took photos of people and the specific photo I really liked, was a photo of a migrant women and her children. Lange took many photos of people during the times of immigration, showing the struggle people went through during this time. Also, it looks like the photo was untouched by photoshop and other editing material. The picture is raw and pure showing the subjects exactly as they were.

     Her full name was Dorothea Nutzhorn, and later became Lange, due to Lange taking her mother's maiden name. She was born on May 26, 1895, in Hoboken, New Jersey. Lange died on October 11, 1965, in San Francisco, California. Lange attended Columbia University 1917 through 1918 for her education. Lange's parents were very big advocates of her education and encouraged her. Art and Literature were a big part of Lange's upbringing, and was exposed to the arts and creativity early on.

     Lange stayed at Columbia University for only a year. She then started to work as an apprentice to many photographers. One including Arnold Genthe, a leading portrait photographer. By 1918, Lange was living in San Francisco running a successful portrait studio. Lange began her travels with husband, Paul Taylor, documenting and reporting the migration she had witnessed. Lange photographed the people she met. Including the iconic "Migrant Mother" photo. In 1940, Lange received the Guggenheim Fellowship. Lange was hired by the Office of War Information to photograph the internment of Japanese Americans, and later, again by the same organization. With increasing health issues, Lange passed away in October due to Esophageal Cancer. Dorothea's work has influenced generations of photographers.

Sources: http://www.biography.com/people/dorothea-lange-9372993#final-years
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-lange-dorothea.htm

Dorothea Lange:

Academic post-shoot AND Peer Reflection

1. What challenges did you encounter while trying to get the photos following the rules I set out for you? 
One of the challenges I encountered with taking these photos was getting a good picture showing the rule avoiding mergers.

2. What technical aspects of photography or the assignment in general (focus, framing, holding the camera, etc.) did you find yourself thinking about the most? Provide a specific example of what you did to do this correctly. I was always looking at the focus to make sure that the photo I took was clear and focused on the right subject. A way I did this was to make sure that before I snapped my pictures, I looked very carefully until the photo was in focus. Then I proceeded to take the photo.

3. If you could do the assignment again, what would you do differently now that you know some basic rules of photography? I would look for photos that are maybe a bit more clear as to what they are showing. Instead of having a photo that could fit into two of the categories, make sure it's only one.

4. What things would you do the same? I would keep looking carefully to make sure that the camera is in focus before taking the picture. I think that this was a very important detail in order for my pictures to turn out the way I wanted them to.

5. When you go out with your next set of prompts, which rule do you think will be the easiest to achieve? I think rule of thirds will be the easiest to achieve, personally. Everywhere I looked I saw a photo that could easily be rule of thirds, but had to make sure that I got my other photo rules.

6. Which rule do you think will be the hardest to capture? I think avoiding mergers will be the hardest to achieve for me. This rule is just not something that I see everywhere, I really have to look for it, and make sure it works with the rule.

7. What rule are you still not totally clear on and what can you do to figure out what that rule is? I'm pretty sure on all the photo rules now. However, when I first went out to shoot, I didn't know what avoiding mergers was exactly. That was until I got back in class and had it explained. 


Link for Ava Nielsen's Blog!!:http://avanphotoblog.blogspot.com/