Reading 2: William Eggleston's Guide

1. The difficulty that Szarkowski faces switching from black and white photography into color is that old black and white photographs were not natural without color because in reality color exists and should exist in photography. But black and white photographs seemed to mean something more in photography without the need of color. 

1. He describes the successes of Eliot Porter, Helen Levitt, Joel Meyerowitz and Stephen Shore by them working with confidence in color photography. Working in color is a natural step for these photographers. Eliot Porter’s strength in color photography are landscapes, street pictures were Helen Levitt’s, Joel Meyerowitz’s and Stephen Shores’s greatest talent in color photography. Color is exceptional and descriptive in their eyes. 

1. The difference between a pedestrians photos and an artist’s photographs is that the artist feels not only comfortable with his work but that it is natural for him to take pictures. Unlike a pedestrian, they take pictures of anything that looks cool or nice and they just keep it with them. They don’t really go in depth about describing it like the lights and the shadows of the photograph. It is just another picture to them after all. 

1. The failures of color photography fall under two categories that consist of high pricing in creating color books and also describing life. 

1. Natural derived photographs have more meaning at describing life in a wider approach compared to regular snapshots that hold no real meaning in the person taking the picture. 

1. Szarkowski describes Eggelston’s photographs as being perfect and that the subjects are intriguing and vibrant and that they describe life. 

1.   What I found meaningful about this article is the fact of differences in people with a camera compared to people that are with a camera but bring out a whole new meaning in life and what they think when they take a photography. Some pedestrians that take photographs just take a picture but at the end of the day they don’t look through them and see much of a meaning behind them other then the day they were taken. A true photographer does not take any photograph, but takes a photograph that is meaningful to them. 

      In this article I also learned about how the medium of photography is portrayed. Other may still find photography sketchy and not a true art medium but I feel photography is art and it depends on the person behind the camera lens. Taking pictures of life in the moment is important because not every single individual will get to live a moment like that in their entire life again. So capturing an image of it right then and there is important. It is not always about a pattern but about something greater. 

Gregory Crewdson

I enjoyed looking at this photographic. If gave the the sense of an extraterrestrial figure above looking down on Earth. I like the idea of other beings being on outer planets watching on us. 

 Todd Hido

I liked the natural lighting hitting the woman and the drapery. And I like how the window is only partially opened. The woman standing in the window holding the drapery very casually is interesting as well. 

Alec Soth 

I felt sorry for the Siberian Husky in the barrier window. But the thing is the dog does not look unimpressed, he looks quite calm laying there which was interesting. Its unusual to see a dog in a window sill because usually felines hang out there and not dogs. 

Eliot Porter Photography

I have a very intense interest in nature photography and I found Eliot Porter's photography especially intriguing. I could not stop looking through his collection of nature photography on his website. This man has been through many different parts of the world taking pictures of live and fulfilling beautiful places around the world. This one image of a small waterfall really captured my eye not just because of the nurturing colors and textures surrounding the water fall but the water itself. The slow shutter speed of the water looks so gentle, soft, and cooling to the touch. The reflection in the water is also rather breathe-taking. 

 A fast shutter speed can be determined here in this fascinating image. As a mother or father bird leaves the nest of its young ones, the baby birds have their mouths wide open as though they are calling out to their parent to "come back" or I'm hungry again!" The nest where the baby birds lay looks quite sturdy and looks like it took a very long time to create. The sharp details of the blue and black birds wing-span is very great and so alive and free. Taking the chance to sit back to see wildlife is an amazing thing to view in this world. 

This forest looks dense and lonesome. It looks like a photograph from a movie with a character making their way through these woods and not noticing that their being watched. The great height of the trees are appealing to the eye and the open space is vast as well. Not a single animal or person can be seen in this photograph and that is another reason why this photograph is interesting. The height of where the tree's stands look like high place so I will have to assume the plantation and grounded soil where the tree's stand are high up. 

William Eggleston Photography

 The glazed and bright blue colors portray the subject of the image. Not a single person can be seen in the image, but the bright foliage can be seen with great depth of field. To the right of the photo is a building facing to the side with a small overhead porch. If this image was in black and white the sky will be blown with white light and the blue trees will be dark blacks with light detail. What I dislike about the image is the lack of sky and what I like about the image is the bright blue subject matter over casting most of the image. The relationship of color depicts a black and white resemblance and that is quite intriguing. 

 The subject matter characterizes five figurines of farm animals placed among a metal object which I guessed was the hood of an old automobile. The pig and two billy goats are a bright blue, the cat is a dazzling red and the bright golden duck is the brightest among them all. In black and white the red cat will be the darkest of all the animals and the bright yellow duck would be the brightest color of the rest of the animals. The hard metal that the figures are surfaced on will be a thick black color as well. I like how the yellow duck dominates the use of color portrayed in this image. I dislike that their are only five figures to view and not more. Eggleston use for color photography is interesting here but not as interesting. The subject matter is interesting but I wish there was more of the subject matter involved and maybe being that the golden duck would be the one that constantly points out of the crowd. The color relations are here in this image with all the figures being animals and that they are all following the golden duck leading the way. 

It is obvious here that the subject matter is the tricycle portrayed in an worm's eye angle view. The tricycle will have great details in the bike if it was in black and white. The tricycle's handlebars and the seating will have bright gray and white details. The wheels will be dark and the background of the two houses will be bright will small minor details as well. The rusted handle bars will have sharp great details as well and will be interesting to see in black and white. I like and I understand that the tricycle is the subject matter distributed here in the photograph and what I dislike about this image is the lack of mobility of the tricycle. It would look more interesting then it's side-view angle. Everyone has seen a tricycle in the side-view angle and I also would like to see the shadows on the subject on the pavement as well. The bright red handle bars really distinguish the use of colors in this image. Next it would be the blue tricycle's seat. The houses in the background are a dull beige and white color so they are not the most appealing colors here in this image.