Thursday, April 30, 2009

Imogene Cunningham


I like this one of the man in the hat because it conveys a small sense of mystery since his face is partially obscured.

I LOVE this picture of the magnolia because it is so detailed. Look at all of the little curls on the center part!

This is a picture of Frida Kahlo who was a famous artist. I think its cool that Imogene cunningham made an artist in to a piece of art.

The cala lilies in this picture create a really interesting line that draws the eye to the center of the flower. Pretty contrast.

I think this picture is very romantic. I couldnt find any information on who the people were, but the picture really conveys a lot of emotion.

About: Imogene Cunningham was an American photographer known for her photography of botanicals and industry. She was born in Portland, Oregon in 1883. When she was 23 she first encountered the work of Gertrude Kasebier which influenced her to take up photography as an art. She subsidized her tuition at the U of Washington by taking pictures of plants for the botany department. After graduating she went to work with Edward S Curtis in Seattle. She went on to win awards for her portraits that she took in 1913.

Work: Imogene Cunningham is the name of my enlarger and I couldnt think of a photographer to do this on so I looked her up. It turns out I really like her pictures. She took lots of photographs of plants and I love taking pictures of plants so thats one reason I really like her. Her portraits also do a very good job of depicting emotion and I really like that. Since she took her pictures so long ago that the film has a very sepia colored tone and I like that a lot too. It gives the pictures a much different feel.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Final Project

For my final project I have come up with two ideas

1) The cliche but potentially really cool one, age. Old people and young people, the things time does to people, and so forth. Like I say potentially really cool but I think lots of people will have this idea.

2) This one I like better. Being in Utah at this season you can see multiple seasons in one place. Therefore you could photograph pictures that depict spring, summer, and winter all within one week in the spring term. I could take pictures of spring flowers, the snow in the mountains, people at the pools that open soon, all sorts of things. It represents time passing as the seasons change, but the funny thing is they're all taken within a few weeks of each other.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Paul Caponigro


I particularly like this one called pond scum, because he takes something so gross (pond scum) and makes it very beautiful. The contrast and focus are very nice I think.


This Stonehenge one is one of the ones that documents something in a way that is beautiful. The rock in the foreground works very well I think because it balances out the field with the rock formation.

This photo is pretty stunning. At first it confused me because I thought that the black sky was actually the clouds. When i figured it out i was like whoa! because how do you even get a shot like this? It looks like the tree is glowing and the clouds are white and the sky is black! Very cool.


This one is called running white deer for obvious reasons, and it is one of his most famous photos. It almost looks like its a negative since the background is so dark and the deer are so white. But no. The blur is amazing and works very well on the black background.

This is one of the still life portraits. They almost look like paintings because of the way he shoots them, and I like It a lost. I think the contrast says a lot in this one, and the pears being in the circle plate really draws the eye. Also the fact that the pears are so stunningly white!
About:
Paul Caponigro was born in Boston, MA in 1932 and is renowned as one of America's most prestigious photographers. He first started to become interested in photography when he was thirteen and continued in the field throughout his life. Through various side jobs with photography in his early adult life, he became grounded in the career. Some of his major photographic influences were Ansel Adams, Minior White, Edward Weston, and Benjamin Chin. He went on to become a great photographer.

Work:
Paul Caponigro is my favorite photograper of the few that I know anything about. He photographs nature the works of early man in a way that had never been done before, and his prints make a lasting impression on the world of photography. Many of his simple still life portraits are just that, simple, but still manage to convey a much deeper meaning than what is simply there. His photographs of places such as Japan, and architecture from early England and Ireland is simply amazing. Some photographers document things with their pictures. Some make pictures that are intriguing to look at. Caponigro did both. His pictures are amazing and I hope one day I can be as amazing of a photographer as him.