Lewis Hine

Lewis Hine was an American photographer and sociologist. He used his photos to reform the child labor laws in the United States. Hine became staff photographer for the Russell Stage Foundation in 1906. In 1908 Hine became the photographer for the National Child Labor Committee. For the next ten years he photographed and documented child labor in the Carolina Piedmont. In 1913 he documented children workers in cotton mills with composite portraits. He also photographed the American Red Cross in Europe during World War I, and would work for them again during the Great Depression  in America. He later photographed a series of portraits which focused on how people contribute to modern industry. In 1930, Hine photographed the construction of the Empire State Building from a basket floating 1,000 feet above the ground. He served as chief photographer for the WPA, and there are now more than 5,000 of his photographs in the Library of Congress. For more information on Hine, please visit the links below these examples of his work. 

Additional Links:

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/hine-photos/

Julia Margaret Cameron

Julia Margaret Cameron was a British photographer who became well known for her photographs of celebrities. She took up photography at a late age for the 1800's (48), after her daughter gave her a camera as a present, and had a very short-lived adventure in photography, lasting only eleven years.  Her work, especially her cropped portraits, became much more appreciated as it got into modern times, but was not always liked during her own time. Due to her sister's job, Julia had the rare opportunity to photograph many famous and important people of her time. These included; Ellen Terry, Robert Browning, Charles Darwin, and many more. Many of Julia's portraits were close-cropped around her subject's face, and were often done in soft focus. Some of her photos were even blurry, or had the subject almost out of the frame, which caused her to be made fun of by other photographers.I found her photographs of her "angels" the most interesting.  For more information and more of Julia's photos please visit the links below these examples of her work.

More on Julia:
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/camr/hd_camr.htm
http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=2026

Eadweard Muybridge

Muybridge was an english photographer who was most famous for his strides in motion photography, and also motion-picture projection. He is also known for his creation of the zoopraxiscope, a tool used to project motion pictures. In the early years of his photography, he was known for his photos of the Alaskan Tlingit people, and also his landscape photos of the Yosemite Valley. The 1880's were the most productive years for Muybridge. During this time, he developed over 100,000 images of humans and animals in motion. His work inspired and greatly influenced scientific and industrial photography for many years, and still does today. For more information and images, please visit the links at the bottom of this post.

Additional Links:
http://www.eadweardmuybridge.co.uk/
http://americanhistory.si.edu/muybridge/

Bird's Eye View Post/ Self Assessment

This assignment was the hardest one for me so far. The only pictures I took that I really liked for this assignment were taken at City Hall, and I only have so many that are good enough to upload. Also, we only got to go up into city hall once, so I tried to kind of rush to get enough pictures to use for the assignment. I like the idea of birds eye view pictures, but I found it very hard to get the right exposures and focus. If I had to do this assignment again I would probably go somewhere that I had unlimited time and wasn't so bright so everything wouldn't be blown out. All of that being said, here are three of my images from the assignment.

Analogous Colors Post/Self Assessment

The analogous colors assignment was one of my favorites that we have had so far.I really enjoyed finding the colors, especially in the grocery store with Alix, it was a lot of fun. I really liked my idea of using food and other products, because it gave a very playful and clean look to the pictures.I looked for mostly red and orange, because I am more drawn to warm colors. I wanted the pictures to be very clear and fun, and i think it was a good idea that came across well. What I like best about my images is how bright the colors are. The only thing I had trouble with during this assignment is finding colors other than red and orange. Here are my three favorite photos from this assignment.

Birds Eye View/ Worms Eye View PrePost

This week we have an extra credit assignment called birds eye view. This is taking pictures from high above a subject, thus mimicking a "birds eye view". This assignment could be a challenge because it might be hard to find a place to get up high that would have an interesting subject below. We also have the option to lay on the ground and do a "worms eye view". I think the worms eye view will be easier because you can lay on the ground anywhere.Here are some examples of both assignments.

Gertrude Kasebier

Gertrude was an American photographer active in the early 20th century. She was most well-known for her photographs of Native Americans and portrayals of motherhood. She had a terrible relationship with her husband, and was not saddened by his death. When she was 37, she started attending Pratt Institute of Art and Design to study painting. Soon after, she discovered her real passion was for photography. She was most influenced by Friedrich Frobel. She opened her first studio in 1897, and was soon one of the first two women to be elected into the group "The Linked Ring". Her photos of Native Americans were exactly the opposite of those by Edward Curtis, which got her noticed by Alfred Stieglitz. She was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame Museum in 1979. Here are some examples of her work.

 For more on Gertrude, click on any of the links below:
http://fadedandblurred.com/spotlight/gertrude-kasebier/
http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=3008
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/33.43.132

Complementary Colors Self Assessment

These are the pictures i took for the complementary colors assignment. All of these pictures were taken at Russell's Orchard when i went there last weekend with Chris. There were so many cool things to take pictures of, and so many other shots i wish that i got, but the light proved to be a real challenge for me. It was that kind of awkward light that is super bright but also dull and gloomy at the same time. The part i enjoyed most about this assignment was trying to find all the colors, and really seeing the colors come out in photoshop. Something i might do differently next time is i would try to take pictures with better lighting. All of that aside, i think these pictures came out pretty nicely. I really like the way the green and red of the apples blended together.

Analogous Colors Pre-Post

This week the assignment is to make a composition including analogous colors. Analogous colors are any colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. These could be red and orange, yellow and green, green and blue, blue and purple, etc. I look forward to this assignment because i like trying to find the right colors and make them into an interesting picture.

Minor White

Minor White was an American photographer active in the 1900's. Before he began photography, he earned a degree in botany and a minor in english from the University of Minnesota in 1933. He joined the Oregon Camera Club, and then began exhibiting his work at the Portland Art Museum. Minor White co-founded the magazine Aperture in 1952 with other photographers such as Dorothea Lange, Barbara Morgan, and Ansel Adams. White was secretly a bisexual, and some of his photographs of nude male bodies are considered some of the best works of the genre, but were not published right away. Here are some examples of his work;

For more on Minor White, visit the links below:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/642060/Minor-White
http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Minor-White.htm

Complementary Colors Pre-Assignment

This week we are doing complementary colors for our weekly assignment. The complementary colors are red and green, orange and blue, and yellow and purple. We can either find these colors, or create our images ourselves. I'm looking forward to this assignment, I think it's a really cool idea. Here are some examples.

White on White Self Assesment

I think i did pretty well with the white on white assignment. I wanted to create soft, kind of older feeling images with this assignment. I think it was a good idea, and I think it translated well. To create this assignment, i set up three white posterboards; two as walls and one as a floor. For some of the images  I threw a white lace sheet over the boards to create more texture. These pictures are different than what I normally would do because they are much softer, and I usually stay away from whites. Also, i realized after i looked at them closely, some of them almost remind me of a wedding. What I like best about my images is that they really give off a soft, vintage tone, and I like the texture of the lace. I had trouble getting the lighting right at first, but I quickly figured it out.

Edward Curtis

Edward Curtis, also known as "Shadow Catcher" was an american photographer active between 1900 and 1930. His biggest focus was taking photographs of American Indians. He took photos of men and women from over eighty different tribes, including Eskimos, Inuits, and Hopis. Curtis wanted to record and photograph as much of the peoples' traditional life as possible. Aside from the photos, he recorded over ten thousand wax cylinders of the tribal language and music. He took over 40,000 images of the tribes before he died in october of 1952 of a heart attack. Below are some examples of his work.

For more info on Edward Curtis, or more examples of his work, please visit the links below:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/edward-curtis/shadow-catcher/568/
http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu
http://www.edwardscurtis.com

White on White Preview

This week we are doing white on white photography. This is hard to photograph because it's easy for the colors to blend together and it is hard to make the photos appear pure white, rather than yellow or grayish. Here are some examples of white on white photography.

Geometric Photos

Geometric Patterns Assignment

Last week our assignment was to take 70 pictures that feature geometric shapes as the focus of the photograph. All of my pictures except for one are from the playground at West Parish Elementary School, around three o'clock in the afternoon. I had some trouble with this assignment, in terms of finding the right shapes and lighting, but I think it turned out well in the end. I also threw in a few funny ones of my boyfriend who likes to be my shooting assistant falling down a slide. :)

Corgis Everywhere!

Yesterday I was at my boyfriend Chris' house, and I just LOVE his dogs. They're both corgis and they're super adorable so here are some pictures of them! Try not to overdose on the cute.