I don’t have many photos from London, and a lot of them were taken with the intention of using them for typologies so they do seem similar in places for this reason.
I do have other images of London but unfortunately these are all taken on a phone camera and for this reason I don’t think I will use them. Because there aren’t many images from London, I am less likely to include them in the final product, but hopefully I can make them work.
These photos were taken in the centre of Amsterdam, the train station, along the river, and on the river itself. I like a lot of them and I think that they show a lot of the typical essence of the city.
I took these images in the centre of Athens as well as tourist attractions and heritage sights such as the Acropolis, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, and the Roman Forum of Athens (Roman Agora) I think that a lot of these are quite strong and I am happy with how they turned out.
William Klein
What makes Klein so different to my other chosen artist, Henri Cartier-Bresson, is that his approach to his subjects is far more up-close-and-personal. He doesn’t shy away or hide his camera, choosing to remain unseen by his subjects, but instead he shoots from directly in their faces, often causing a visible display of outrage from some, and a deliberate playing up to the camera from others.
William Klein was born in 1926 in New York City. He served in World War II, first in Germany and later in France, where he chose to settle after being discharged. He then studied painting with Fernand Léger at the Sorbonne in Paris, before moving on to his photographic career, beginning in fashion with Vogue. He won the Prix Nadar in 1957 for New York, a book of photos of his hometown, despite his lack of formal training in photography. He was also ranked 25th on Professional Photographer‘s list of 100 most influential photographers.
This article by Laird Borrelli-Persson from June 2022 explores Klein’s fashion career from the perspective of Vogue itself.
As well as producing over 250 television advertisements, he directed his first feature film in 1966, Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?, which was a satire mockumentary on the world of fashion….
… followed by numerous documentaries, including Grands soirs et petits matins (1978)…
… and Muhammad Ali, the Greatest (1969).
– William Klein, on his photography in the early 1950s (https://photoquotes.com/quote/i-was-very-consciously-trying-to-do-the-opposite-o)
“…It’s fake violence, a parody. I asked the boy to point the gun at me and then look tough. He did, and then we both laughed. [I see it] as a double self-portrait. I was both the street kid trying to look tough, and the timid good little boy on the right.”
– William Klein, when recounting the moment the image was taken. (https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/photographs/william-klein-1928-2022-65/163335)
Criticism
Overall, after searching thoroughly, I could not find any real criticism of William Klein’s work. There was a lot of criticism at the time of its publication, however, as it broke all the rules of photography. Nowadays, this kind of disobeying the rules has had an amelioration. It now symbolises a pioneering and revolutionising spirit; someone who wasn’t afraid to change people’s minds. This is, of course, a worthy interpretation, as it is what Klein achieved. However, it does lead to a lack of diversity in interpretations as people are now afraid to criticise this work because they fear being attacked or (worse still, in the rather precocious areas of the photographic community) seen as if they ‘do not understand’ his work and are merely amateurs. I find that, as ‘Sebastian’ (the author of the article I read as criticism of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s work) stated, there is often an unspoken rule that famous and admired photographers such as Klein and Cartier-Bresson cannot be criticised. Those who would criticise are seen as ‘amateur’ and so their opinion is not worthy. This is not true, of course, as anyone who views an image is a consumer and therefore their opinion matters, so to only worship and praise the work of these photographers is to create a stifling culture of non-criticism and non-discussion. Discussion and debate is, after all, what stimulates society and to be without it is to lack individual intelligence and thought.
I decided to take some photos of my boyfriend in the studio and explore different depths of field and lighting to see if I could create some interesting portraits. I didn’t really have an artist in mind but I like the way some of them turned out.
I think some of them could correspond to the more portrait based work of Rinko Kawauchi but generally they vary in style so this is not consistent.
Originally named Images à la Sauvette and later translated to English, The Decisive Moment is Henri Cartier-Bresson’s most famous publication. It is a collection of his images alongside his exploration of his theory that an image requires a ‘moment’ in order to be interesting to the viewer. This is a key publication in the study of Cartier-Bresson’s work because it clarifies his practices and the way in which he felt photography was important to the world. Robert Capa described it as “a Bible for photographers”, and it has certainly been viewed by many as an important source of both inspiration and teaching.
“Things-As-They-Are offer such an abundance of material that a photographer must guard against the
temptation of trying to do everything… it is essential to cut from the raw material of life – to cut and cut, but to cut with discrimination.”
– Cartier-Bresson, The Decisive Moment, 1952.
This quote demonstrates the key message of the book because it alludes to the significance of making judicious choices when creating images. He states that ‘discrimination’ of work is precisely what makes a collection worth viewing. He is purported to have attended the 1968 Paris student revolt, where, despite the explosive action on show, he would apparently take images at a rate of about four per hour. This exemplifies his theory and shows that he is always careful to take the image that will tell the best story, and not to just photograph ‘everything’.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) was a French photographer whose work is regarded as some of the most influential and revolutionary in history. He was the author of The Decisive Moment, a publication that influenced an abundance of famous photographers across the centuries, including Robert Capa and Steve McCurry.
He studied literature at Cambridge University before travelling to Africa in 1931 to photograph the bush. He then returned to Paris after contracting Blackwater fever. He spent his 40 year photography career travelling all over the world, spending a while in each location so as to immerse himself fully.
In 1940, he was taken prisoner by the Germans but escaped in 1943. The next year, he participated in an underground French photography project which sought to photograph the German occupation and retreat. In 1945, he made a film called Le Retour for the US Office of War Information which explored the return of prisoners of war to France.
Cartier-Bresson was always conscious of remaining hidden when taking his images – his style is concealed and not obvious to those he is photographing, in contrast to the work of William Klein. He once even covered the silver parts of his 35mm Leica with black tape to make it more invisible.
In 1947 – the same year his work was exhibited in a one-man exhibition in the New York City Museum of Modern Art – him and five others (including Robert Capa) founded the photographic agency Magnum Photos, which is still successful to this day.
After forming Magnum, Cartier-Bresson began to focus more and more on reportage photography, travelling to India, China, Indonesia and Egypt across the next three years. He devoted his later years to painting and drawing, as he felt that his medium (still imagery) was ultimately being superseded by television. He ‘abandoned his trademark Leica 35mm rangefinder camera in the 1970s to take up drawing and painting, declaring: “I have no interest in photography.”’ (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/oct/21/henri-cartier-bresson-photographe-new-edition-french-photographer)
Criticism
I found an article written by someone only naming themselves as ‘Sebastian’ on the Streetbounty website. The article discusses the author’s struggles to ‘understand’ the ‘pedestal’ that Cartier-Bresson’s work is ‘lifted on’. He states that the images ‘lack the emotional value and are very technical’, mentioning the likelihood that many of them are staged – which would, of course, be entirely contradictory to his philosophy of ‘The Decisive Moment’. Through this, the article dissects the existence of so many interpretations of Cartier-Bresson’s work; that it is over-idolised and placed on an unrealistic pedestal, as well as being hypocritical. The author mentions that ‘[Cartier-Bresson’s] Street Photography doesn’t impress [him], but his documentary work and his work ethic surely do.’ This demonstrates that the author is sure to give credit where it is due and his argument throughout is not an unfounded one as he gives many examples.
I don’t think that this photoshoot was overly successful – my plan wasn’t really detailed enough and the camera settings have not been fully used to their advantage. I think that the best images are actually the ones of the plants as they reflect the work of the artist better. I would like to reattempt this shoot even if it is only for experimentation purposes.
What?
I will be photographing bubbles like the ones in Kawauchi’s work. I will also possibly explore photographing some ordinary objects and scenes like the other artists I looked at.
Where?
At home, perhaps also in surrounding area for some plant related images.
When?
In daytime for outdoor images (especially with good sunlight) and any time for indoor images.
How?
I will be using a tripod to take these images as I will be using a small aperture and large shutter speed which will increase camera shake. I may even choose to use a flash at some point.
For this week, I have decided to take inspiration from the 2nd starting point given in the exam paper, which is shown above.
Rinko Kawauchi
Rinko Kawauchi was born in 1972, in Shiga, Japan, and graduated from Seian Women’s College (now Seian University of Art and Design) in 1993.
Her work explores the subtle aesthetic of wabi-sabi, which is defined by Wikipedia as ‘a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.‘ This means that it focuses on details, textures, and gestures that are often overlooked by us in the haste of everyday modern life.
It was close to melting point, and one could see the lake if one passed through.
Silence had spread out there; no waves, no sound.
I thought I might fall in by accident if I stared too long; I thought the glacier might devour me. I got scared and began to look around for what was missing. Where could I find the centre? Where will I find this circle, where can I dig up this gold?
And after a while I realised:
It can only be found on the surface.
Yes, I searched for the sun within a glacier.
—Rinko Kawauchi, to accompany her series “Search for the Sun,” 2015
I would like to take inspiration from this artist because it is not the usual style of photography I would go for and it would allow me to explore a more unknown (to me) area of the medium. I think it would be fun to get creative with this style. I like Kawauchi’s images because of their beauty in simplicity as well as their careful composition – they are created to stimulate pleasure of aesthetics.
Clare Gallagher, William Eggleston, Josef Sudak
The other artists mentioned on this page of the exam paper offer a more open brief when added to the work of Kawauchi.
Clare Gallagher‘s work focuses on the domestic life, highlighting the struggles faced by women, and especially mothers, in the home. Her images are simplistic and show only everyday, mundane items, but in a thoughtful and stimulating manner, especially when combined with her philosophy.
William Eggleston‘s photographs are characterised by their playful palette and imagery relating to the urban landscape of the American Midwest and its inhabitants. His images are exciting and colourful; they connote the consumerism and suburban lifestyle that populates the history of this area.
Josef Sudek‘s images are inversely dark and sophisticated. Shot on black and white film, the mise-en-scenes capitalise on the struggle between light and shadow. His work focuses on the mundane too, but uses drama to exemplify the lack of mundanity.
