Assignment 5: Virtual Essay / Reflections on Photographers and Images

For our last assignment  I had to choose a photographer and take or find five images that reminded me of his/her work. The photographer I have choosen to write about is Ansel Adams. My favorite types of photography are nature and landscape and that's why I decided to choose him. His work is basically nature photography and he is well known because os his black and white landscape photogrpahy. 

 

I hope that my work will encourage self expression in others and stimulate the search for beauty and creative excitement in the great world around us.—Ansel Adams

He is considered as a photographer of the American West, particularly Yosemite National Park. He used his work to promote conservation of wilderness areas and his black and white photos helped to establish photography among the fine arts. Between 1929 and 1942 Ansels' work and reputation developed and he began to publish instructional books on photography. In 1932 Ansel joined Willard Van Dyke, Imogen Cunningham, Edward Weston, Henry Swift, Sonya Noskowiak and Jon Paul Edwards in starting the photographic group f/64. This group was dedicated to photography that showed the world without glossing over bits and pieces of it. In the 1960's his photographs were shown in large galleries and museums. In 1974, the Metropolitan Museum of Art on New York hosted a exhibit of his work. He stands as one of America's greatest landscape photographers. His strenght as an artist is attributed to his investigation of the methods of photography, developing a darkroom technique of exposure and development wich he called the zone system. Even thought Ansel Adams was well known for his black and white photographs, he did experimented with color as well. Anyways he preferred black and white photographs because he felt that color could be distracting.

After studying and looking at Ansel Adams' work, I searched trough different photographs I have taken before and I choose five photographs that reminded me the most of his photographs.

 

I would say that these photographs remind me of Ansel Adams' work because they are nature/landscape photographs. All of the photographs were taken by me in different cities/countries. My first photograph (flower) was taken in Huatulco, México. The rest of them were taken in different parts of Canada. Niagara Falls, Toronto (High Park), Quebec and Ottawa. Even thought my original photogrpahs were all in color I decided to edit them and make them balck and white to make them looke more like Ansel Adams' work. One thing I don't agree with Ansel Adams is what he said about color being a distraction. I think that a color photograph shows the world the way it is and it shows the beauty of it. I strongly agree that landscape photogpraphs are made to show people the bauty of this world and make them fall in love with it, at least that's the way I feel about them. I think that's why it is my favorite type of photograph.


Works Cited:
-A+E Networks. "Ansel Adams. Biography". BIO. True History (2012). <http://www.biography.com/people/ansel-adams-9175697>
-Author Unknown. "Fine Art Photography:Work of  24 Famous Photographers". Web Urbanist (2006-2012). <http://weburbanist.com/2009/09/23/fine-art-photography-work-of-24-famous-photographers/>
-Author Unknown. "Photographer Ansel Adams Biography". Photography West Gallery (2001-2009). <http://www.photographywest.com/pages/adams_bio.html>
-Liz Masoner. "Ansel Adams Biography". About.com (2012). <http://photography.about.com/od/famousphotographers/a/anseladams.htm>
-The Ansel Adams Gallery. "Original Photographs by Ansel Adams". The Ansel Adams Gallery (2012). <http://www.anseladams.com/ansel-adams-photography/original-photographs-by-ansel-adams/>

Assignment 2: Press Photography versus Art Photography

For our second assignment, we had to find two press photographs and two art photographs and compare them.

The first press photograph is called "The Fork", taken by André Kertész. The photo was taken in 1928 and it is one of his most famous works.

"I am an amateur and intend to remain one my whole life long. I attribute to photography the task of recording the real nature of things, their interior, their life. The photographer’s art is a continuous discovery which requires patience and time. A photograph draws its beauty from the truth with which it’s marked. For this very reason I refuse all the tricks of the trade and professional virtuosity which could make me betray my career. As soon as I find a subject which interests me, I leave it to the lens to record it truthfully. Look at the reporters and at the amateur photographer ! They both have only one goal; to record a memory or a document. And that is pure photography."

-André Kertész

The second press photogrpah is called "The Kiss", taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt.  It was taken on Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day) in Times Square, New York on August 14, 1945.

My first art photograph was taken by Ansel Adams in 1958 and it is called "Aspens".

The second art photograph was taken by Ralph Gibson and it was part of his gallery called "San Fran".

The main similarity between press and art photography is that they both capture specific moments in life and with them people keep a memory of events. I think that the main difference between them is that press photography cannot be edited/altered meanwhile art photography can be altered.

It is ethical to alter art photographs because art photographers control how they want their photo to look like. The photographer is meant to express their thoughts on their photos. They can alter the picture to show the public what they think and what they see.
On the other hand, it is not ethical to alter press photographs. These photographs are meant to show the public the truth. Press photographers must keep their photos as they are to keep the story/event the way it is and show everyone how it really happened. If it is altered the photo becomes unreliable and the public would be looking at a lie.


Works Cited:
 - Author Unknown. "What Is Fine Art Photography?". Photography Art Cafe (2012-2012). <http://www.photography-art-cafe.com/definition-of-fine-art-photography.html>
-Author Unknown. "Ansel Adams". Wikipedia (2012). <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams>
-Author Unknown. "Alfred Eisenstaedt". Gallery M (1996-2012). <http://www.gallerym.com/work.cfm?ID=69>
-Author Unknown. "1960-61 San Fran". Ralph Gibson (2012). <http://www.ralphgibson.com/1960-61-san-fran.html>
-Doug. "André Kertész, The Fork". Chasing Light (2011). <http://blog.ricecracker.net/2011/09/05/andre-kertesz-the-fork/>
-James Alinder. "Exclusively Fine Photography". Alinder Gallery (2012). <http://www.alindergallery.com/>

Assignment 1: Photo Manipulation

For this assignment, we had to use photos that we took or find them on the internet and manipulate them by using Photoshop or any other editing software. To manipulate/edit my photos, I decided to use Picasa 3.

ORIGINAL

I took this photo last year at High Park. Fall is my favorite season so I decided to play around with the leaves and capture the colors and the beauty of the season.

EDITED

  The first thing I did to the picture was to change the contrast. This made the leaves stand out. The second thing I did was to play around with the shades. This besides making the color leaves stand out more, it emphasized them. After that I changed the temperature of the color to make the picture brighter. Finally I used the option "warmify" which enhanced the colors and it gives the impression that you are looking at it at the park.

ORIGINAL 

I took my second photo during summer vacation when my family and I went to Mérida, Yucatán. The place I took the picture at is called Chichén Itzá, it is an historic Mayan site and it is known for its ruins. The one in the picture is the main ruin and the place (Chichén Itzá) it's called after this ruin.

EDITED 

What I wanted to do with this picture was to change the viewer's main point of attention, by deleting the extra background on the photo. The first thing I did was to crop the photo leaving out the excess of sky, grass and sides. In this way you can focus on the main part of the picture, the ruin. The second thing I did was to change the contrast. This made the picture look brighter and it gave it more color. The last thing I changed was the shades. With this, I made the picture clearer and it made the ruin stand out more giving it an individual look. As I mentioned before the main point was to focus on the ruin.

INTRODUCTION

Hi everyone, my name is Ana Gonzalez and I am 20 years old. I am in my second year of Culinary Management at George Brown College.

I believe that life comes with no guarantees, no time outs and no second chances. You just have to live life to the fullest, tell someone what they mean to you and tell someone off, speak out, dance in the pouring rain, hold someone's hand, comfort a friend, fall asleep watching the sun come up, stay up late, be a flirt, and smile until your face hurts. Don't be afraid to take chances or fall in love an most of all, live in the moment because every second you spend angry or upset is a second of happines you can never get back.

I am very passionate about food, travelling and photography. I love trying new foods and getting to know new places and countries. Photography is my favorite way of capturing memories. That's why I'm very passionate about it, because you can capture all the beauty in the world and because there is always a story behind a picture. I think photography is another way to express yourself and it is also a way of showing people how do you see the world.

My favorite types of photography are landscape and nature. I took the picture above when I went back home,  México, during summer vacation. My family and I went a few days to Huatulco and this picture was taken in the hotel we stayed at. The beach is one of my favorite places to be at. I think it is paceful and a calming place where you can relax and have a good time.