History of Photographers 5 & 6

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer who was considered to be the father of photojournalism. Bresson was originally a painter but became inspired by the art of photography and soon left behind his painting ways and focused fully on photography. His style of photography was based on everyday life and the beauty of that. He liked catching life as it happened in a photograph for he believed that moment would be immortalized forever.

 

This photo titled "Behind the Gare, St. Lazare" is one of my favorites by Cartier-Bresson. I like how you can see the moment he captured through the blurred wheels of the bicycle and the rider himself. I also like the angle of this photo and how you are able to see that he is at the top of a staircase and you can see the curve of the spiral stairs. Even the road curves in this photo, it's as if he was using a fish eye effect. 

This photo is called "Alberto Giacometti, Alesia Street" and is another one of my favorites. I don't know what it is about rain in photos that I like but I find the rain very appealing to the eye. Especially with the simplicity of a man trying to get out of the pouring rain. That makes the whole image completely Cartier-Bresson, it captures everyday life in one glamorous moment. 

"Rue de Cléry" is the name of this photo. I like this photo because it catches a woman in a hurry trying to walk up onto the curb and somehow the picture still has a glamorous quality to it. I think it's because photographers usually photograph very important things, even very sophisticated. Because this moment was captured in a photograph one assumes it is an important moment which gives it more appeal. 

Julia Margaret Cameron

Julia Margaret Cameron was a well known British photographer. Cameron only spent eleven years on her photography but she still is known as one of the best photographers in the world. The style Cameron tended to lean towards was not appreciated by people of her time. Cameron's main goal in her photography work was to capture the beauty of everything and everyone she photographed. 

  

This photo is simply called, "Annie, my First Success" and i admire this portrait a lot. I like the lighting used and I like how the light is only on the girl's head and face besides the window behind her. The dark contrast of the wall to her right and her coat makes her face stand out more. Cameron has defiantly captured the beauty of this subject.

 

This photo is called "Sadness" and I think the picture clearly depicts the emotion. The angle this photo is taken at show's the girl's sadness in almost a melancholy way. She seems sad, but not a serious sadness more of an innocent sadness that is not truly understood. I like how this photo can show those different sides of sadness and still manage to be beautiful. 

This photo, "Study of Beatrice Cenci" reminds me a lot of the photo above. The same melancholy feeling is felt when looking at this photo as well. I particularly like the lighting in this photo, giving the woman a pale purple glow about her. You notice the light on her face again just like may other of Cameron's pieces. The face I believe is the true subject on the photo and therefore the light must be shown on the face. Unlike other photographers I have researched before Cameron didn't look for beauty in the outside world, she looked for the beauty in people and their faces especially.