Research: W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith was an American photojournalist who shot for Life Magazine before parting from them in the early 1950s and later joined Magnum. He is known for, amongst other things, his pictures of WWII. Smith's set of 'Country Doctor' pictures from 1948 for Life is one of the magazine's most famous individual photo-essays. Pictures found using Google Image Search.

I also, here, found scans of Smith's 'Country Doctor' pictures as they were printed in the article. Unfortunately they  very small, but are still capable of giving an idea of the way Life Magazine handled its layouts at the time.

Research: Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark is an American photographer known for her portraiture and photojournalism. The first and last of the above examples are from her 1993 book 'Indian Circus'. Between 1989 and 1990, Mark travelled across India taking pictures with 18 different circuses. The second and third pictures are from 'Ward 81' published in 1979. "Ward 81 was a women's security ward of the Oregon State Mental Institution, the only locked ward for women in the state." Images and quote from photographer's website.

Research: Alec Soth

 

Alec Soth is an American photographer from Minneapolis. The three pictures in this post are all from his self-printed book 'Sleeping By The Mississippi', published in 2004, which consists of images he made using an 8x10 view camera whilst travelling around the Mississippi River. I am not sure I can quite explain what it is I like about Soth's photography. It is probably to do with the choice of subject matter and the composition. I also like the often very muted colours and detail that he captures. Pictures from Soth's website.

Research: Rineke Dijkstra

 

Dutch photographer Rineke Dikstra's 'Beach Portraits', as well as being her most well known series, are also a great example of her work. Her most iconic images tend to be her single portraits, however there are several double and group ones in her oeuvre. The subjects in her images are often standing and facing front. The 'Beach Portraits' are all of adolescents and shot from a low angle. This is possibly to present them as people rather than specifically children, which a higher angle might render them. What I particularly like about her pictures of people, particular these early teenagers, is that they show them without a media influenced way of presenting themselves. So that their own awkwardness and uncertainty shines through. This gives them more depth and makes it easier for them to be viewed as pictures of realy people rather then pictures featuring people. Pictures found using Google Image Search.

Research: Martin Parr

 

Martin Parr looks at modern life with a critical eye, exposing humour in the everyday and the unusual in the usual. He travels worldwide to do so, although his pictures of Britain - especially its seaside towns - are particularly well known. The introduction by Thomas Weski on Parr's website lists 'leisure, consumption and comunication' as his particular points of analysis of our 'cultural peculiarities'. The bright colours in his style, as well as his way of choosing sometimes inexplicably funny images is something I hope I could bring to my work. Pictures found using Google Image Search.

Research: Paul Graham

 

Paul Graham is an English photographer/artist, the above pictures are all from his series 'A1 - The Great North Road'. Over the course of 1981 and '82 he travelled up and down the length of the A1 shooting with a large format camera. Though made with artistic intentions they make a great document, not only of his journey, but also of the road and the people of it at that particular point in time. Pictures from Graham's own website.

Editorial Photography Portfolio

This blog will be my portfolio workbook for the 'Editorial Photography' module and a journal for me to display my progress whilst working towards my final pictures for the course.