Emmit Gowin

Emmit Gowin was born in 1941 in Virginia, USA.  He established himself as a prominent American photographer in the 1970s with his strong, intimate portraits of his wife, Edith, and their family. You can view some of those images here if you are interested.  

Of all of his images I've seen over the past few days, the ones that really caught my eye were these full image circle photos taken using a 4x5 lens with an 8x10 (large format) camera. There's something very appealing about the heavy vignetteing which draws your eye in. They remind me a bit of the current crop of TTV photos you see around the web.

These pictures were found on the Pace/MacGill Gallery website where you can also view some of Gowin's other work.

Sally Mann

Sally Mann's photography popped up on my radar this week.  I think I like her work. I say, think, because there is something slightly unsettling about her photographs, an element of seduction which is slightly unnerving.  But perhaps this is why I also like her photographs - they draw you in and make you pause and think.

Born in 1951 in the US, Mann's first job as a photographer was at Washington and Lee University.  She produced several collections in the 1980s and 90s, but her most well-known and celebrated was her third, Immediate Family. The 65 black and white photographs, all of her children playing at their summer cabin explore typical summer themes - dressing-up, board games, skinny dipping - but always with a slight bent (in my opinion) toward sedition. Not surprisingly Immediate Family stirred up quite a bit of public debate about photography and the portrayal of children in fine art.  Ultimately the critics deemed her work "good" and in 2001 Time magazine named her "Best American Photographer" of the year.

What do you think?

the face of tomorrow

Ever wondered what people will look like in 50 years time? How will migration affect the look and feel of cities like London, Sydney and New York? Mike Mike, a photographer based in Istanbul, is exploring this topic and attempting to answer these questions by taking photographs of people and merging them into a composite image.  It's an interesting idea with some curious results.

Sydney, Australia

Firstly what is immediately noticable is how beautiful all the composite images are - hardly surprising when you discover that what we often perceive as beautiful is a flawless and symmetrical face. Superimposing 100 faces on top of each other will tend to blend out the unique things that makes us "us" transforming 'the face of tomorrow' into a beautiful, if not slightly Bladerunner-esque beauty.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

 I also love the facial expressions - look how happy the two from the Netherlands are! Mike Mike has been collecting these photographs since 2004 and is currently inviting people to add their cities to the growing compliation on his website.  Pop over and check out some of the other faces from Hong Kong, Damascus and London.

Andreas Feiniger (1906 - 1999)

I mentioned Andreas Feiniger in my post on Friday and since then have been quietly stalking him on the Internet.  Born in Paris, to US-German parents he immigrated to New York just prior to World War II where he became a photographer for Life magazine.  Feiniger became famous for his depictions of New York and, particularly, Manhattan in the 40s and 50s - you can definitely feel the raw 'busy-ness' of what was still clearly an important Port City in all of his photographs.   It is perhaps ironic then that the picture of his I like the most is the last.  It couldn't be further away from the smog and chaos of an industrial port, but the open sky and the long straight road really appeal to me. 

Imogene Cunningham (1883 - 1976)

Thank-you to everyone who left a message about commenting yesterday.  Seems as if it is something that every blogger thinks about and finding what feels "right" for you can be tricky.  I'm still thinking about Disqus, although for now I'm going to visit people's blogs and reply directly to people if they have a question or I want to continue a discussion about something that they raised in their comment.  If you would like to email me about anything (and definitely receive a reply) you can always use the "Email Me" button on the right-hand panel.

But now onto this week's photographer: Imogene Cunningham.

Imogene Cunningham (1883-1976) was an American photographer who studied in the US and Germany before setting up a photo studio in 1910.  My favourite works of her's were those taken in the 1920s and 1930s.  She seems to have approached photographing flora and the nude in a similar way, so much so that when viewing her photos from a distance the two subject seem to blend together making it sometimes difficult to determine which is which. I love the simplicity of the first two photos , the curves of the women are reflected in the curves of the flowers and there is a symmetry and harmony in both pictures that is incredibly calming. 

During the later part of her career, Cunningham began experimenting with double exposure.  This photograph of Martha Graham is one of my favourites.  

Carrol Jerrems

Carol Jerrems (1949-1980) is another Australian photographer that I have recently discovered and admire. She spent much of the 70s photographing counter-culture in suburban Sydney and Melbourne, mostly photographing herself and friends in both contrived and more relaxed settings.  What's particularly interesting to me is that her work still looks quite contemporary, particularly when compared to today's photographers who work with film and/or use vintage processing techniques. 

Jerrems died, aged 31 years, of a rare blood disorder.  She documented her short illness on film and donated all her work to the Australian National Archive after her death.

Harold Cazneaux

Harold Cazneaux (1878-1953) was a founder of the Sydney Camera Circle and his work greatly influenced the development of Australian photography. One of the Sydney Camera Circle's key aims was to reframe Australian photography so that it embraced "our own Australia in terms of sunlight" rather than the grey shadows typical of European photography at the time.  Looking through his photographs, it's interesting to see how he slowly embraces this ideal in his own work.  I especially like the last two portraits of the 1920s women - the way he plays with the light in these photos is wonderful.

'Passing Storm'

 'Fresham School'

 'Doris Zinkeise'

Looking Back : Dorothea Lange

 Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) initially trained as a studio portrait photographer, however, she had somewhat of a political 'awakening' during the depression turning her lens onto the steet to document the plight of the thousands of people left destitute after the stockmarket crash in 1929.  After the depression, Lange continued to persue a career as a photojournalist and is regarded as being an influential pioneer of documentary photography.

In the 1940s Lange shifted her focus, documenting the internment of Japanese-Americans in relocation camps. At the time her work was so controversial it was impounded by the US Army and later transferred to the United States National Archives.

Looking Back : Vivien Maier

I'm sure many of you have heard of Vivien Maier by now, but her work continues to amaze, delight and inspire me.  I keep going back to look at her work and read more about her life and her 'discovery' as a photographer. In 2009 Real Estate Agent John Maloof bought some of her photographers and negatives at an estate sale.  Unsure of what he was seeing he posted a few of the photos on Flickr, wrote to a few museums and galleries and waited to see if anything came of the more than 100,000 negatives and 600 rolls of undeveloped film he had purchased.  The more I read and the more I see of her work, the more I want to know.

John Maloof originally posted a discussion thread called "What do I do with this stuff (other than giving it to you)?" in the Hard Core Street Photography Flickr group.  It is a facinating read if you have a spare 10 minutes to scan through the thread.

John Maloof also has a blog with a large collection of her photographs posted there.

The Chicago Cultural Centre is hosting an exhibition of Vivien Maier's work from January 8 - April 3, 2011.  Admission is free for those lucky enough to live in the Chicago area (and for everyone else too, you just have to get to Chicago first!)

F.C. Gundlach

F.C. Gundlach, the last of my series on German Photographers from the 20-70s that I admire.  His work straddles fashion and street photography.  It's powerful and wonderful and, well, I wish I could take photos like him.

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Alfred Eisenstaedt (1998 - 1995) is most well known for his Time's Square V-J Day Photo, but his later work in the 1950s and 60s is just as captivating.  He worked for Life magazine until 1972.