Research
Having selected Crowds as the topic for Assignment 2, I felt that Street Photography could perhaps give me some interesting areas to research over and above the suggested photographers from within the course text which are more focussed on researching specific lens / aperture techniques.
Whilst undertaking my research I looked into the following photographers:
Henri Cartier-Bresson, Garry Winogrand, Robert Frank, Helen Levitt, Lee Friedlander, William Eggleston, Walker Evans, Daidō Moriyama, Martin Parr, Elliot Erwitt, Joel Meyerowitz, Mary Ellen Mark, Bruce Davidson, Saul Leiter, Trent Parke, Alex Webb, Vivian Maier.
Looking at the images produced by all of these photographers, I was surprised to see that it was possible to identify a unique style for each person. This should not be surprising really, they have become well regarded photographers for their abilities and individual styles; but this is not something that I have considered before in this genre of photography.
I have listed all the names above because I want to come back to them, each brings something unique to the genre. I expect that this might be a useful source when it comes to Part 3 of this course where I have seen that ‘The Decisive Moment’ is investigated.
In terms of context for my assignment, that of Crowds, most of the images I found were street orientated but the emphasis of the images was of individuals and their locations rather than crowds.
Two photographers stood out for me for specific reasons and I have selected them for further research for Assignment 2, this further research can be found in different posts within this learning log:
- Garry Winogrand – who was ‘awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to investigate the effect of media on events’ (Photography in America, 2012) and as a result many of his shots include crowds.
- Saul Leiter – who made extensive use of colour in street photography and therefore brings a different perspective to the black and white images that one might expect for this genre. It has been said that ‘Instinctively for him, colour was the picture.’ (The Photographers’ Gallery, 2016)
Bibliography
Photography in America. (2012). Garry Winogrand – “Public Relations”. [online] Available at: https://photographyinamerica.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/garry-winogrand-public-relations/ [Accessed 19 Mar. 2017].
The Photographers’ Gallery. (2016). Saul Leiter – The Photographers’ Gallery. [online] Available at: http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/saul-leiter-2 [Accessed 20 Mar. 2017].