just for fun

Assignment #3

Original

Full Saturation
Color Filter
Colour Filter-Highlights and Shadows
Colour
Soft Focus
Sepia
Black & White

The original photograph is almost black and white, so the Black and White effect is almost useless, although it does look good. I think the most effective alterations are the ones that use colour. My favorite is the one with full saturation because it almost looks abstract and I wasn't expecting those colours to appear. Putting a sepia effect on the image gave it more depth. Whereas using a soft focus didn't because the original photo already had a blurred background and foreground. I could only blur more, which the image didn't need.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson
(1908-2004)
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French painter who turned his attention towards photography. It is not surprising then, to notice some surrealist influence in his photographs. He used his Leica 35mm camera with a 50 mm lens for all of his photos. With this small, portable camera, he was able to take pictures spontaneously and from many interesting angles. He usually didn’t use a flash because it killed the natural lighting and he wanted to capture effects of subtle natural luminosity. His approach to photography was that of “instant drawing”, meaning he could capture elusive images in the opening and closing of a shutter. He had a knack of getting the right shot. This could be the influence of his painting, which deals a lot with composition and placement. Cartier-Bresson’s pictures are taken in black and white, both horizontally and vertically. They are mostly taken of landscapes and people. His shots of scenery often have some strange aspect to them, whether it be the perspective or composition. His portraits are mainly of unusual people, or of someone who would appear different to his audience.

Sources:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1318621
http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.PhotographerDetail_VPage&l1=0&pid=2K7O3R14T1LX&nm=Henri%20Cartier%20-%20Bresson

Walker Evans
(1903-1975)

Evans was an American photographer made famous by his work for the Farm Securities Administration documenting the effects of the Great Depression, but he also focused on the landscape and architecture that surrounded him. Through his seemingly dispassionate irony he made a valid social point with his photographs from the Depression. In a non-subjective way, Evans captured realism by photographing everyday objects, such as a sign on a wall or a pair of shoes. These were symbols for the people that lived in a specific environment. Unlike other FSA photographers, Evans saw the beauty in things that were often ignored.
He worked in a large format with an 8 x 10 inch camera and worked exclusively in black and white. The photographs are taken both horizontally and vertically, depending on what worked better compositionally with his subject.

Sources:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/fsa/images.html
http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Evans_Walker.html

Photo Assignment #2

Link to Photo Album