Famous Photographer #5

Richard Avedon

Born in 1923 and died 2004, He was known for his great portrait work and his book In The American West.

Richard was the first photographer for The New Yorker and also shot for other publications like the Harper Bazaar and Vogue. He was known to the world as a portrait fashion photographer but id do some more photojournalist work with political events such as the Berlin Wall.

He was very fascinated by faces and the story they told and the complexity with each one. His motto when taking photos was NO. No meant for no props, no background. He wanted his portraits to be simple by using a white backdrop. 

When he was younger he liked to collected well known peoples autographs. Its the same thing when photographs. He shot both medium and large format.

After he photographed his well know series he went back to the west and met up with a few of the people he photographed. (Another term for being photographed is sat in for)

Sometimes I think all my pictures are just pictures of me. My concern is... the human predicament; only what I consider the human predicament may simply be my own.
(a photograph is) The death of the moment.
Anything is an art if you do it at the level of an art.
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CONEY ISLAND CIRCUS

This all started when I was in middle school in an after school program. My dad was friends with the people who were running it. They are a couple who started their own circus company called Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. I did that for a year and my sister as well. Jump to more recent time with photography and unicycle hockey. They knew who I was and they saw my photos and asked if I wanted to help them out by being there photographer. I photograph there after school programs and if they ever want photos of there performances or there learning program. I made a short post about them when I did my big wedding last year. A few weeks ago they asked me if I wanted to go to Cony Island with them and I have never been and I think it would be a fun experience and I can take photos of the city and an abandoned looking (because its still open during the summer) amusement park. So I posted this to me funny photo and caption on FB.

So the real reason why I went was to photograph a youth circus performance at a famous side show theater building. The kids who were in it were from other states and other parts of NY. It was cool to see some a contortionist because I have only seen one on TV. It was also cool to see kids doing something they like doing and have talent and skills at. I do recommend going to this place in person to see all the cool posters and all the cool things they have. This was also my farthest photoshoot I have been on. I did do BW and color of each to see the difference and see what I like more I did want to see how a whole collection looked in BW vs color.

Also I added something new to my Artist page.

Mom Dad I ran away and joining the circus.

Mom Dad I ran away and joining the circus.

These are just some of the photos I took yesterday.

Famous Photographer #4

Henri Cartier Bresson

He was born in 1908 and died in 2004. before he dies his family made a foundation to protect his photos in Paris. He was 95 when he passed away.

One of the pioneers of street photography and catching raw moments of life in front of him. He was one of the photographers work I have seen many ties looking at street photography. He also photographed in other countries besides France where he lived.

Being one of the co-founders of the worlds biggest photo agencies called Magnum. Magnum now has offices in some of the big cities around the world and is still run by photographers. 

Henri was one of the early users of the 35mm camera. He had a leica and mainly had a 50mm and if need be a 90mm lens. He also used a box brownie and a 3x4 camera when he was younger. 

His great grandfather was a painter, so you could say it was in his DNA to be an artists. He did try music but instead tried painting and sculpture. Also of his photographs look like it could be a painting because of his framing. He also did film making.

One thing that can be taken from when Henri did was he did his editing in camera. With cropping he would get closer to what he was focusing on.

"I adore shooting photographs," 
 "It's like being a hunter. But some hunters are vegetarians—which is my relationship to photography."
"if you have to correct it its the next picture" 
"life is once forever"  
"the question between a good picture and a mediocre picture is millimeters"
"its an expantion of the eye"

He has a famous photo book but its kinda expensive but there is another book thats affordable  Also there is a documentary as well and an interview  

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Famous Photographer #3

Walker Evans

Born in 1903 and died 1975 which would make him 71 years old when he passed away. He lived through the great depression and the first world war. 

He worked for organizations like FSA and magazines such as TIME. with his photos of American life and architecture. He did not want his photos being used for political reasons, he more wanted to document for historical reasons.  

He went to college for writing but decided to drop out and go to work and photograph. He worked in wall street as a clerk and took photos during his spare time. Since photography was not paying him well he needed to make a living some how.

Walker made friends with a writer named James Agee who both worked together to make a book about life in the farm land. When it first came out it was not very popular till after the war was over.

Most of walkers photos were taken with a Leica but his other cameras were Rolleiflex, 8x10 camera. later in his life he used a Polaroid SX-70. 

There are many books about his work, the most famous of his books

Ghent NY

Ghent NY

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Yesterday

This starts a week ago on Instagram. I was going through and looking at photos of Hudson and I came across a photo of an abandon building that someone was taking photos of. I commented on one of the photos "is there away you can take me up there" so me and the guy the is restoring started talking and yesterday we were both in town. He was showing his friends the building project and I tagged along taking photos. This was my first time going into an "abandon" building and my first Hudson rooftop. If you want to follow a long click here. It was crazy way to get to the roof top. First there was a ladder in a closet that had a tinny opening to the attic and a little bigger opening to get to the roof and the steps were steep. It was cool to see how they go about saving a building and what an old city building looks like. After that I went about my normal Hudson walk. I am learning that all you have to do is ask for things and sometimes things can happen, like this and also the airplane and helicopter rides that I have done. 

One of my artist friends who does street art kind of art had an opening in Chatham. He is the artist who did the treasure hunt this year. He goes by Scout Pines and you can follow him on Instagram. I knew a few people there and it was cool to see what he has been up to. The funny part about the opening was, since I don't drink alcohol they had ice tea just for me.  During his show I walked around town doing some long exposure night photography, something I have not done yet with my Sony A6000. so it was fun playing with that.