Near and Far

I went to Stage Fort Park since it was the only place I could think of close enough that had scenery worthy of a landscape. I didn't want to go alone in that bitter cold, so I asked my mom to tag along and we managed to find some interesting subject matter.

Eugene Atget and his Style

Eugene Atget was very unique in that he used practices, techniques, and a camera that were outdated by his time. This didn't stop him from both documenting history and capturing the world (particularly Paris) in the time period before the buildings were demolished or remodeled during urbanization and modernization. He used a large-format view camera, which was cumbersome to carry around, but he used it to take pictures of Paris as it was; gardens, streets, storefronts...
Although he wasn't a mover or shaker in the photography world (preferring to be called an "author-producer"), he produced photographs for the visual quality and aesthetic of the image.
Bernice Abbot saved his images from washing away into history, as she found his negatives just before his death and printed them. She and Man Ray used him as inspiration.

(Info from http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=176
http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Eugene-Atget.html )
(Image http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=229 )

Eugene Atget

Apparently there isn't much to know about this photographer, and what can be told of him are just "recollections and legends". A facts could be said though; he was born in Libourne, France in 1857 and worked as a sailor. Once he finished that, he moved onto become an actor, but didn't find much success in that. He tried painting, didn't like it, and moved onto photography around age 40.

The Old School of Medicine, taken in Paris in 1898.

Tree Roots, taken in Saint-Cloud, negative 1906

The Facade of Saint Julien le Pauvre, taken in Paris 1898

 

(Info from http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Eugene-Atget.html )
(Images http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=1763 )

Pre Assignment Near and Far

For the next assignment we must consider the style of Ansel Adams. We must take pictures of landscapes where everything is in focus. To do this, the camera must be set to the second highest Aperture setting with Aperture priority. You have to focus on the middle of the picture and take the photo.

My plan is to go to Stage Fort Park and see what it can offer.

I've already written previously about Ansel Adams here:
http://ohmanphotos.blogspot.com/2013/10/it-seems-i-did-way-too-man.html

20 Books

The Americans Robert Frank by Jack Kerovac published by the National Gallery of Art
"Funeral"
"Navy Recruiting Station, Post Office"
"Rooming House- Bunker Hill, LA"
"Rodeo- NYC"

An Autobiography by Richard Avedon published by Random House New York

Diane Arbus Magazine Work published by Aperture

Eyewitness by Richard Lacayo and George Russel published by Time Books
"Returning Prisoner of War" Ernest Haas 1945
"Commuters on a train to Stamford, CN" Carl Mydans 1963
"Lt. Col. Robert Stirm returns home" Sal Veder, 1973

In Real Life - Six Women Photographers by Leslie Sills, published by Holiday House New York

The Legacy of Josiah Johnson Hawes 19th Century Photos of Boston by Rachel Johnston Hammer published by Barre Publishers

Margaret Burke White Photograher by Sean Callahan published by Little, Brown, and Company

Masters of Photography - Alfred Stieglitz published by Aperture
"Dorothy Norman"
"Spring Showers, New York, 1902"
"Evening, New York from the Shelton, 1931"

Masters of Photography - Andre Kertesz published by Aperture

Masters of Photography - August Sander published by Aperture

Masters of Photography - Barbara Morgan published by Aperture

Masters of Photography - Berenice Abbot published by Aperture
"Trinity Church, New York, 1934"

Masters of Photography - Eikoh Hosoe published by Aperture

Masters of Photography - Eugene Atget published by Aperture

"Bar de Cabaret"

Masters of Photography - Paul Strand published by Aperture

Masters of Photography - Tina Madotti published by Aperture

Men at Work Photographis Studies of Modern Men and Machines by Lewis W. Hine, published by Dover Publications

Photography Speaks 150 Photographers on their art by Brooks Johnson published by Aperture
"St. Petersburg Courthouse, VA, April 3 1865" Thomas Roche
"Omen, San Fransisco 1934" John Guttman
"Tempo of the City 5th Ave. and 42nd Manhattan Sept 6 1938" Berenice Abbott

Robert Capa/Photographs published by Aperture

"Barcelona, August, 1936"
"Near Barcelona Aug-Sept 1936"
"Near Triona Sicily, Aug 1943"
"Agrigento, Sicily July 1943"
"Notre-Dame-de-Cenilly, Normandy, July 28, 1944"
"Granville, Normandy July 31, 1944"

Timation - Jonathan Shaw, Eadweard Muybridge, Harold Edgerton published by Dewi Lewis Publishing

Michael Carroll and Romania

http://www.sxu.edu/student-life/ministry/crpd/sweeney/hand_held_film_general/bio_michael_carroll.asp

This past week in photography we watched a film titled Hand Held that revolved around Michael Carroll and his work with Romanian orphanages, and how his photography impacted and helped his work.


Romania's dictator,  Nicolae Ceausescu, up until 1989 had been brutal. He outlawed birth control and abortions, hoping to jumpstart population growth by making women have a minimum of five children. Not all of these women had AIDS, but some did and would pass it o to their children, who would be abandoned at understaffed, overcrowded orphanages. Even after the fall of Ceausescu, the orphanages remained as Romania scrambled to regain its footing. The nurses got two needles and syringes a year to inject the children with the medicine since they did not have oral medication. This is how AIDS spread in the orphanages, and rumors of this spread to Western Europe and the Americas.
Michael Carroll was contacted by The Globe to research this epidemic, and shipped off to Romania. He was shown around many orphanages by the doctors, but while he went to wander on his own, a man pulled him aside to show him the testing rooms and the morgue. This is when Carroll saw the horrors of these orphanages. Children who passed away were scattered around the floor and he immediately began to take pictures, and ran to tell his fellow colleagues.
When he returned, he met a man who was picking up his niece who had passed on. Carroll was invited to take pictures of the funeral.
When he returned to America, Carroll got together some people he knew and they started the Romanian Children Relief foundation. Once the story was published in the Globe, people immediately wanted to donate and see what they could do to help.
Later, people could adopt the children, and found that a lot of them had mental, physical, and emotional issues because of the lack of attention, nurturing, and love they received as infants.
Now Michael Carroll is working with Disney, Compaq, Malden Mills, Beth Israel Hospital, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, American Express and General Motors Corp.He also runs his own photography studio and visits Romania twice a year, continuing his role as director of Romanian Children's relief.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/130114/romania-orphans-homeless

Unable to function well in today's society- weren't taught how to maintain a job or homelife. No national job or housing assistant programs.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/130114/romania-orphans-adoption
Many children are now old enough to experience a variety of mental, emotional, and physical health issues

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/429453/Anneka-Rice-returns-to-Romanian-orphanage-22-years-after-first-visiting-living-hell