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.