PHOTOGRAPHERS RESEARCH

Lee Friedlander

Born in 1934, Friedlander had been capturing picture with his camera from the age of 14. By 22 he had moved to New York City and started to photograph jazz musicians for record covers which started off his career within photography. By the 1980's some of his most famous photographs appeared in the September 1985 Playboy, which were black and white nude photographs of Madonna from the late 1970s. However, Friedlander was most notoriously known for his landscape, especially of social america. 

The photo is of New York city from the perspective of what looks like to be a passenger, although the left-hand side is known to be the driver side in America. The photo is in black and white with the inside of the car having a much lower exposure compared to the outside. When first looking at the photo my eye is initially drawn to the architecture and the famous landmarks in the background. The lighting was most likely natural due to the photograph being taken from a moving vehicle and this could suggest why the inside of the car has much darker tones. The photo was from a shoot called ‘America by car” in which he took photographs of American landscapes from the comfort of his car. This explains why the photo has included features of the car like the window, wingmirror and various controls inside of the car. 

This photo is a landscape from a series of photos titled ‘The street” which involves a string of photos all related to people walking around a city and going about their day to day life. The photo is in black and white with a high contrast and light exposure reflecting off the windows. Pictured is what looks like to be an office woman possibly leaving for her lunch break and to the left in the foreground a casually dressed man. By his face being covered in the photo it creates a sense of mystery as it Is not clear what his purpose and intention is from the photo. I would say the mood behind the photo is neutral and this is what the photographer had intended on, for the photo to be candid and the people within to show 0 expression.  

This photo is again from the series of photos called ‘The Street’ the photo shows pedestrians walking across pavements and sideroads of what looks like to be a city in America possibly New York. It has a high exposure of black and white and when referring to the Ansel Adams zone system there is many areas of zone 0 which is total black in print. The main subject of the image would be the man wearing the white fedora. He has a very subdued look upon his face which could suggest he has a lot on his mind, he is carrying a paper in his hand and by him being dressed in a suit could suggest he is a private investigator or businessman. The sign in the background shows how the image may have been taken when workers where on there break getting food from the cafeteria and by the café being called ‘crossroads’ it suggests they are by a busy street/ crossroads. 

Robert Adams 

Born in 1937 Adams is an american photographer who focused on landscapes within the west. He started photography in his spare time by choosing his first subjects early prairie churches and early Hispanic art, subjects of unalloyed beauty. In the 1970s and ’80s Adams produced a series of books—The New West, Denver, What We Bought, Summer Nights—that focused on expanding suburbs along Colorado’s Front Range, books that pictured heedless development but also the surviving light, scale, form, and silence of the natural world. He also examined this mixture of humanity’s imprint and nature’s resilience in the wider western landscape.

Looking south from Ecola, 1990

This landscape is from a series of images Adams took entitled ‘West from the Columbia’ It shows a wide range of seascapes mostly in black and white with a strong contrast of light and dark tones. In the photo you can see the waves gently rolling into the shore which can imply there was a slight breeze but nothing causing massive crashing waves of water. The image is composed of mostly areas of darker tones with the waves being the lighter areas of the image depicting a clear indication of where the waves form. The lighting used was clearly natural due to the image being photographed outside which means the exposure would have been higher. I like how due to the image being in black and white it really shows the detail and texture of the waves.  

This landscape image shows a clear contrast between light and dark tones from the sky to the sea. The image has a mellow feel to it and this could be caused by the grey undertones by the image being in black and white. However, in the image you can see in the background a more intense white and when comparing this to the Ansel Adams zone system would be nearer to 9 which can reflect a bright white and shows detail in highlights. This can suggest that when the image was taken it in fact wasn’t an overcast day but quite sunny and if the image was in colour may make you feel more warm than when the picture is in black and white. 

Garry Winogrand

Born in New York 1928, this was where Winogrand lived and worked most of his life. Best known for his portrayal of U.S life he focused on The visual elements of city streets, people, rodeos, airports and animals in zoos. These subjects are part of his most influential work and within his lifetime he received many grants, including several Guggenheim Fellowships and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.

In this photograph, it is showing workers in an airport. The faceless character in the foreground is a pilot and this can be shown by the uniform he is wearing. By looking at the clothes an attire I would assume this photo was taken around the late 50’s which would also explain why the photo was in black and white and also why it was easier to access and take photos of terminals as the laws were not as strict. 

This landscape photo depicts travellers going to and from an airport. This includes passenger’s excited and about to go abroad as well as loved ones waiting for their family members as they’ve just got home. You can see on the right a woman dressed in what looks like to be a stewardess uniform which could suggest that she may have just got in from a flight and on the left is a slightly older woman who is in a wheelchair and looks like she could be waiting for someone. The picture is in black and white and could imply that the photo is older, perhaps from the 70’s-80’s by the way people are dressed and the clothes that they wear also due to the style of luggage they carry that is not as evolved as present modern day. The photo is composed of many lines, that of the doors and columns but by the way the photo has been taken at angle I would think that they did not have the use of a tripod. I think the photo is trying to show an everyday life of at airport and reflects the different emotions through the image.