This week you will study 4 major photographers of the 20th century, Andre Kertesz, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Imogen Cunningham and Dorothea Lange.
The class will divide into 4 groups. Each group will be assigned a photographer to research, view and select work to show and finally, report to the class how these photographers may influence our own work.
Monday:
Please look at select works of each photographer in this
folder.
Find the 2 photos that most move you or may be inspirational to your own work.
At the end of this blog post please respond by citing the two photos by their titles (i.e., Cunningham1.jpg, etc) and discuss what draws you to each photo.
Tuesday:
Please look at select works of each photographer in this
folder and on this document's links.
Compare/contrast the work of the photographers by selecting 1 photo from each photographer and write about the similarities you see and the differences. This should result in about a page reflection, 12pt type, double spaced.
Break into assigned groups and watch the movie and read the selected research articles assigned for each photographer. Prepare a Google Presentation that highlights the following questions/ideas (and make sure to use plenty of photos to accompany the points of your presentation for each page:
- Birth/Death dates, timeframe of most important work
- Location (birthplace, significant places photographer lived/worked)
- Describe their compositional approaches (particularly geometric, forms, golden mean)
- Describe their photographic practice (do they previsualize, do they look for the right moment, do they always take a camera, do they capture a moment, do they pose, do they wait for the right moment, do they analyze light, what is their practice, what tips can you apply to your process)
- What angles do you see the photographer use?
- Describe the tonality in their work
- How does their work communicate?
- What does their work communicate?
- Significant accomplishments.
- What you have learned that you may apply to your own work.
Thursday:
Finalize/present presentations
Assignment for weekend shoot:
You will shoot one scene or shot from 12 different camera angles, varying your position relative to the subject. The scene should be complex enough to be interesting from different angles. An example might be, your dog in the backyard sleeping shot from 12 angles might not be as interesting as your dog playing with a sibling or friend shot from 12 angles. The dinner table with family and or friends gathered around in conversation shot from 12 angles is interesting. A vase of flowers beautifully lit from 12 angles is interesting, a flower in bright sunlight at high noon sitting in a pot in your backyard, not as interesting. Walking downtown Saratoga shooting the same scene in a coffeeshop from 12 angles is interesting, shooting a coffee cup from 12 angles is lazy. Shooting team mates, bandmates or friends all doing something is interesting, again, shooting your sleeping bird from 12 angles, probably not as interesting. So the scene itself should have the potential to communicate something of value. The assignment of shooting this scene from different angles is what we want to practice. I would suggest looking around your neighborhood. A nighttime scene outside at dusk or even dark could be very interesting shot from different angles. Be creative, think about your weekend and all the opportunities you have to practice photography!
Please upload your final shots to the homework folder under the 12/8 sub-folder. You must hand in 12 photos. Late work will be docked one grade point, no exceptions, so plan ahead if you need to.
