Color Photographers at Work
Stephen Shore, Joel Meyerowitz, Martin Parr and John Gossage speaking about the use of color in photography from BBC series, Genius of Photography – Paper Movies.
.
In the opening essay entitled Colleagues of Robert Adam’s book, Why People Photograph, he discusses the importance of looking at the work of others.
Your own photography is never enough. Every photographer who has lasted has depended on other people’s pictures too – photographs that may be public or private, serious or funny, but that carry with them a reminder of community.
If I like many photographer, and I do, I account for this by noting a quality they share – animation. They may or may not make a living by photography, but they are alive by it.
This sense of a photographic community is vital and imperative to continued development and nurturing of both a photographers’ vision as well as photography itself. As was mentioned in a previous post, The Education of a Photographer, I would propose students of photography embrace it all, the photoblogs, Flickr, websites, galleries, museums, as well as fellow photographers engaged with the medium in a manner similar to your own aspirations, including conceptual concerns, aesthetic approaches and thoughts on the possibilities of photography. Working with color materials presents the developing photographer new challenges in expressing their photographic vision, including how color and the color of light can be utilized in relationship to their visual concerns.
With this in mind, select and consider the work of a color photographer to discuss the following questions. In addition to looking at the work, it will be necessary to do research for interviews and/or articles about the photographer to complete your discussion.
There are a number of resources, both online as well as in photographic books, in which to discover color photographers, including from the list below, Photography-Now, which has an extensive archive of online portfolios of both masters and contemporary photographers, or a color photographer from your own research.
Which color photographer’s work are you drawn to and why?
Specifically, describe how are they utilizing color materials to reveal their subject matter, including the descriptive nature of color, color contrasts, the color of light, as welll as their use of color to suggest a psychological, emotional and/or symbolic context?
.
Color Photographers at Work | Then and Now
COMPLETE
Cheking the different picture´s photographers I found Richard Misrach´s pictures the most interesting and beautiful and also Edward Burtynsky I think their job is very inspirational.
The way Misrach´s use the pale colors and natural lighting it calls my attention and to see how he mixes the nature and something created by humans all well framed in his pictures the cold colors show a very calm mood an inspires to some deep thoughts.
The contrast use by Edward Burtynsky is quite strong, the way he uses light make the objects look very attractive, this pictures transmit some outgoing and energy full of gladness although he is playing with different types of emotions.
Philip-Lorca diCorcia: he takes everyday situations and with his use of light and color inspires a sense of awareness of the emotion and psychology of the situations. His photographs have a sense of drama because of the facial expressions and color temperature. His photographs are simple yet they encourage the viewer to make up a story about what is happening in the picture. The photographs have a cinematic quality, when you look at them the people in them seem absorbed in the situation, not aware of the camera. I’m not sure whether he arranges everything beforehand or if he takes spontaneous pictures because it looks like he pays a lot of attention to detail and composition.
William Eggleston has an extensive archive of portfolios of both masters and contemporary photographer. His photos are well built not only because of the color and the content, but the simplicity and the different vantage points. He makes pictures of simple objects that you would not typically photograph but in this setting they are interesting. I find Eggleston to be an inspiration. Eggleston is also a great color photographer in his use of complimentary and contrasting colors. One of my favorites of his pictures is a pink gas station with the purple sky, I also like a simple picture of an old fashion truck in the field. The colors of the field and the truck make the photo excellent.
I am also drawn to Ernst Haas’ style of photography. I like the old fashion black and white photos of all the beautiful people doing everyday things. I also like her color photos in her abstract portfolio because most of them look almost like a painting with the use of abnormal colors and designs laid out in a different format. Ernst also has some amazing colors in his photos of nature as life is happening in crazy beautiful situations. My favorite of Ernst’s portfolios is the New York one. All the photos are abstract in a way unique to the photographer but also portray the city in color. Appealing to the viewer’s psychological, emotional and symbolic side. You can feel the warmth of the photos with the warm colors of yellow and red, or in the nightlife of the city. With Haas’ photos you can feel the importance of travel because to the description of color and lighting.
I like Alec Soth´s work because all the colors that he uses in his pictures are very strong, all the components have a specific place, it is like every shot he takes has the things the way they are supposed to be, and also his pictures are kind of funny. His pictures transmit emotions with the placement of objects in the scene and the way the light falls on specific objects. Although his pictures often look cluttered, his use of color and light force the eye on one single object.
The color photographers work I am most drawn to is that of Len Jenshel. What draws me most to his work is his subject. While I feel it is possible to make a good picture with a simple subject, in my opinion, the most effective pictures have a solid focus. Specifically the two most intriguing collections are “On the Line” and “NYC Waterfront.” What draws me to both collections are the intense saturation of colors in an ordinarily dry and rather neutrally colored scenes In both collections, Jenshell uses color to add beauty where it may not obviously exist. Likewise, I admire the way Jenshell captures light and shadows. His shots seem to be made at my favorite time of day; late evening where everythign has a golden glow, making even the most dismal scenes seem warmer. Also, the position of the light source casts shadows creating sharper contrasts, making the colors bolder.
Taking a look to several pictures and considering the originality, the composition matter and obviously the aesthetic considerations I found two photographers that change my vision of photography in some way but mainly reveal me some things that I haven’t seen before.
The things that really change my vision are more about the meaning of pictures than the picture by itself, it tells me more about just a click can do with a simple object and make me feel the photograph as an extension of the reality that we are living into the reality that photographers are living in the moment, that happened to me with Christian Patterson, that in his work even when the colour contrast is very obvious, he make the moment different because of emphasis some times, and some others because of the presence of distracting or secondary objects that become an important part of the frame, getting at the end those colours so alive of simple objects that belong so a complex composition of colour; the quotidian that is continuous in his work make it more interesting, and the light management as an indispensable resource of description, because even if the pictures do not present shadows at all, the variation of colour that they present are what make you feel the dept of the picture making an effect in you of three dimensionality, as an example of this there is the picture “Lincoln Continental” that the dept is determined by the combination of colour contrast (black & white) and the diffused shadow not only create dept, but speed, contrast and life to the picture even when the car is static, causing in me the impression that a simple picture is more effective than a complex one and that really change my vision of photography and special the colour photography issues.
I found Paul D’Amato’s color phtography to be very inspirational and powerful. His portraits have not only interesting people but elaborate and interesting stories also. He photographed public housing projects and their residents, all of the portraits are real and intense- the characters look curious yet guarded. Either there is entertaining activity going on or a strong emotion presented. His use of color and lighting exaggerate and contribute to these emotions. The characters he chooses to photograph all have pondering or contemplative expressions on their face which draws your attention to the rest of the photograph and makes you question, what is going on for them to feel that way. If the character looks sad, he reveals them through a shadow or dim lighting using color and light to describe the mood of the photo. He uses a lot of natural lighting which produces shadows and makes his photos have an extreme light and dark contrast. Using natural lighting creates very real and accurate colors, the color of the light is the color of the figure- it looks as if he uses no special affects, only natural real color and settings- which I admire.
I was also inspired by the work of Ryan Mcginley who, on the contrary, photographs staged settings and uses special lighting affects. He photographs naked teenagers running through the desert and other entertaining youthful scenes. Since his photographs are 100% staged, his use of color is very thoughtful and complements and exaggerates the mood of the picture. But pretending for a second his photos are not planned but natural, I can relate a lot to his work. All of his photos are youthful and fun, and all the characters hace some unique strange quality about them. He uses faded and unsaturated color, giving the images more of a vintage, olden day feel. He uses a lot of unusual color settings, either muted yellow tones, or special effects like fire works, which helps give the characters even more of a unique personality. The color of light he uses is also very unsaturated, either a cold pale blue, or a mellow yellow, making the pictures look like they were shot just before sunset.He does not use any extreme color contrasts, mostof his lighting and color is very subtle.
Ryan McGinley photographs his peers, combining the shapes of their bodies and their expressions with different elements of light to make photographs that capture their subjects at particular moments in time. The pictures evoke a nostalgic, emotionally charged tranquility and excitement. The inclusion of people in art, especially in photographs, tends to foster a stronger connection between the viewer and the piece, and that is definitely the case with McGinley´s work. The subjects exude a comfort and a quiet confidence in their nudity, expressing form with the implied movement of their bodies and expressions. When seen individually, the figures are generally against a background washed with one or two colors that highlight the impression and mood of the scene. When they are together, the subjects act in relation to one another to create an emotionally moving scene in which the color is intrinsic, but still just as effective.
McGinley makes good use of this color impression – colored light reflected from colored objects that modify the colors of other objects – at times reflecting ambient blues or oranges onto the bodies and faces of his subjects, and at others reflecting the colors of their bodies onto the landscape. He also makes use of color expression by using both concentrated and atmospheric color and light in the photographs, creating poignant moments and highlighting expressions. There are lots of shades of blue, representing passivity, atmospheric-ness, depth, stability, tranquility, and softness. There are also lots of yellows, greens, and oranges, representing many things including happiness, energy, freshness, harmony, and nature. Many of the color contrasts are subtle – for example, light blues and soft oranges that delicately demonstrate complimentary contrast and warm/cool contrast, or variations in hue of several similar yet distinct colors – yet the color is effectively captured and placed within the frame in order to create soft but effective scenes.
Looking at David LaChapelle’s work, he is a very inspirational photographer. He takes his photographs to a completely different level from his content to the color he uses. I really enjoy fashion photography and his photographs are so surreal and unique. Paired with the extreme content of his pictures, the saturated colors make his photographs really come alive. He takes the artists’ styles to make an interesting colorful photo conveying a message, which may oppose the majority of the public’s opinion: Kanye West wearing a thorn crown and Michael Jackson posing with the Virgin of Guadalupe. David LaChapelle likes to challenge the norm of society; he includes race, gender, and religion as themes to contest in his photographs.
LaChapelle says, “Anytime you aim at light, you change reality.” In Alicia Keys photograph, he uses the complementary colors of orange and blue and yellow and violet. In many of his photographs, actually, he uses the complementary colors. In some of his other photos, when he uses warm colors, he’ll use warm colors throughout the entire photograph. However, in most of his photographs, he will use a contrast of warm and cool colors combined with complementary colors.
One of the photographers that I am especially drawn to is Mark Cohen. I like his work because he has a variety of different content and he does not really seem to fit into one category in terms of what he is photographing. He has both black and white pictures and color photographs. The things he photographs seem to really tell a story about the subject. The picture that I was originally drawn to is a group of 5 kids who are walking down the street laughing and playing around. The complementary colors and the facial expressions of the kids really make it a great picture. Also, the actions of the children are very interesting. One of the kids has a big smile on his face while smoking a cigarette and another kid is eating a lollipop. It is a very candid and in the moment picture, which seems to be a theme in all of Cohen’s pictures.
The first thing that I noticed about the color in his photographs was that he did a good job of photographing complemtary and contrasting colors. For example he has many pictures that have strong colors, but not too many colors that it draws away from the subject. Typically, he has only two or three colors, but they all go together very well. Many of his pictures are in natural lighting, but he also includes different shadows and when he works indoor he has very interesting coloring in his lighting. The photographs all seem older and the use of colors like yellow and light blue give me almost a nostaligic feeling. When I look at these pictures I can almost feel like I am there in that time period, with the people, experiencing the same things they are. Part of this is because none of them seem to be staged. The fact that they are all very candid only adds to the fact that they seem very real with the colors and emotions that the people are showing. He also uses multiple vantage points to show his subjects in a different manner. His pictures are very much of the everyday things, like flowers and the ocean and even though they might seem cliche, I really enjoy the way he shoots the pictures.
I liked Diane Cook & Len Jenshel’s photographs… Their photographs have so many meanings and what I really like about them is how they used the color to make you feel something when you are looking at their pics, even if you don’t know the color meanings you understand the pictures and their sense unconsciously, this is completely awesome! What I really admire is how they manage the time of the shooting and the frame to use most of the times only the place illumination and no other source of light.
The contrast that they used in their pics are incredible awesome, like from a surreal world because as I can see they care so much about the contrast and they do it so well, almost perfect! You can see some obvious combinations those capture your attention due the contrast and sometimes create a strong feeling in the viewer and this is what I’m getting in my pictures, try to capture the viewer attention and try to get people involved in the picture in an atmosphere of feelings.
In my opinion, pictures are more attractive with a simple and clearly contrast of hue like red yellow and blue
http://www.cookjenshel.com
Cheking the different picture´s photographers I found Richard Misrach´s pictures the most interesting and beautiful and also Edward Burtynsky I think their job is very inspirational.
The way Misrach uses the pale colors and natural lighting it calls my attention a lot and to see how he mixes the nature and something created by humans all well framed in his pictures the cold colors show a very calm mood an inspires to some deep thoughts. How this photographer explores land, humans ans different tipe of spaces, and the way he captures the vulnerability and ambiguity all together in each of his picture is very interastings and make his Pictures very unique.
The contrast use by Edward Burtynsky is quite strong, the way he uses light make the objects look very attractive, this pictures transmit some outgoing and strong energy and he transmits a lot of different tipes of emotions. Burtynsky uses color in a very particular way to trasnmit visually different feelings. In his Pictures he uses all the details, light and color to form specific ideas about the contemporary humans life like working, pollution, nature and the consequences of mass production. In his Pictures He brings the real things to a surreal level.
I think one of the most interesting photographers and that one that caught my attention was Paul Pfahl. I was impressed to see the evolution and the different stages in his career, as their photos date from 1974 until today. In his photographs you can see the different emotions of the photographer, at the moment the images created. also noticed a strong inclination towards nature and landscapes in particular, and perhaps that’s why he caught my attention.
I aslo found Paul D’Amato very inspirational Because it appears to know how to capture the feelings and emotions on people faces and mixed with the environment. He is more likely to capture the way of living of the persons. if they are sensitive, strong or empathic, and I think that is a quality of a good photographer, to capture not only the scenario, but the “thing itself” or what you are trying to say to your audience. He knows exactly what to shows and the details of a picture, he teach his personal perspective, but even he might be doing it intentionally the characters on his photos talks by themselves.
I was drawn to Miguel Rio Branco, since we first watch the modern photographers power point presentation in class. The reason is that I loved those 4 pictures made by him because of the way he uses color as an expression of embracing life. However when I looked him up, i didn’t like all of his pictures because some tend to be caothic and a bit dark for my taste. I appreciate them, but don’t really like them. The ones I do like, are those that use vivid colors, show happiness and joy, the ones where he really zoomed in to frame it and was able to capture that specific spot, person or moment that where nice. This is how he suggest a psychological context, filled with hope and laughter. that’s more what I like. The pictures where sadness, caos, violence, poberty and all kinds of negative symbolism about a plcae, but rather the beauty within. A photograph may be powerful, either in a negative or positive way, and I love the ones where he does just that= showing how in any place, any time, life can still be worth living, and there can still be truly happy moments where people realise how beautiful life is. In my opinion he convays this point, by framing, timing and the contrast of hues. He is able to use color, in those pictures I’m talking about, specially the color of light that brightens up the whole picture and suggest a mood, a happy mood in my case since they made me smile.
After looking at all the photographer’s work listed above I found two of them the ones that I really liked a lot. First, Edward Burtynsky captured my eye in his Urban Mines portfolio, more specifically the tires one. I loved the way he criticizes how polluted the world is and ironically the marvelous and grotesque landscapes made by all that junk accumulated. In Oxford Tire Pile #2 I love the zig-zag path that leads you all the way to the white container. I think he works really good the light and dark contrast. The green tire at the center of the picture is really meaningful to me because it tells me that there’s still life in that junk and he shows that at the top were the little mountain is.
The other photographer that I really liked is actually a couple, Len Jenshel and Diane Cook. Hot Spots was the portfolio that caught my attention in a big way. I found really attractive a picture of each one of them. Diane’s 1992.09/213-7 is just amazing, she really works with the dark and light contrast. Len’s 8233.7 is completely beautiful, I like the way the volcano looks all imposing compared to the tree that lies at the very bottom. The thing that I like the most about that picture is the simpleness, just three major colors, as simple as that. Amazing.
Looking at David La Chapelle work I found how he uses color as form to express his ideas and how he finds humans body very interasting. He exaggerates with the use of color, body parts, celebreaties. I like how his pictures are indoor and catch so many datails in small rooms.
What I like the most is how he uses fashion, music and culture and take all of that into his pictures to express surreal and outgoing ideas. The way he trys to stimulate the emotions.
His pictures are a reminder of how we humans are this vulnerable and also exceptinal. David La Chapelle shows in each of his pictures how he thinks life should be, full of pasion and different emotions in a happy or even funny way full of joy.
He got this variety and diversity on his pictures but still all of them with this speacial touch. Is easy to notice the way he brings all the colors alive.
He shows very interasting stories going on in each photography and it really makes the subject to step up and show what the main point of beeing there is.
After looking at all the photographers the artist that I found more interesting was Edward Burtynsky, he uses natural light and he photograph mainly landscapes but with an intention, so that makes the picture even more intense, also the way he uses color it’s interesting because he gives a cold warm contrast on some of his pictures.
I also found interesting Dave La Chapelles work, I had the opportunity to look at his gallery here in Guadalajara, and even though he uses to much color and despite all his photos are not improvised pre planned I think he does a really good work staging his pictures and the way he uses color is also interesting, and also some of his pictures express sensations.
But particularly I enjoy more natural light and improvised photographs.