Walker Evans: An Influential Photographer

For the historical photographer part of my assignment, I choose photographer Edward S. Curtis. The reason I decided to choice Mr. Curtis and his works is that he help preserve and document accurate depictions of Native Americans at a time when most of society had only a limited knowledge of what Native Americans culture looked like. In addition, nearly all of his work from an artistic standpoint looks breathtaking; almost like a painting expert, it is photography. Therefore, the next the paragraph I will discussed his works, message in his work, and my thoughts on them.

Taking photographs may seem simple, but being a photographer is more than browsing through the viewfinder and pushing the exposure button. A photographer needs to know how to analyze the scene, speak in words that language cannot, and reach to the souls of people through a picture. During the Great Depression, many photographers captured the scenes of poverty and grief. However, there was only one photographer that truly captured the souls of Americans. According to Roy Stryker, Dorothea Lange "had the most sensitivity and the most rapport with people" (Stryker and Wood 41). Dorothea Lange was a phenomenal photographer that seized the hearts of people during the 1930s and beyond, and greatly affected the times of the Great Depression.

very involved with journalism, whether it be through writing or photos. As a journalist, his career

George Eastman invented roll film and an easy to operate camera that made photography easier for anyone to experience photography. He founded the Eastman Kodak Company to manufacture cameras and photographic supplies, making the art of photography available to the masses. This talks about his life and how he came about the inventions that made photography easier for people to use and produce their own photographs.

In the photograph,” Bud Fields and his family, Hale County Alabama, Summer 1936”, Walker Evans depicts life during this time and shows in this photograph that even through extreme poverty this family is standing united. A photograph hanging on the cracked wall in the background of the portrait is stating that this family stays together no matter what, through every obstacle they will be there for one another . As you can see, in this photograph there are three generations. The grandmother is the only one wearing shoes, this symbolizes, the family’s tremendous respect for their elders. The realization of poverty is shown by the fact that the family is wearing very filthy clothing if any at all. In the portrait, one child is sitting on his father's

Ansel Adams was a famous photographer. He was born on February 20th, 1902, in San Francisco, California. He intended to be a pianist but soon changed his mind, after taking up the hobby of photography. His skills and training in piano helped him develop a career in photography. Adams met his wife on a trip to Yosemite and got married in 1928. They had two children together, Michael and Anne.

An Australian Photographer,born in 1957 from the K’ua K’ua tribe. Before her passion developed for photography deacon has strong interests in politics. With the inspiration of Indigenous Activist Charles Perkins, it led Destiny to the beginning of her artistic endevours. "I was just in awe of him 'cause he was such a spokesperson. He was always there and I really miss him and I think Australia misses him.” 7] Growing up Deacon and her family lived in various Melbourne inner suburbs, in commission houses which while often tough opened her eyes to a whole other world "My family grew up on the waterfront. Our commission home was the hub of painters and dockers, criminals, unionists,there was culture galore.”]

Charleton Watkins photographed the first photograph in July of 1867 in Oregon; it is titled “Cape Horn, Columbia River”. Timothy O’ Sullivan photographed the second photograph in 1873; it is titled “Ancient Ruins in the Canon de Chelle”. Both photographs are spectacular, without a doubt. They were both photographed around the Realism movement. This explains why they are both landscape photographs that consist of everyday subjects. The method used to create “Cape Horn, Columbia River” is an albumen silver print. Coincidentally, the method used to create O’ Sullivan’s photo “Ancient Ruins in the Canon de Chelle”, is also a photographic albumen print. The albumen print method, also called albumen silver print

At the age of 15 he had to start work on the railways because he had to help with the financial contrubution at home, after his father died, shortly after his first job he worked at WM Larkins animation studio. Then he had to serve at the Royal Air force where he assisted as a photographer, his job was to process the film that came back from the bombers. He use to photograph gangsters for fun, these were mostly people he hanged out with. Durning and for many years after starting to work as a photographer Don used Nikon and Olympus Om 1 and his favourite focal lengths, 28mm and 128mm. The community suggested that his photo’s should be used for the local news paper when the gangster culture became part of the public eye. Being dyslexic

Usher Fellig also known as WeeGee was born on June 12, 1899 in the town of Lemberg (Now in Ukraine) weegee first ever worked as an photographer at age fourteen when weegee was immigrated to the united states he changed his name to Arthur Fellig just because he thought the name arthur would fit more in, in the united states. Arthur fellig was a self taught photographer he had other jobs as a photographer he gained an employment as a photographer in a studio in manhattan in 1918. His job led him to be variety of newspapers until 1935 Weegee became a freelance newspaper He centered his practice around police headquarters and in 1938 obtained permission to install a police radio in his car. This allowed him to take the first and most sensational

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon was a commercial and journalist photographer in the 20th century who was known for his portraits and style of controversy. He started out working in the merchant marines, taking identification photos, to being one of the first photographers of The New Yorker inspiring many other photographers. But before he discovered a passion for politics he spent many years dedicated to Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue working with many famous actors’, actresses’, models, and more. He ended up changing the way the magazine world functioned. A New York Times article stated “Mr. Avedon’s photographs captured the freedom, excitement, and energy of fashion as it entered an era of transformation and popularization.”

Over the year’s photography has really improved, from heavy wooden boxes to small light weight, portable cameras. But overall, photography was used to create memories, enjoy moment with friends and family’s love. George Eastman, an American Entrepreneur and inventor who created the Kodak company, helping make photography accessible, simple and effortless. George Eastman was born July 12, 1854 in Waterville, New York. Eastman Father ran a business college in Rochester, New York, where his mother took care of him and his two older sisters. His father died when he was seven years old, leaving his mother to take in borderr to support the family, also letting George drop out of high at the age of 14 to add to the family income. Eastman took many

I enjoyed this article by Paul Graham because it gave me insight on photography outside of an academic setting. In class, I am accustomed to tailoring my projects to focus on a rubric to a receive a good grade. Being judged on a creative matter like photography causes me to revisit my work often before deciding that it is finished, which is good. However, it often obstructs my creative thinking because it causes me to have anxiety with fitting in the parameters of the assignment, since there are other factors that I don’t think about when I am in the moment, such as tonal consistency and various photographic grammars. Luckily, editing often helps me achieve the results I want and helps alleviate that stress.

Henry Peach Robinson, born on July 9th, 1830, was a British photographer and prominent author on photography. Known as “the King of Photographic Picture Making,” he began his life’s work as a painter but would become one of the most influential photographers of the late 19th century. He was a prolific advocate for photography as an art form and is well known for his role in “pictorialism,” which, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, is “an approach to photography that emphasizes beauty of subject matter, tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality.”

Susan Sontag said photographs sends across the harmlessness and helplessness of the human life steering into their own ruin. Furthermore the bond connecting photography with departure from life tortures the human race. (Sontag 1977:64)