January 5, 2020

2020-01-05-can-you-be-a-photographer-with-a-bad-memory

2020-01-05 Can You Be a Photographer with a Bad Memory?

So many photographers explain what they are doing by referencing other photographers, often from the past. For example, a photographer said that they had been inflenced by August Sander.

I’m unable to remember even the famous photographers listed below, much less the hundreds if not thousands of photographers active today.

Here is a list of influencial photographers that doesn’t include Sander:

1. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce

In 1825 he created what is generally considered the worlds first photograph. So he should rank as #1 on any list because without his invention, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Niépce should be the most famous photographer, all things considered.

2. Alfred Steiglitz

Prominent photographer in history, he played a large part in photography becoming thought of more as art at the turn of the century (1900s). He was married to painter Georgia O’Keefe and his iconic images of New York City of the period are true works of art.

3. Margaret Bourke-White

Gandhi by Margaret Bourke-White ©LIFEGandhi by Margaret Bourke-White ©LIFE

One of the early women photojournalists and photographer for LIFE magazine, she is one of my own personal heroes. If you can get your hands on a copy of the movie depicting her life (she’s played by Farrah Fawcett brilliantly) do so and watch it! She was known to be fearless (or crazy) and she created the last portrait of Gandhi hours before his assassination.

4. Henri Cartier-Bresson

French photographer, considered by many historians to be the father of photojournalism”. He was a master of street photography or candids” and coined the phrase The Decisive Moment”. His is the standard to which many journalists aspire still to this day.

5. Robert Capa

Combat photographer that covered 5 different wars from the Spanish Civil War to WWII. One of the founding members of Magnum Photos (the world’s most prestigious photographic agency)

adams_half_domeMoon over Half Dome by Ansel Adams. Image scan courtesy of Master of Photography6. Ansel Adams

Probably one of the most famous photographers in the nature and landscape niche. You’ve likely seen his images whether you knew the maker or not. His black and white photographs of Yosemite Valley CA are well spread in galleries, on posters and in books. A search for Ansel Adams” on Amazon yields over 5600 results! He also created The Zone System with Fred Archer (a complex system for creating the correct exposure using black and white films and papers).

7. Edward Muybridge

Known for this pioneering work in motion photographic studies and motion pictures, he is often credited with having created the first movie projector. He also studied animals and motion and through his images discovered the horse’s gait includes all four feet off the ground simultaneously.

8. Philippe Halsman

Master portrait photographer of the 1940’s through to his death in 1979. He holds the distinction of having more covers of LIFE magazine than any other photographer at 101. He and surrealist painter Salvador Dali had an ongoing collaboration and friendship for 37 years, from which he published the book Dali’s Moustache”. His portraits were creative, innovative, and thought-provoking. His book Halsman at Work” is one of my favourites, especially when I’ve needed inspiration. He photographed everyone from Marilyn Monroe, to Winston Churchill, to Alfred Hitchcock and even Albert Einstein. He was also quite well known for making his famous subjects jump in front of the camera. You can get a feeling for his sense of humour, his sense of playfulness, of willingness to experiment and look foolish — by browsing his family holiday cards.

9. W. Eugene Smith

World War II photographer for LIFE, and master of the photo essay, producing such notable tories as: Country Doctor, Spanish Village and Man of Mercy (on the work of Albert Schweitzer). I was fortunate enough to see an exhibit of Smith’s work. It was even more powerful in person, and effected me profoundly.

10. Dorothea Lange

lange_migrant_motherMigrant Mother by Dorothea Lange. Image scan courtesy of Master of Photography

Documentary photographer and photojournalist known for her images of the Great Depression humanizing the plight of the workers and those most affected by the depression. Her iconic image Migrant Mother” was taken in 1936 at a migrant farm workers camp.

11. Edward Weston

One of the most influential photographers of the 20th century; Weston is famous for his images of natural forms, nudes, close ups and landscape photography. Take a look at his images of bell peppers and his abstract nudes, then tell me what you see? His legacy is now a three generation span of photographers, his sons Cole and Brett, and grandchildren Kim and Cara.

12. Louis Daguerre– inventor of the Daguerreotype, the first commercially used photographic process. Known as one of the fathers of photography.

13. James Nachtwey

Google the term war photographer” and you’ll find this man, due in part to a documentary of his life by the same name, produced in 2001. However, many people do consider him synonymous with the phrase. For over 30 years he covered war torn areas, civil rights struggles, famine, and socio-political issues. I highly recommend watching the film, even if you aren’t interested in conflict photography. It will provide insight into what it takes to be a photographer under those conditions, and how difficult it really is to shoot a camera while the other guys are shooting bullets back.

14. George Hurrell

Marlene Dietrich by famous photographer George HurrellMarlene Dietrich by George Hurrell

Master portrait photographer to the stars since 1929 when he was hired by MGM Studios. He has photographed every major Hollywood star since the early 30’s until his death in 1992. If you want to learn about portraiture and lighting I highly suggest you become familiar with his work. If you aren’t, go have a look at his glamour style portraits anyway, and learn a few things about light.

15. Lewis Hine

Documentary photographer whose images were instrumental in helping change child labor laws in the United States through his work with the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) in the early 1900’s. He was also hired to document the building of the Empire State Building, often being hung in basket 1000 feet above 5th Avenue. Early in his career he photographed the arrival of 1000’s of immigrants to Ellis Island. Don’t think photography is important or makes a difference? Watch this video on US Child Labor Laws 1908-1920 then tell me it doesn’t. It’s easy to get lost in the stories of these kids, especially in the Lewis Hine Project!

16. Robert Frank

Swiss-born photographer and film maker, his 1958 book, The Americans”, not only ruffled some feathers, but was influential for many other photographers looked through their viewfinders, and how Americans viewed themselves. It was an America that wasn’t quite so pretty, or popular. See an inside view of some images from the book in this video.

17. Steve McCurry

Afghan Girl by Steve McCurryAfghan Girl by Steve McCurry

American photojournalist famous for his image Afghan Girl”, cover of the June 1985 National Geographic. The image was named: the most recognized photograph” in the history of the magazine. McCurry has been honoured with many prestigious awards for his work photographing conflicts, disappearing cultures, and ancient rituals. His stunning portraits of people from six continents are what he’s most known for. In researching this article I just spent over 30 minutes on McCurry’s site browsing his images, looking at expeditions he offers, being in total awe, and dreaming.

18. Elliot Erwitt

French born, New York City implanted photographer known for his sense of humour, and for photographs of ironic and bizarre situations in everyday life. His passion for dogs shows, having published four books with images of canines. He is still working and recently created an alter ego for himself (André S. Solidor which abbreviates to ass”) as a satire to contemporary photography.

19. Robert Mapplethorpe

Controversy surrounded his erotic images of male nudes, but they are technically masterful. He received acclaim for his large format black and white portraits and images of flowers.

20. Harold Edgerton

Technically not a photographer, he is credited with developing the strobe light from a lab instrument to a photography tool capably of freezing fast moving objects such as a bullet piercing an apple, and a balloon exploding.

21. Yousef Karsh

Churchill by KarshChurchill by Karsh

Armenian by birth, but claimed by Canadians as our own. Undisputed as the best, most famous portrait photographer in history. He not only photographed 51 of the most notable people of the century (named by International Who’s Who in 2000), but himself was included on the list! His iconic portrait of Winston Churchill launched him to star status and led to him photographing world leaders, royalty, hollywood celebrities, artists, religious leaders and anyone of any importance. You’ve likely seen his portraits.

22. Garry Winogrand

Famous for his documentation of American life in the 1960’s, especially in his home city of New York. He was extremely prolific and died way too young, at age 56. He left behind a legacy of over 300,000 images that were found after his death including 2500 rolls of unprocessed film, 6500 unproofed rolls and others he just hadn’t gotten to yet. The archives of his work can be found at the Centre for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona. For street photography tips his work is inspirational and there’s much to learn from him.

23. Richard Avedon

Fashion and portrait photographer from 1941 until his death in 2004, his obituary in the New York Times read: his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America’s image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century. His work was highly influential on me as a new photographer, especially his book In the American West which is among my highly valued possessions.

24. Irving Penn

Actually started as an illustrator for Harper’s Bazaar and went on to be one of the most prominent photographers for Vogue magazine. His fashion photography, nudes, and still life images were ground breaking and innovative for his time. Coffee table books of his work grace many prestigious homes.

25. Arnold Newman

Possibly the first photographer to embrace and practice environmental portraiture”, Newman went to his subjects milieu to create not only a likeness of their face, but to capture a sense of the inner being of the person. He photographed politicians, artists, musicians, actors, and even photographers in his over 60 year career. He was a master of composition, lighting, lens selection, and background for effect. One must only seek out his portrait of armaments manufacturer Alfried Krupp to see how masterfully he controlled the elements to make a statement.

January 5, 2020

2020-01-05-art-talk-and-questions

2020-01-05 Art Talk and Questions

Questions that can’t be answered but that can be addressed

In my Coursera course on modern art I found this:

Sean Anderson, Associate Curator, Department of Architecture & Design

I imagine architecture through the lens of art, and art through the lens of architecture. Both create and define spaces we could inhabit, always bringing us back to where we are at a given moment. They introduce and excavate ways of seeing and experiencing the world. Architecture and art deteriorate too; in each moment something falls away and something else becomes the contemporary. It is that change and transformation that I am always intrigued by.

In the world today there are so many questions that can’t be answered but that can be addressed. In art, architecture, and design, questions about our world are observed and recounted in innovative ways. As you navigate the artworks, ideas, questions, and propositions in the course, reflect on them through the lens of your own experience. The works in this course present ideas rather than solutions.

I see so many artist statements saying that the artist is questioning something or other. This tends to drive me crazy, primarily because it doesn’t really tell me what the artist thinks that they are doing or contributing other than the question, that is.

Art works surely attempt to do a little answering now and then?

January 5, 2020 photography

Famous Photographers in History

  1. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce — in 1825 he created what is generally considered the worlds first photograph. So he should rank as #1 on any list because without his invention, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Niépce should be the most famous photographer, all things considered.
  2. Alfred Steiglitz — prominent photographer in history, he played a large part in photography becoming thought of more as art at the turn of the century (1900s). He was married to painter Georgia O’Keefe and his iconic images of New York City of the period are true works of art. Gandhi by Margaret Bourke-White ©LIFEGandhi by Margaret Bourke-White ©LIFE3. Margaret Bourke-White — one of the early women photojournalists and photographer for LIFE magazine, she is one of my own personal heroes. If you can get your hands on a copy of the movie depicting her life (she’s played by Farrah Fawcett brilliantly) do so and watch it! She was known to be fearless (or crazy) and she created the last portrait of Gandhi hours before his assassination.
  3. Henri Cartier-Bresson — French photographer, considered by many historians to be the father of photojournalism”. He was a master of street photography or candids” and coined the phrase The Decisive Moment”. His is the standard to which many journalists aspire still to this day.
  4. Robert Capa — combat photographer that covered 5 different wars from the Spanish Civil War to WWII. One of the founding members of Magnum Photos (the world’s most prestigious photographic agency) adams_half_domeMoon over Half Dome by Ansel Adams. Image scan courtesy of Master of Photography6. Ansel Adams — probably one of the most famous photographers in the nature and landscape niche. You’ve likely seen his images whether you knew the maker or not. His black and white photographs of Yosemite Valley CA are well spread in galleries, on posters and in books. A search for Ansel Adams” on Amazon yields over 5600 results! He also created The Zone System with Fred Archer (a complex system for creating the correct exposure using black and white films and papers).
  5. Edward Muybridge — known for this pioneering work in motion photographic studies and motion pictures, he is often credited with having created the first movie projector. He also studied animals and motion and through his images discovered the horse’s gait includes all four feet off the ground simultaneously.
  6. Philippe Halsman – master portrait photographer of the 1940’s through to his death in 1979. He holds the distinction of having more covers of LIFE magazine than any other photographer at 101. He and surrealist painter Salvador Dali had an ongoing collaboration and friendship for 37 years, from which he published the book Dali’s Moustache”. His portraits were creative, innovative, and thought-provoking. His book Halsman at Work” is one of my favourites, especially when I’ve needed inspiration. He photographed everyone from Marilyn Monroe, to Winston Churchill, to Alfred Hitchcock and even Albert Einstein. He was also quite well known for making his famous subjects jump in front of the camera. You can get a feeling for his sense of humour, his sense of playfulness, of willingness to experiment and look foolish — by browsing his family holiday cards.
  7. W. Eugene Smith — World War II photographer for LIFE, and master of the photo essay, producing such notable tories as: Country Doctor, Spanish Village and Man of Mercy (on the work of Albert Schweitzer). I was fortunate enough to see an exhibit of Smith’s work. It was even more powerful in person, and effected me profoundly. lange_migrant_motherMigrant Mother by Dorothea Lange. Image scan courtesy of Master of Photography10. Dorothea Lange — documentary photographer and photojournalist known for her images of the Great Depression humanizing the plight of the workers and those most affected by the depression. Her iconic image Migrant Mother” was taken in 1936 at a migrant farm workers camp.
  8. Edward Weston — one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century; Weston is famous for his images of natural forms, nudes, close ups and landscape photography. Take a look at his images of bell peppers and his abstract nudes, then tell me what you see? His legacy is now a three generation span of photographers, his sons Cole and Brett, and grandchildren Kim and Cara.
  9. Louis Daguerre– inventor of the Daguerreotype, the first commercially used photographic process. Known as one of the fathers of photography.
  10. James Nachtwey — google the term war photographer” and you’ll find this man, due in part to a documentary of his life by the same name, produced in 2001. However, many people do consider him synonymous with the phrase. For over 30 years he covered war torn areas, civil rights struggles, famine, and socio-political issues. I highly recommend watching the film, even if you aren’t interested in conflict photography. It will provide insight into what it takes to be a photographer under those conditions, and how difficult it really is to shoot a camera while the other guys are shooting bullets back. Marlene Dietrich by famous photographer George HurrellMarlene Dietrich by George Hurrell14. George Hurrell — master portrait photographer to the stars since 1929 when he was hired by MGM Studios. He has photographed every major Hollywood star since the early 30’s until his death in 1992. If you want to learn about portraiture and lighting I highly suggest you become familiar with his work. If you aren’t, go have a look at his glamour style portraits anyway, and learn a few things about light.
  11. Lewis Hine — documentary photographer whose images were instrumental in helping change child labor laws in the United States through his work with the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) in the early 1900’s. He was also hired to document the building of the Empire State Building, often being hung in basket 1000 feet above 5th Avenue. Early in his career he photographed the arrival of 1000’s of immigrants to Ellis Island. Don’t think photography is important or makes a difference? Watch this video on US Child Labor Laws 1908-1920 then tell me it doesn’t. It’s easy to get lost in the stories of these kids, especially in the Lewis Hine Project!
  12. Robert Frank — Swiss-born photographer and film maker, his 1958 book, The Americans”, not only ruffled some feathers, but was influential for many other photographers looked through their viewfinders, and how Americans viewed themselves. It was an America that wasn’t quite so pretty, or popular. See an inside view of some images from the book in this video. Afghan Girl by Steve McCurryAfghan Girl by Steve McCurry17. Steve McCurry — American photojournalist famous for his image Afghan Girl”, cover of the June 1985 National Geographic. The image was named: the most recognized photograph” in the history of the magazine. McCurry has been honoured with many prestigious awards for his work photographing conflicts, disappearing cultures, and ancient rituals. His stunning portraits of people from six continents are what he’s most known for. In researching this article I just spent over 30 minutes on McCurry’s site browsing his images, looking at expeditions he offers, being in total awe, and dreaming.
  13. Elliot Erwitt — French born, New York City implanted photographer known for his sense of humour, and for photographs of ironic and bizarre situations in everyday life. His passion for dogs shows, having published four books with images of canines. He is still working and recently created an alter ego for himself (André S. Solidor which abbreviates to ass”) as a satire to contemporary photography.
  14. Robert Mapplethorpe — controversy surrounded his erotic images of male nudes, but they are technically masterful. He received acclaim for his large format black and white portraits and images of flowers.
  15. Harold Edgerton — technically not a photographer, he is credited with developing the strobe light from a lab instrument to a photography tool capably of freezing fast moving objects such as a bullet piercing an apple, and a balloon exploding. Churchill by KarshChurchill by Karsh21. Yousef Karsh — Armenian by birth, but claimed by Canadians as our own. Undisputed as the best, most famous portrait photographer in history. He not only photographed 51 of the most notable people of the century (named by International Who’s Who in 2000), but himself was included on the list! His iconic portrait of Winston Churchill launched him to star status and led to him photographing world leaders, royalty, hollywood celebrities, artists, religious leaders and anyone of any importance. You’ve likely seen his portraits.
  16. Garry Winogrand — famous for his documentation of American life in the 1960’s, especially in his home city of New York. He was extremely prolific and died way too young, at age 56. He left behind a legacy of over 300,000 images that were found after his death including 2500 rolls of unprocessed film, 6500 unproofed rolls and others he just hadn’t gotten to yet. The archives of his work can be found at the Centre for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona. For street photography tips his work is inspirational and there’s much to learn from him.
  17. Richard Avedon — fashion and portrait photographer from 1941 until his death in 2004, his obituary in the New York Times read: his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America’s image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century. His work was highly influential on me as a new photographer, especially his book In the American West which is among my highly valued possessions.
  18. Irving Penn — actually started as an illustrator for Harper’s Bazaar and went on to be one of the most prominent photographers for Vogue magazine. His fashion photography, nudes, and still life images were ground breaking and innovative for his time. Coffee table books of his work grace many prestigious homes.
  19. Arnold Newman — possibly the first photographer to embrace and practice environmental portraiture”, Newman went to his subjects milieu to create not only a likeness of their face, but to capture a sense of the inner being of the person. He photographed politicians, artists, musicians, actors, and even photographers in his over 60 year career. He was a master of composition, lighting, lens selection, and background for effect. One must only seek out his portrait of armaments manufacturer Alfried Krupp to see how masterfully he controlled the elements to make a statement.
June 5, 2017 identity politics

The End of Identity Liberalism

Source

June 5, 2017 photography hdr color dynamic-range

Single-Image HDR — Ask Tim Grey

[Source](http://asktimgrey.com/2017/06/05/single-image-hdr/ Permalink to Single-Image HDR — Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: I’ve got a single image that has a pretty broad range of tonal values. Is there a way to create an HDR image from a single photo? I tried creating additional versions of the original (-2, -1, +1, +2 stops) and then combining them, but that didn’t work. Do you have any suggestions of what would work?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Put simply, you can’t create a true high dynamic range (HDR) image from a single exposure. You can, however, use the tone-mapping feature of most HDR processing software to apply adjustments to that single image.

More Detail: An HDR image involves combining multiple exposures into a single file, blending all of the information from the multiple images into a single processed image with a higher range of tonal values. This is the reason that an initial HDR image assembled from multiple 16-bit per channel captures will generally be a 32-bit per channel HDR image.

That 32-bit per channel image then needs to be tone-mapped to a normal” tonal range represented by a 16-bit per channel image. This tone-mapping step can be applied to any image, even if it is not a true HDR image.

Some software tools for processing HDR images allow you to use multiple images processed from a single capture, using different exposure adjustments for each copy of the image. This would require that the RAW captures be processed and saved in another image format such as TIFF, however. If you simply made multiple copies of the same RAW capture with different adjustments saved in metadata, the HDR software would not be fooled”, since the underlying RAW captures would all contain the same capture data.

So, there is no real reason to process the same RAW capture with multiple exposure adjustment variations. Instead you can simply open the original RAW capture in the HDR software, using the tone-mapping features to create the interpretation you prefer. Put simply, applying adjustments to create multiple interpretations of a single capture does provide any additional data compared to the single original RAW capture. To truly leverage the benefits of HDR imaging, you need to capture multiple bracketed exposures in the camera to begin with.

June 4, 2017 database

Learn Datalog Today!

Source

Learn Datalog Today is an interactive tutorial designed to teach you the Datomic dialect of Datalog. Datalog is a declarative database query language with roots in logic programming. Datalog has similar expressive power as SQL.

Datomic is a new database with an interesting and novel architecture, giving its users a unique set of features. You can read more about Datomic at http://datomic.com and the architecture is described in some detail in this InfoQ article.

Table of Contents

This tutorial was written on rainy days for the Lisp In Summer Projects 2013. If you find bugs, or have suggestions on how to improve the tutorial, please visit the project on github.

Many thanks to Robert Stuttaford for his careful proof reading/editing. I’d also like to thank everyone who has contributed by fixing bugs and spelling mistakes.


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