Assignment 5: Virtual essay

Photographs of Sebastiao Salgado

My Photographs

My Virtual Essay

First I will give some background on my photographs and how they relate to the course. I used photographs I had taken in 2012 during a course called Understanding America, also an elective offered by George Brown College.  At the end of the course we were required to submit a journal in any format of our choosing. And my documentary was a photographic journal where I used key photographs and notes to represent the progress of our journey For my blog none of the photographs were edited for the purpose of keeping a journalistic approach.

These photographs are of my own technique which I developed however the rules of photography that I was devoted to were based on my past photography professor Felix Russo's teachings in the fall of 2010 to winter of 2011.
For this assignment I am choosing Sebastiao Salgado  to compare my work to. In my opinion Sebastiao Salgado’s photographs are designed to portray a bizarre twist in reality with a feel of nature’s touch. For this reason I choose my own photographs with a completely  different style. In the examples of Sebastiao Salgado’s photographs that I posted, there are no people, as well as my own eight photographs that I posted. One could say that Sebastiao Salgado could see something others could not, but what? Observing his photographs I realized that he had a knack for capturing nature. When I  continue to observe the photographs I notice a that Sebastiao wasn’t just photographing what was in front of him. He was capturing a scene not common or visually natural to an ordinary person; For example the elephants looks like its being drawn into the light by an unseen force.
With photography as art as opposed to photo journalism; I think that Sebastiao Salgado’s photographs leaned towards a more artistic style but contained the truth of the world out there. Truth as in what people are unaware of, what they look for but cannot see, the truth of photography.
The similarities I see in Sebastiao’s photographs compared to my eight photographs are that they were captured for the purpose of documenting a moment in time, the capturing of a view unseen by others and the general exploration of nature. Explaining the similarities starting with the general exploration of nature; it is very basic that in these photographs, there are natural environments with no direct interference of man, and opinion wise I love these kind of photographs, hence the examples of Sebastian's work with no human subjects in the compositions. What do I mean by the my photographs and Sebastiao’s being similar when referring to them as documenting a moment in time? As I said earlier my photographs were designed for a journalistic approach where notes were taken along during the progress of my journey in 2012. Using the same example of Sebastiao’s photographs; the elephant being drawn in by the light signifies that the photograph was taken at a special and important moment as well, perhaps a mid day or when the sun was at a high point, taking lighting into account.
The differences I see in Sebastiao’s photographs compared to my eight photographs are that they were taken in a different time period and with a different idea in mind. Explaining the difference of idea’s; Before Sebastiao Salgado became a photographer he studied economics, taking this into account, I believe his photographs were influenced mainly by culture and how humans live with the environment. As apposed to my idea of photography, my photograph’s were influence by the first program I studied containing a photography course “Art and Design Foundation.”
To conclude, my photograph’s were influenced mainly by my past teacher Professor Felix Russo but they were also influenced by design and my experience with fine art. However for the purpose of the journal I strictly focused on a realistic journal approach to reflect on.

Assignment 3 and DB 11 Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson versus Smith and Salgado

Assignment 3 - Group Presentation: http://agnescamalla.blogspot.ca/ 

DB 11

Research summary and contribution

Background

William Eugene Smith lived December 30th, 1918 to October 15th, 1978. He was a photojournalist who refused to compromise his professional quality; and was renown for photographs of World War two, which were very unpleasant and vivid.

After graduating from Wichita North High School n 1936, Eugene started his journey by taking photographs for; The Wichita Eagle the and Beacon, which were two local newspapers. In New York he became well known for this consistent perfectionism and tough personality. In 1939 Eugene was fired from Newsweek for distinctly objecting to the use of medium format cameras and he moved on to Life Magazine.

Eugene's ambitions took him to the front lines of World War two by the appeal of Ziff-Davis Publishing and Life. He was with the American island hopping offensive against Japan, photographing U.S Marines and Japanese prisoners of war. Unfortunately on an island called Okinawa, Eugene was hit by mortar fire; however after he recovered he continued to work at Life and made his photo essay perfect during 1947 to 1954.

In 1955 Eugene worked for Magnum photo agency where he started a documentary about Pittsburgh. The project overextended from three weeks and spanned to three years. The project was too large for showing but there were sires of book length photo essays produced over time. During 1957 to 1965 Eugene took photographs recorded jazz musicians at a Manhattan loft.

An attack by Chisso Employees near Tokyo in 1972, was an attempt to stop Eugene from the further publication of the Minamata disease. He survived the attack be it left his sight deteriorate in one eye. He lived in the city of Minamata with his wife from 1971 to 1973 and too many photographs for an essay providing the details of Minamata disease caused by a Chisso factory's discharge of heavy metals into water sources.

(Eugene took amphetamines to enable his workaholic tendencies) and the long term effect of the consumption of the drugs and alcohol created complications which took his life in 1978 via stroke.

My view on Eugene's style: 

He was very professional and obsessive with producing perfect photographs and photo essays. He risk is own life in the front lines to be able to capture the truth. He was stubborn to the extent of refusing to change his standards regardless of the consequences; example: (In 1939 Eugene was fired from Newsweek for objecting to the use of medium format cameras)

Research:

Background

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Eugene_Smith

(1945) photograph in which Marines blow up a Japanese cave on Iwo Jima.

http://masters-of-photography.com/S/smith/smith_demolition_full.html

(1944) photograph in which a wounded infant is found by an American soldier on Saipan

http://www.alderart.com/secondarypic/w%20%20eugene%20smith.htm

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cartier-Bresson

Andre Kertesz's photographs  are similar to Henri Cartier Bresson's in the subject of photo manipulation. They used similar techniques to create distortion effects and from viewing their photographs you can see a more artistic approach in their style.

Andre Kertesz's and Henri's photographs versus Eugene and Sebastio Salgado's photographs - Key elements that distinguish Andre's photographic style from Sebastio's photo's are abstraction, and the composition of the ratio of people. 

Abstraction: in many of Andre's and Henri's photographs for example Distortion from 1933; he manipulates the photographs and cause a distortion this distortion gives his photographs a look and feel of an abstract nature. In a press or journalistic approach at the time, such photographs would not be the norm. 

From an art point of view, in some photographs it would seem that both Andre, Henri and Sebastio's and Eugene's photographs are trying to show a bizarre twist of reality however their styles are very different. Andre and Eugene- little manipulation compared to Sebastio.

Composition of the ratio of people: in many of Andre's and Henri's photograph's the main subject seems to be some image or figure not so obvious to the eye. Even the photographs where there are groups of people in the composition their focus seems to be on the motion or actions of these people rather than their goal or numbers. In Eugene and Sebastio's photograph's the focus leads more towards a documentary approach rather than autistic approach; where the photo's capture the story of the moment that the people are expressing and a photo essay might be necessary to explain the situation.

Besides the abundance of military personnel in the photographs; these photographs also share photos with large background environments to show that the country or the place in which the event taking place is just as important.

Assignment 2: Press photography versus art photography

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Questions:

1. The main differences and similarities between art and press photography;
2. Is it ethical and acceptable to alter art photographs? Why? Why not?
3. Is it ethical and acceptable to alter press photographs? Why? Why not?

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Answers:

To help convey the difference of art and press photography I used the following photographs which I took.

Art Photography

Why art? 

C-Wine-2: This photograph was in the design for a promotion I did for NuYu International in 2011. The theme of the promotion was dine with wine and strawberries.

Brother at Union Station: This photograph was taken at Union Station's skywalk, Toronto of my brother in 2012. My brother was the focus of the picture however at the same time I was trying to capture the perspective, celling and walls oft e building.

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Press Photography

Why press?

Toronto Summer Fun: This is a photograph of people having fun during the summer of 2010 in the streets of  Toronto. Simply the crowds enjoying themselves which could also be titled, "the people's summer in Toronto".

Toronto from the tower: This is a photograph from the CNTower in which I  was trying to have a grand photograph of another view of toronto, a view from above. 

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The main similarities between art and press photography are the main qualities of photography itself, the rule of thirds; and invoking the viewer's emotion. By the use of the rule of thirds I am referring to the area of focus, that it's clear and simple/ easy to read but is also appealing and not boring. By invoking the viewer's emotion, this similarity of art and press photography is a quality that can been seen also in fine art. For example Paul Ruben's massacre of the innocents. Depicting the brutal sense of reality, death with the attempt to invoke emotion from the viewer.

I think it is ethical and acceptable to alter art photographs because it isn't confined to keeping realistic or factual imagery like "Journalistic or Press Photography". 

I think it isn't ethical and acceptable to alter press photography to a point. Very similar to photo Journalism I think to the point of altering the press photographs in order to improve the overall image quality is fine. However to alter the scene or composition itself or to create false imagery and false notes in a photo easy or documentation is where the line of ethnicity is crossed.

DB 9: Photojournalism

Photojournalism

Here is the link for my research on Photo Journalism Shooting the truth at Magnum Photo Timelines.

The Cuban Revolution

http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/revolution

Cuban Revolution

Questions

- What's the role of photo journalism?

- Are there rules that photojournalists should follow? Why? Why not?

- Is the ethics of taking journalistic photos different than the ethics of writing a news story?

- What's the impact of altering press photographs? Should they be edited (at all) in postproduction?

Answers 

Cases of Photography and journalism going hand in hand is like any other form of journalism; where the truth about the situation or story of subject is being explored. By the use of photography in journalism gives the viewer or reader a visual idea of what the subject actually depicts. A photographic version of a written documentation is a valuable asset for journalism and this is were its role comes in: To convey the message or story that a journaled written or audio format is trying to convey by capturing the truth of moment visually.

Trust is the major rule which is very important and ethical. Persons in the photographs or the people who are involved in documented scenes should be able to trust that the photographer is going to use the photographs to represent factual information or the actual event.

The ethics of taking journalistic photos are very slightly different than ethics of writing a news story. Slightly because they are highly similar but are different in the sense of trust like I said above. The photographer would need the permission of the persons involved in the scene or composition in order to portray the documentation to the public. However in cases where the public is involve for example the Cuban revolution, there is no need to get permission.

In this current day it is vital to edit photographs regardless of the situation, this is for enhancing the quality or making certain important aspects of the photograph stand out from others. How ever altering the photographs can be negative if they are exaggerated too much or completely changed to alter the story itself and bring about a false image.

Photo Manipulation

Assignment 1 - Photo Manipulation Assignment

             

       Original Images were taken by me to convey different types of lighting techniques in photography. The Image on the left (Bear_Vio_Original) was taken using incandescent lighting. The image on the right (Tiger_Yel_Original) was taken using natural light or window light.

Changes to Both Images

Fields for metadata 

- Creator, City, State, Country, Email and Date Created

Using Adobe Photo Shop I rotated the images so that the composition is upright in portrait format.

I then cropped and colour correction of the images.

Next I changed the resolution of the images form 72 pixels per inch, (default by the camera used) to 300 pixels per inch this was done for better the quality prints.; However the version on my blog is only 150dpi and low quality of the final images so that they could be appropriate for the web. 

Next I added a sharpen filter to bring out the detail and reduce blur in areas that are not needed.

Finally I blurred the backgrounds so that the subjects /Stuffed Animals.   Could be lifted off of it or stand out from the background.

Incandescent (Bear_Vio_Colour_LowRes) - Final

Noticing that there was too much light, which was creating poor shadows, I adjusted the image's levels of black and whites until it looked more balanced. I then reduced the brightness and contrast to make the subject (The Bear) stand out even more. To help reduce the artificial light brightness, I brought down the exposure of the image.

Natural/ Window light (Tiger_Yel_Colour_LowRes)  - Final

The photograph was a good example of rembrandt lighting using the window light as that one source of light, so there was little to edit, when taking a realistic approach. How ever I did increase the  blacks of the image just a little to raise the quality of the shadow.

Further editing of both images

After viewing Robert Capa's amazing capturing of realistic images, I decided to further edit my photographs and bring them to greyscale. 

Next I added a lens correction filter, to help reduce the camera blur because it wasn't on a tripod when I took the photographs. Also with the lens correction I decreased the vignette so  that the corners of the image would be darker than the subject, this would place more emphasis on directing the eyes of the viewer to the subject in the photograph.

DB3: The Reproduction of Art

Questions

When something is reproduced for so many times is that art? What's the importance of the mechanical reproducibility of the art? What was the impact on mechanical reproducibility on the society?

- Is photography art, a contribution to the art? Is it just a tool used by artists?

- How and why Henry Pitch Robinson created Fading Away? What was the reason?

- Photography has impacted the world of art and influenced some changes in the area of accessibility to art. If mechanical reproduction created revolution, what is happening now with the digitalization?

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Answers

Something as delicate as art loses some of its sentimental quality in the sense that its authenticity may only have it recognized as mere copy. However, regardless of art being reproduced many times it is still art.

The importance of mechanical reproducibility of the art is to protect the original work of art, or to widen the views or viewers of the art by spreading the copies to different museums or locations.

Mechanical reproducibility's impact on society wasn't a single one. In the art and design industry, as well as the deep admires of art the original work of art, could have had the perception that the only version of art worth seeing, is that of the original and a copy cannot capture the true essence of the emotional being conveyed by it. In the present day the number of persons in society whom share this view has decreased dramatically, as the capability of reproducibility of art as increased due to printers and internet. In another view, it would be a pleasure to have a copy of a work of art that no common man/woman would be able to obtain and even decorate their home.

Photography art is both a contribution and a tool to the art; Why? as time goes by, techniques and technology improve, thus such is the birth of innovative or new forms of art. In my view, it is an idea that photography art is a tool which contributes to the improvement of photography.

In 1858 Henry Pitch Robinson created Fading Away by the use of a dark room and the rembrandt lighting technique using that one window as a light source to convey a deep emotion between the viewing and their own perception of the relationships of the charters in the scene. The focus in this composition is the tall dark figure at the window with his back towards the young woman laying on the bellow in the direct sunlight. 

Digitalization of art is expanding the first footsteps of photography. Globalization is the main focus in this modern society, as the means for communication improves the means for communicating art improves as well. Though there are copyright laws created to help protect art digitalization, has played a major role in the sharing of art in all forms generally in present society that art is meant to be experienced by anyone. 

Introduction

Greetings,
         My name is Cecil James; I am a current G109(Game Development) student and I am found of photography. I have taken photography courses before In G108(Art & Design Foundation) in 2010 - 2011 and enjoyed it.

This is  just one of my photographs.

2011 Photography - for NuYu International

Thank You

Cecil James