photography

Susan Sontag was an American writer, filmmaker and political activist. She was active in writing and tarveling to areas of conflict and mainly wrote about photograpy. In her book Regarding the pain of others she states "The photographs are a means of making "real" (or "more real") matters that the privileged and the merely safe might prefer to ignore." this suggests that she believes that those who are wealthier do not like to acknowledge the problems that many people, who are not as well off, face. And I don't disagree, todays society like to just block out issues instead of trying to help and spread the wealth. Not many people like to give and that just adds to poverty. The rich become richer and the poor poorer and that's not how it should work. To add to that she also sys "Look, the photographs say, this is what it's like. This is what war does. And that, that is what it does, too. War tears, rends. War rips open, eviscerates. War...

Antonin Kratochvil Antonin Kratochvil, a Czech-born American photojournalist, Is a funding member of VII photo agency. He gained a BFA in photography from a school in Amsterdam. He has photographed for the Iraq war for fortune but was recently suspended sexual harassment allegations. In the first image we can see a crowd of people. I like this image because you understand what is happening as soon as you see the image. You can tell that it is a busy area and that Kratochvil is pushing through a crowd. I also like that it is blurry because it looks intentional and it adds to the story of the crowded area. I like the second image because it shows pollution which is an  everday thing that happens but its also just a really beautiful image  which is kind of confusing because pollution isn't a beautiful thing. I like that it shows the power of photography and how anything can be  beautiful if you make it that way.

 Sebastiao Salgado was born in Aimores, Minas Gerais, Brazil and is a social documentary photographer and photojournalist. he has traveled in over 120 countries for his photography projects and his touring exhibitions have been world wide. He is a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. he initially began working on new assignments before leaning more towards documentary type work. I like the first image because I like how he captured the suns rays on the elephant almost like a natural spotlight for he elephant. I also like the different tonalities. although the image is black and while you can still see the differences between the elephant and the tree branches.  I like the second image because it almost has a majestic feel to it. It almost doesn't even seem real. there is so much happening but it also just all works together too. it isn't overpowering and I like the way he did that. 

Herbert Ritts Jr was an American fashion photographer. He took many photographs of celebrities, models and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. his focus was in black and white photography usually in the style of classical Greek cultures. He photographed many famous people such as Madonna, Britney Spears, Ronald Reagan and Johnny Depp while in California. Ri tts also worked for many big magazine companies such as time, vogue and vanity fair. I like the first image because it looks so simple and pure but it was actually probably very staged. I like that there really isn't much going on and that her posture and facial expression is somewhat natural. I like the second image for very similar reasons. its so natural and there's really not much happening. I also like the second one because she isn't  posed again. she is very naturally staged if staged at all and it kind of looks like she is just coming up out of the pool. there's no make up or exc...

Ralph Gibson is an American art photographer best known for his photographic book. His images usually incorporate fragments with underlying and mysterious tones. His focus was mainly on building narrative meaning through contextualization and surreal juxtaposition. Gibson has maintained a lifelong fascination with books and book-making and since 1970, his work has been more and more focused on printed pages. I like the style of his first picture because it gives off an almost eerie vibe. I like how you can see the different tones and 'colors' in his eye even though it is a black and white image. I also like the different shadows you can see in the creases of his face. I like the contrast of the second image, the background is so dark and then you get the lightness of her face and the hand that are in the picture. Also to me this kind of tells a story, I feel like the girl is leaving but doesn't necessarily want to and the person in front is willing for her to s...

Steve McCurry Steve McCurry is an American photographer, freelancer and photojournalist. He is most famously known for his photograph of the afghan girl that was the cover of the national geographic. he has received many awards over his years of photography including magazine photographer of the year and two first-place prizes in the world press photo contest. All of this began at Penn state university where he took pictures for the Penn state newspaper The Daily Collegian.  I like the first picture to the left because I like how he is just focused on the guy and how the back ground is blurry. I like this because it shows the main focus of the image is the guy and that he is the important part of the image. This is good use of depth of field. I like the image to the right because of all the different colors. I like the tones of red and the different shades of grey. I also like the animals that you can see and how the image tells a story. to me it ...

Michael Kenna Michael Kenna is an English photographer best known for his black and white photography. Kenna usually photographs at dawn or night and has exposures for up to 10 hours. his photographs concentrate on condition of the natural landscape, and human made structures and sculptural mass.    I really like the picture to the right because of how contrasted it is. the contrast draws your attention to the silhouette of the tree but in reality if you look more closely you can see the shadows of the landscape behind it. it makes me question how long his exposure was and how he took this picture in general. I also really like the picture below because the different shadows and highlights almost make it look as though there is a lightening storm or just a storm in general. the power lines and satellite tower also add to this feel. i like the use of different shades of black and white in comparison to the previous picture.