DB7 - Presentation Week 7: Photography and society

I thought the autobiography about Alexander Rodchenko that Sadia did was excellent due to it having information about his style and how he made his art. It also has a lot of information about his career from its early stages in painting to "making music albums, films and postures for advertisements such as propaganda."

I thought the autobiography about John Heartfield was also good because he was an assistant to a painter for two years before becoming a student at the School of Applied Arts in Munich. He later studied under Ernst Neuman at the arts and crafts school. He was drafted into the infantry during the First World War. After the war he joined the German Communist Party (KPD). He later attacked Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party using photomontage. He later went to England in 1938 and returned to Germany in 1950. in 1960 John became professor at the German Academy of Arts in Berlin.
All in all a good autobiography about this artist and it has much information about this artist and the photographs are good as well showing the skill of John Heartfield.

I thought the autobiography that Suraya did on Peter Kennard was very well done also. He began his career at thirteen and later became famous for making photographs that are "based icon/revolutionary of photomontage photography." "Peter is known his incendiary composite images such as the one featured in my assigned reading entitled--‘Photo Op’." The "picture shows a smiling/leering former British Prime Minister Tony Blair taking a picture of himself in front of an explosion. Obviously this piece in question isn’t real, the original picture of Blair has been doctored more specifically--it’s been superimposed onto a picture of a fiery explosion for shock-and-awe." I am impressed by Peter Kennard and that picture about former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and how he made it to be a fine work of art some may say.

I agree with Victoria I think that there are many similairities between between Alexander Rodchenko, Peter Kennard, and John Heartfield’s work (Photomontages). I also agree that every photographer or artist has some differences in their work than other photographers or artists.

I agree with Christine that Alexander Rodchenko, Peter Kennard, and John Heartfield's photomontages display a message that they wanted people looking at their photos to know about politics or society. I also agree that they wanted the people viewing their photos to know the meaning of the photograph and how they felt when making it and why people should look at their photographs.

I agree with Rebecca, every photographer has his/her own goals to send their message(s) to society through their photos. I also agree that photographers can achieve change through their photographs. I also look at the photos of these three photographers what other people will understand or learn through the photos when they look at them in the present and in the future.

All in all a great presentation I liked the pictures as they were the perfect photos for this presentation about Alexander Rodchenko, Peter Kennard, and John Heartfield’s photomontages and I liked them especially one one that Insulted Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party back in the 1930's. I am impressed by the autobiographies and appreciate you guys taking the time to talk more about each photographer in more detail. Good Job all of you a great presentation overall

DB 4 - Presentation Week 4: From Alfred Stieglitz and Minor White to Man Ray and Laszlo Moholy- Nagy

I agree with Warren that the photographer that takes the photograph is the artist. I have always thought of a photographer as an artist just a different kind than we normally see in the world. Photographs are just as beautiful as paintings in my opinion because they are both beautiful and have a meaning in them and you can see it if you look close enough. In my opinion, Stieglitz had a theory called "Naturalism" which Warren referred to is "a type of photographs most closely resembled the way the human eye sees things". I believe that when Stieglitz gave up on the idea of "photographs being the same as paintings" he took a new path in his life and took his own photographs no longer worried about pictures that look like they were painted on.

I always thought that photographs were just pictures of a setting to always preserve the memories of that day. When Mark said that Minor White's deep belief in the idea of "Equivalence" which is a "theory on the idea that any image, regardless of how good you are, should function as an experience, as opposed to a thing." Minor White's devotion to "Equivalence" has really changed my view of photography because now when I look at photographs I will explore my feelings within myself and try to get others to use the theory of "equivalence" when looking at photographs of their own. I agree with Mark that when I look at Minor White's Photography that I see "water, the sky, doorways, etc." Each of these photographs helps the people that view them to explore their inner feelings.

I agree with Jennifer when she says "Man Ray is an intriguing artist" Unlike many other photographers Man Ray did not follow the norm like everybody else did. Man Ray didn't use a camera to make his pictures. He made pictures that he referred to as "Rayogrammes" which were made on a "light sensitive paper". These photos focused on the light and the shadows not the image. Man Ray made pictures that were unique only to him. They were pictures of "fantasy and the unexpected not reality". In the past his art was very creative. In my opinion I admire Man Ray for using his creative style to make unique pictures that revolutionized photography and has set the bar for photographers today in my opinion.

I agree with Jade when I look at Moholy-Nagy's photographs I notice they may symbolize something that can be interpreted by the viewer of the photograph's his/her own way. In my opinion Moholy-Nagy was a very good photographer that took good pictures in the light, and the shadows. His pictures can be a positive or negative aspect in everyone's lives.

In my opinion, I agree with Kienan because even though the person making the painting or photograph uses different procedures the pictures can be referred to as a painting. In my opinion, instead of drawing this painting though you take it with a camera because photography is a form of art and the photographs are art because they have a meaning or a symbol in the photograph.

I just want to congratulate Warren, Mark, Jennifer, Jade and Kienan for doing a great wonderful job on their presentation. The assignment was very well done by every member of this group. Using Pictures as well to further explain their point at times made me learn a few things from just reading this presentation.

DB 6 - Presentation Week 6: Documenting the great depression

The Farm Security Administration- Office of War Information Collection has black and white pictures that revolutionized the history of documentary photography. The black and white images show American people at home,work and at a play from the time of the Great Depression up to World War Two (1935-1945). The photographs have a particular emphasis on Americans living in rural areas and small towns and the effects that the Great Depression had up to the end of World War Two on the American People. Some of the most famous photographs of this collection are of people that were
"displaces from farms and migrated West or to industrial cities in search of work." ( Para. 1, Sen. 3)  In the FSA-OWI's later years it "documented on America's mobilization for World War Two." (Para 1, Sen. 4)  The FSA-OWI has 164,000 black and white negatives as well as 1600 color photographs.

The "Migrant Mother" picture is a photograph that Dorothea Mange made of Florence Owens Thompson and her children in February or march 1936 in California. The "Migrant Mother" photograph Showed the human side of  people during the great depression. The "Migrant Mother" Photograph was published to help the people during the time of the great depression. This photograph helped the other people really define the great depression just by looking at it.

The role of the "Migrant Mother" nowadays is to remind us that in the past middle and lower class Americans went through some very hard times during the great depression. America is going through tough economic times and that the current economic crisis is the worst since the Great Depression. Even though times are tough for Americans now look at athe "Migrant Mother" photograph and learn from the past because nobody wants to go through what Florence Owens Thompson went through during the great depression. Make a better present and future in times like these and have more options to help people if should a recession or another great depression come around and not to repeat the same mistakes we have made in the past regarding situations like the great depression.  

 

DB 5 - Presentation Week 5: From Robert Fenton's combat photographs to Robert Capa's war photography

After looking over all the material, Matthew Brady, Alexander Gardner, Roger Fenton and Robert Capa all took war or miltary related photographs. The difference being they took photograpgs of different wars such as the Crimean War, American Civil War, and World War II. I agree with Mark on this Fenton's photos seem less graphic than Brady, Hardner and Capa's photographs. Fenton actually took pictures of military soldiers that were actually ready to take a picture and not dead soldiers bodies laying still dead on the battlefield. Fenton would also take non militaristic photographs during his career and take photographs of scenary such as his Moscow, Domes of the Churches in the Kremlin, in 1852.


The other three photographers Brady, Capa, and Gardner all took photographs of dead soldiers their bodies fallling or laying on the battlefield after battles. I see a resemblance of Gardner's and Brady's photographs of the American Civil War because it was during the same time but they took pictures of different battlefields during the Civil War. Brady took self portraits of every President of the United States with names such as Abraham Lincoln, John Quincy Adams, and William Mckinley. Gardner took photos while travelling West to the "Promised Land" such as "Group at Junction, Kansas". This is a photograph Gardner took of the transcontinental railroad two years before it was completed.


Robert Capa's work was during the Twentieth Century as he took pictures during World War Two. He mostly took pictures of military personnel and civilians during the Second World War. Capa like Gardner, Brady, and Fenton took pictures of dead soldiers on the battlefield, but unlike the other three he also took pictures of soldiers in action during the war.

Capa, Brady, Gardner, and Fenton were four great photographers of their era that were able to take photographs during the time of the Crimean war, American Civil War, and World War Two and will always be remembered by people for being photographers and taking pictures during times of war on the battlefield.

Assignment 2 Photo Manipulation Assignment

This is the Original Photograph:

This is a painted photograph meaning it was a painting that was photographed by a photographer. I made this photograph brighter in some areas like the hair, neck and scarf. I changed this because in my opinion if I was the photographer taking this photograph I would alter it and add what I thought would catch a persons' attention. I thought it would look better if it had some brighter color for some areas like the women's scarf, neck, and hair. I also changed the color of the parts around the women in the photograph from black, red, and blue to yellow. I made this change because I tried several different colors like red, blue, green, white, and finally yellow to see which one would capture not only my attention but other people that will view this photograph because I want this picture to capture their attention as well. I wrote a caption at the top of this photograph that says "this is the altered version of the photograph". I put this at the top of the photograph because I want the people viewing the photograph to know it is not the original which is done by a painter. I want the people to know when they look at this photograph that the picture is still the same, but it has some ideas of my own added to it that make it my own definition of art. I changed the scarf's colors from blue, green, and orange to a darker shade of green and yellow. I changed this because I felt the colors were not the right ones I would have used darker green and yellow on the scarf to make it brighter to show the people looking at the picture the beautiful colors on the women and around her that make the photograph look beautiful even if it was mechanically reproduced many times in my opinion I would always say that this picture is art. This photograph will be remembered by some people as they will think it is beautiful because it has good color and is brighter and both allow for the people to see the beauty in either certain places in the picture or the entire picture as a whole.



This is the Original Photograph

This is a World War II photograph of Allied Soldiers standing beside each other holding a Nazi Germany Flag in front of their entire regiment. The first thing I changed from the photograph was its brightness - darkness. I changed this because when photographers took photographs during World War II of soldiers on either side was that the pictures were normally darker than the original photograph. I also changed the frame of the photograph into a darker shade of black and white. I changed the frame of this photograph because in my opinion it makes the picture look more realistic like it was actually taken during World War II. I put a caption at the top of the altered photograph "this is the altered photograph". I put a caption on the altered photograph because I wanted the people that look at the two photographs to know which one is the original and which is the one that has been altered to show the people that the altered photograph is my version of how the photograph would look as I would have used an older method of photography that makes the photograph develop as a darker black and white picture. The caption also shows everybody that I edited/altered this original picture and made some changes and added my own ideas to the photograph making it my definition of art as in my opinion this photograph is art to me now and is to be remembered for the sacrifices the Allied forces made during World War II to stop the tyrant Adolf Hitler.


References:
http://images04.olx.in/ui/11/88/14/1302344736_32068414_1-learn-drawing-painting-portraitsoil-painting-with-easy-way-andheri-west.jpg
http://www.realwarphotos.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/A112.32794259.jpg