Sebastião Salgado - Jenny

“Indian washing coffee in Columbia / Sebastião Salgado”

Sebastiao Salgado is a Brazilian photojournalist. Born in 1944 in a small town called Aimores, Salgado earned a masters degree and worked as an economist for the International Coffee Organization. During his travels for work he became interested in photography and eventually switched his career to focus solely on photography and spent his time doing documentary-type work. He focused on issues like poverty, oppression, and the effects of industrialization. The photograph above was taken as a part of his series on coffee as Salgado documented the beauty and simplicity of coffee culture as a form of public awareness.

Description:

1.    My first impression of this photo is the subject’s tranquil facial expression.

2.     This work is a portrait of not only just a poor worker in Columbia, but a representation of the entire coffee culture.

3.     The subject is a man washing coffee in Columbia.

4.     This photo has a lot of natural background textures. His textured hair almost blends into the trees in the background and the dirt on his clothes almost makes him a part of the nature as well.

5.     There is a lot of background space and natural lines in this photograph because it portrays not only just a man washing coffee, but emphasizes his connection to nature.

Analysis:

1.     The aspect of the photograph that stands out to me the most is the subject’s peaceful facial expression and how he almost blends in with nature.

2.     The photo is organized well with soft lines and large spaces.

3.     Proportionally, the subject is small compared to the background, which allows the subject to almost fade into the surroundings. The contrasts of black and white help tell the story of simplicity and hardship.

Interpretation:

1.     The photograph is about the natural and primitive process of coffee cultivation that is often forgotten.

2.     The message of this photograph is to be reminded of the origins of coffee – a product many of us consume every day – and be reminded of the labor and unfair compensation workers like the one in this photograph receive for producing something that we so mindlessly consume.

3.     Yes, this photograph’s purpose is to inform the viewer of the primitive stages of coffee cultivation.

4.     Looking at this photo makes me feel compassionate and appreciative of the work this subject does everyday. Although I know he isn’t compensated properly for his labor, the almost spiritual connection he seems to have with the nature around him is something I think many people could learn from.

5.     This photo doesn’t remind me of anything specific. It tells a unique story that often goes untold.

Evaluation:

1.     No, my impression stayed fairly consistent.

2.     I think it is a very successful and powerful photograph.

3.     Yes, it is unique in the way the subject seems to be interconnected with nature.

4.     I think I could reproduce the composition of this photograph, but the story and the emotion behind it would be hard to capture.

5.     Yes, the subject and design elements were fairly easy to understand.

6.     Yes, this photograph was very well planned and tells a powerful story.

7.     Yes, I would be happy to own a photograph like this one.

8.     Yes, I’ve learned to focus on not only the subject of the photograph, but the interaction the subject has with other elements in the photograph.

9.     Yes, this is a very inspiring photograph.

“Photography allowed me to see anything that I wished to see on this planet. Anything that hurts my heart, I want to see it and to photograph it. Anything that makes me happy, I want to see it and to photograph it. Anything that I think is beautiful enough to show, I show it. Photography became my life.”

- Sebastião Salgado

Robert Mapplethorpe--Lilia

Robert Mapplethorpe (November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, known for his sometimes controversial large-scale, highly stylized black and white photography. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits and still-life images of flowers. His most controversial work is that of the underground bondage and sadomasochistic BDSM scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s of New York. His highly stylized explorations of gender, race, and sexuality became hallmarks of the period and exerted a powerful influence on his contemporaries.  Mapplethorpe died on the morning of March 9, 1989, 42 years old, in a Boston, Massachusetts, hospital from complications arising from AIDS. 

This photograph is called Patti Smith. Mapplethorpe took this photograph in 1976 in his loft apartment in New York.


Description
1. When I first saw this photo I was shocked by how fragile and delicate the subject seemed.
2. The subject is the woman in the picture. All the focus is on her as she sits naked on the wooden floor in a crouched position so that her knees are tight against her chest while her hands grip the radiator pipes.
3. The photo is black and white and sort of texture on the floor under her and on the wall behind her. 
4. While the main focus remains on the woman subject, it seems as though she is trying to take up the least space possible from that available in the picture by herself smaller.In terms of lines we see very strong lines along the heater that she is holding on to, as well as a strong vertical line behind her aligning with her body.

Analysis
In this black and white portrait photograph Patti Smith sits naked on a wooden floor in a crouched position, her legs folded so that her knees are tight against her chest while her hands grip the radiator pipes in front of her. Smith’s body facing towards a window, but her head is turned towards the camera. She is positioned sitting to the left of the image. She occupies what appears to be an empty room with painted white brick walls, wooden floors and a radiator.. A series of horizontal lines – including the radiator pipes, the flooring and the brick work – are contrasted by the vertical lines of the pipes rising from the radiator and the vertical wooden frame of the window. The singer’s limbs and torso mirror these vertical and horizontal lines, while also introducing some soft diagonals to the composition. Light comes in through the windows creating illuminated surfaces on the left side of her slim body, while casting shadows on the right side of her face.

Interpretation
1. Morrisroe, Robert's biographer,  states that in this particular portrait Smith resembles a ‘baby bird emerging from a cracked shell’, and that Mapplethorpe captured the singers ‘precarious state of mind’ (Morrisroe 1995, p.174).
3. Like all of his work, I think it serves a purpose to him as satisfying his needs as an artist and also exploring and cutting through boundaries such as gender and sexuality. 
4.Ever since I read Patti Smith's book Just Kids, I have a soft spot for both her and Robert. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of melancholy as I recall the way Patti Smith so beautifully and eloquently described Robert's progression through his art. 
5. For one of my gender and women studies classes, we had to watch a documentary called Killing Us Softly in which a woman, Jean Kilbourne, discussed how women are portrayed negatively in the media. This specifically reminded me of an example that Jean Kilbourne used about how women are often made to pose into weak and dominated positions. Patti Smith's pose reminded me of that. However, this picture proves to be something different. First of all, this picture isn't being used to market or advertise. This is a piece of art that was more about exploring aspects of gender. 
Evaluation
1. My first impression did change because the woman no longer seemed delicate and fragile after learning about the nature of Robert Mapplethorpe's photography.
2. Yes I think it is a successful photo. It is beautiful in the strangest of ways.
3. Like a lot of Mapplethorpe's work, this picture is very unique especially when one considers the fact that the picture does something that would seem so controversial at the time when this picture was taken.
4. No, I don't have Robert Mapplethorpe's talent. 
5.
6. Yes I think the photo was well planned. Everything in the photo seems so structure. There isn't much in the picture given that it is an empty room but Smith's position in the room is very well placed and her form is also matches the feel of the picture very well. 
7. Yes, I would buy it and hang it in my room. I think it's beautiful and powerful. 
8. It's okay to not stay within society's constraints of what art is. 
9. This photo does inspire me to not feel discouraged from taking pictures of subjects that I find worthy and that others might not like.

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Rya Saqer Al Raisi - Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Biography

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a legendary photographer; filmmaker and writer who had immense contribution to the field of photojournalism. Described as the father of photojournalism, Cartier had illustrious career in photojournalism punctuated by outstanding accomplishments, honors and adventurous experiences. He was born on August 22, 1908 in Chanteloup, Seine-et-Marne France (The Oxford Children's Book of Famous People 59) to a wealthy and successful father, who he did not like his frugal ways. His family was involved in textile manufacturing, a business that brought a lot of fortunes and enabled them to live in bourgeois neighborhood in Paris. He is documented to have had low preference for bourgeois conventions and drifted towards communism when he was a teenager.

Gare Saint-Lazare Photographed in 1932

Description

The Cartier’s photo of a running man and his shadow is arguably one of the best photographs. A viewer’s eyes are immediately drawn to this man because of the dark contrast between him and water. There are not many colors used, however, Cartier has successfully used contrast to achieve focus.  The picture elicits the feelings of desperation because the runner seems to be escaping from something.

Abeer - Photographer : Henri Cartier-Bresson

  

 Mexico City, 1934.

Henri Cartier-Bresson :

was born on August 22, 1908 in Chanteloup, France. A pioneer in photojournalism, Cartier-Bresson wandered around the world with his camera, becoming totally immersed in his current environment. Considered one of the major artists of the 20th century, he covered many of the world biggest events from the Spanish Civil War to the French uprisings in 1968.

Description - Analysis :

 it is “Gelatin silver print, made by the author in 1946, Collection foundation Henri, Cartier-Bresson, Paris. The first thing that catches the attention is the fact that it is a street one taken randomly at the right moment. As typical of Bresson’s pictures, all his pictures are chances, opportunities and the photographer has to take at the spur of the moment. It is also an example of a travel photo, in the sense it captures the ethnic and racial features the inhabitants of a certain nation or racial group. In fact, this Hispanic woman is a Mexican mother who has one baby wrapped in a transparent black cloth around her neck and another girl clinging to her dress. The beauty of the picture is the deep glance of the woman which is full of melancholy and sadness.

 Despite the fact that the picture is taken without any posing or artificial set or background, yet it is really a work of art. First, the picture has symmetry as the woman is spatially positioned between the little girl and the woman walking in the street with her back given to the viewer. There is a contrast in lighting between the woman’s dark dress and the lighter background of the shop and the girl’s lighter dress. There is also a contrast between the clarity of the woman’ face and look as opposed to the blurry covered baby under wrapped in the veil. The transparent cloth motif is reiterated in the transparent cloth in the shop behind the woman. Another contrast is made between the woman who is walking and the still background of the shop. The sense of movement is reinforced by the other woman with her back to the viewer. Indirectly, there is a contrast between what the way this woman in the back is wearing: an elegant goat, hat and elegant shoes as opposed to the humbler woman who has a light black dress: this might reflect the big social gap between the rich and the poor, and the problem of social class in developing countries of Southern America, including Mexico. The picture does portray the misery of a poor people, as the gaze of the woman is thoughtful. Probably, she is burdened by the weight of the baby while she is walking. Her lack of attention to her daughter as she is looking probably at the window shops indicates that she is burdened with inner thoughts. The picture could be also a reflection of the poverty of Mexico in those years.

The artist is able to portray all this without using color as he is able to capture the feelings surrounding the woman without resorting to colors which might contribute to our interpretation of the picture. Also the lack of color contributes to creating a certain seriousness that is important and linked to its subject. The picture was placed among other pictures of the artist, but given the uniqueness of this picture, I think it did stand out among other ones and immediately catches the attention for all the elements discussed earlier.