Archive for the Photographers Category

Is this the first ever (self)portrait …

 

The man above is Robert Cornelius, one of the earliest pioneers in the field of photography. His contributions helped usher in the age of photography, and this particular photograph of him from 1839 is an important bit of history: it is thought to be the first photographic portrait of a human ever made.

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Before there was Photoshop II …. The Cottingley Fairies

Wow, well seems there are other people out there that like the topic other then me. Thanks for all the links to other examples. And pointing out that there is actually an exhibit at the  Metropolitan Museum of Art called fake it.

Before there was photoshop, there was Man Ray. One of the world’s most original photographers, Ray was tireless experimenter. In fact, his work was so inventive that he eventually left the camera behind altogether, creating his surreal “Rayographs” entirely in the darkroom.

More about Man Ray soon (first need to check out about image rights etc)

Continue reading Before there was Photoshop II …. The Cottingley Fairies «Before there was Photoshop II …. The Cottingley Fairies»

Before there was Photoshop…..

Intro

photo magazine from 1941 with photo manipulation tips

The other day I came across some examples of “Photo manipulation” prior to Photoshop. Image manipulation in the dark room is nothing new but it took a whole lot more patients, skill and time. NO undo or save button. Much has been made over Photoshops ability to distort reality, and perhaps lower the standards for image capture as young photographers assume they can “fix it in post.” However, almost all of these abilities have existed as long as there have been photographs to alter, albeit with a little more manual labour. As people were not as aware of the the possibilities photo manipulation was a powerful tool for both propergander and art alike

 

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Newton

Helmut Newton

Helmut Newton (Helmut Neustädter) was born into a Jewish family in October 1920, Berlin. This German-Australian photographer is best known for long prolific photography career, his erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of many fashion magazines for decades.

 

I have been interested in Newtons work since I saw the exhibit “Big Nudes” in Hamburg about 15 years ago. About 10 years ago I discovers a small publication of his advertising work for German ceramics manufacturer Villeroy & Boch, which rekindled my interest in his work.

Warning this blog contains images on a sexual nature

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Diane Arbus

Arbus

Diane Arbus was born as Diane Nemerov in  New York, March 1923. An American photographer known for her black-and-white square photographs of “deviant and marginal people (dwarfs, giants, transgender people, nudists, circus performers) or of people whose normality seems ugly or surreal”. A 2006, the motion picture Fur, starring Nicole Kidman as Arbus, was based very vaguely on her life.

 

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The Bang Bang Club

Intro

The name “Bang-Bang club” was mainly associated with four photographers active within the townships of South Africa between 1990 and 1994, Kevin Carter, Greg Marinovich, Ken Oosterbroek, and João Silva. I first stumbled upon this group of war correspondents when I found a film called “The Bang Bang club”. The film is based on the lives of these 4 photographers during the period of transition in South Africa, from the apartheid system to government based on universal suffrage (from when Nelson Mandela was released from prison to the 1994 elections). This period saw a lot of black on black factional violence, particularly fighting between ANC and IFP supporters, after a ban on both political parties was lifted.

Ken Oosterbroek, João Silva, Kevin Carter  and Greg Marinovich as depicted in the film “The Bang Bang club”

WARNING the following blog contains images of a disturbing nature

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Richard Avedon

Avedon

Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that “his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America’s image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century”. He has photographed the best of the best in every field of business. He has photographed the stars of music, film, literature, politics, art, dance, theater, and fashion. He got his start in 1947 in fashion photography, photographing for designers such as Dior. His photographs are some of the most well known photographs in the last 60 years.

 

 

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Jazz Age Beauties

Jazz Age Beauties

 

“Jazz Age Beauties: The Lost Collection of Ziegfeld Photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston” is a book I stumbled across on Amazon a while back. Its shows the private collection of New York photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston (known as “Cheney” to his friends and associates). Born April 1885 Cheney was best  known for his portraits of Ziegfeld Follies showgirls and actors and actresses of the 1920s and 1930s

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  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Universe (October 17, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0789313812
  • ISBN-13: 978-0789313812

Warning the following post contains mild female nudity

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Félix Nadar

Nadar

 

There is a photographer that has fascinated me for years “Félix Nadar”. Félix Nadar was the pseudonym of  ”Gaspard-Félix Tournachon” born in April 1820 in Paris and died in March 1910. Nadar was a photographer, and a friend of the painters, writers, and intellectuals in Paris during the time of Napoleon III. As an early pioneer of portrait photography he developed lighting concepts that are the basis studio work today. Earlier this year we were in Avignon and stumbled across a museum with an exhibit of over 100 of his photos, you can’t imagine how ecstatic I was to actually see his work up close ….

 

 

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