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| Arnold Schwarzenegger photo by Annie Leibovitz 1988 |
SIMPLICITY brings impact to an image - for many reasons black and white can emphasize the power of simplicity. In this image the ingenious composition brings these elements together perfectly.
Tuesday 8 September 2015
BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: SIMPLICITY CREATES STRENGTH
Monday 7 September 2015
BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: 'SEEING' THE DRAMATIC POTENTIAL IN A SCENE
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| From the 'LAKESHORES' series photo by MICHAEL O"BRIEN 2015 |
When you know your camera and
software it allows you to interpret scenes as intended. Understanding the
DRAMATIC POTENTIAL in a scene helps lead us to the photograph we want to
create. This comes from experience and experimentation.
THE BLACK AND WHITE SERIES: BREAKING FREE - ABSTRACT PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE ART OF SEEING
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THROUGH THE GLASS DARKLY
From the 'BENEATH THE SURFACE' series
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Making ABSTRACT photographs is a natural for black and white since the B&W medium is an abstraction to begin with. The Art of Seeing plays a big part in this process since we need to look beyond the everyday appearance of an object, person or scene before it can be transformed into something else. Often this type of image is pre-visualized prior to the exposure . while other times it's after the fact in post production where we might see the potential in a completely mundane image we've made. The Art of Seeing is an important element that I teach in all my classes, workshops and private coaching sessions. Everything in photography revolves around it.
BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY - OTHER WORLDS
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| 'SUCCULENT', Allen Gardens, Toronto ©Michael O'Brien |
Most of the
MACRO photography we see is in color; when rendered in B&W, macro images can
imbue our subjects with a sense of mystery and wonder. Try it some time! I made this image in diffused (soft) natural light using a Canon 50mm f2.5 (a really tried and true lens) with my old Canon 5D camera mounted on a tripod. This lens has remarkable contrast and sharpness - it can do double duty as a 'normal' lens as well.
BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: UNDERWATER - THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED
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| THE ALTAR photo by ERNST BROOKS II |
ROAD LESS TRAVELLED is one way to describe the path of anyone working predominantly in black and white these days. Few have done it with the singular vision that underpins Ernst Brook's underwater photography.
"In his passion, Ernie took the road less traveled. When color photography dazzled us with the revelation of color underwater, he saw something different and courageously continued to explore his art in black and white … as light enters the water; the brightest colors are filtered out … the reds, oranges, and yellows being the first to disappear. So, by choosing a palette of black and white, Ernie captures a quality that is more true, more revealing of the sea, than the color images that so easily seduce us."
— Jean-Michel Cousteau in the forward to Ernie Brooks' 2002 book, Silver Seas: A Retrospective
— Jean-Michel Cousteau in the forward to Ernie Brooks' 2002 book, Silver Seas: A Retrospective
BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: WILDLIFE
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| CHEETAH FAMILY photo by Nick Brandt |
Nick Brandt's photos stand out as some of the most dramatic and beautiful WILDLIFE photographs ever made in black and white. His book 'A Shadow Falls' came out in 2009 and has sold more copies than any fine art book published. He uses film in his Pentax 67 camera. His decision to not use telephoto lenses brought him into close contact with his four legged subjects and, I believe, contributes greatly to the power and intimacy of his photographs. To find out more about Nick Brandt go to link below.
"Nick Brandt photographs exclusively in Africa, one of his goals being to record an elegy and last testament to the wild animals and natural world there before they are lost forever at the hands of man.
In the 12 years from 2001-2012, he worked on a trilogy of photographic essays, charting this disappearing world. The title of the three books form one consecutive sentence:
On This Earth, A Shadow Falls, Across The Ravaged Land."
Brandt has had multiple solo gallery and museum shows around the world, including in New York, London, Berlin, Stockholm, Paris and Los Angeles.
Born and raised in England, he now lives in the southern Californian mountains.
He is co-founder of Big Life Foundation, fighting to protect the animals of a large area of Kenya and Tanzania."
BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: LUMINOSITY AND PRESENCE
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From the "LAKESHORES" Platinum Sequence
©Michael O'Brien 2014
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LUMINOSITY and PRESENCE in black and white images are very important, yet elusive, qualities. We are drawn to images that possess them because they seem to glow from within. Strong composition and the right exposure are the first ingredients Then seeing and interpreting the light and contrast in the scene is next. Usually we come to the final image by working with mid tone contrast in post production (Lightroom, ACR and/or Silver Efex) to enhance the existing light with digital tools.
Sunday 6 September 2015
THE BLACK AND WHITE SERIES: THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATING LAYERS IN A LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPH
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Tewet Tarn and Blencathra, English Lake District
photo by: Keith Greenough
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LAYERS can lead us into a picture and help us navigate all
the different elements from which a photograph is made. For instance, sometimes
a landscape doesn't have an obvious centre of interest (the thing we are told
every photograph needs). LAYERING within the frame can act as the glue that
holds together and helps convey what we see and feel while standing in front on
a awesome scene.
Often this effect is achieved by having the focus recede so
that foreground elements are in sharp focus and then taper off the further we
go into the scene. This can be done by using CONTROLLED DEPTH OF FIELD and
choosing our place of prime focus carefully.
Sunday 9 August 2015
Saturday 8 August 2015
Thursday 6 August 2015
Wednesday 5 August 2015
Tuesday 4 August 2015
Monday 11 May 2015
THE IMPORTANCE OF THEMATIC DEVELOPMENT IN PHOTOGRAPHY
While teaching I see many people in the doldrums of making nice 'singles', believing that buying a better camera or learning more technique is what they need to get to the 'next level' - when in fact they just need a theme or project to work on. Following is an ongoing list of books, DVDs and links to some photographers whose body of work contain a theme or themes which make the whole greater than it's parts. Of course this list could be 50 times longer, however, because it's initial function is a study aid for my students, I made sure that the sources are all available for free through the amazing Toronto Public Library system. Enjoy and feel free to recommend a source.
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| by Eugene Atget |
Atget
by John
Szarkowski ©2000 The Museum of Modern Art – New York
ISBN
0-87070-094-4
A good introduction to the classic work of French
photographer Eugene Atget, whose understated masterpieces of Paris remain a
fountainhead of inspiration for photographers. The text is by John Szarkowski,
Director of Photography at New York’s Museum of Modern Art from 1962 – 1991.
Find out why Atget has been called “a photographer’s photographer.”
A truly beautiful book, available at The Toronto Public
Library.
Uncommon Places
by
Stephen Shore ©2004 Aperture Foundation
ISBN
978-1-931778-34-2
Working with large format color film in the Seventies,
Stephan Shore broke new ground with the series of images shown in this book.
See why he was the first photographer to be given a solo exhibition at the
MOMA.
His ultra clear road trip images, which were revolutionary
at the time, seem fairly normal now; they set the standard of what was to
follow. Available at TPL.
The Beautiful Smile
(Hasselblad Award 2007)
By Nan
Goldin ©2007 for the images
ISBN
978-3-86521-539-0
Nan Goldin boldly goes where few photographers dare – into
the deeply personal aspects of her life and those of her friends and other loved
ones. Sometimes raw and searing, other times lyrical and poetic, her work is
always courageous. She is a pioneer in the genre of self disclosure in
photography - Available at TPL.
Ansel Adams: 400
Photographs
Copyright©2007
by The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
From a renowned master of the black and white, large
format landscape tradition. The opening images in the book ( done when Adams
was eleven) give us a few clues as to how Adams worked to create some of his
most sublime pictures. Good selection of photographs.
Compilation
courtesy of Michael O’Brien Photography
So the Story Goes
©2006
The Art institute of Chicago
ISBN
978-0-3001411-9
This book is the catalogue from an exhibit by five
photographers: Tina Barney, Philip-Lorca Dicorcia, Nan Goldin, Sally Mann, and
Larry Sultan. Each one takes as their subject their own life as they experience
it. A chance to see several key proponents of this genre. Finely printed work
showing a comprehensive portfolio from all five photographers.
The American
Snapshot 1888 -1978
©2007
National Gallery of Art, Washington
ISBN
13:978-0-691-13368-3
Elevating the snapshot to the place it deserves; an
incredibly rich collection of photographs accompanied by penetrating essays.
Timeless in both content and design.
Manuel Alvarez Bravo –
photopoetry
©2008
Thames and Hudson
ISBN978-0-8118-6532-6
One of the largest selections of this Mexican master’s
work ever compiled. Excellent reproduction of the photographs with well written
and researched essays. Includes the tribute ‘Body and Soul’ written by Carlos Fuentes. Bravo has had a huge influence on the
way we see.
The Dawn of Color Photography;
Albert Kahn’s Archives of
the Planet
By David
Okuefuna
ISBN –
978- 0-691-13907-4
First
published in 2008 by BBC Books, in association with Musee Alfred Kahn, France,
to accompany the BBC television series “Edwardians in Colour: The Wonderful
World of Alfred Kahn”, first broadcast in 2007.
An awesome collection of photographs at one of the great
turning points in photography. Very compelling story!
David Goldblatt: Photographs
©2006 Contrasto, Roma
ISBN:
978-88-6965-015-4
Goldblatt spent 50 years documenting life in South
Africa. His deceptively calm black and
white images show life in South Africa during and after apartheid. A master at
work.
Diane Arbus - DVD
The
Masters of photography series
Distributed
by Kultur – www.kultur.com
A brief (thirty minute) look at the life and work of one of the most influential photographers of the sixties. She seems to be something rare in photography i.e.completely original.
Contains rare interviews.
The Many Faces of Arnaud
Maggs - DVD
A film
by Annette Mangaard on DVD
Moving
Images Distribution
See how one of Canada’s greatest living photographers creates
then mounts a huge exhibit at the Powerplant in Toronto. The artist talks in
great detail about how his vision has unfolded over the years and we get a
chance to see exactly how he works.
Available at the TPL
Edward Burtynsky; Manufactured Landscapes – DVD
A film
by Jennifer Baichwal
Listen to and watch a great Canadian photographer at work.
Filmed on location in China where Ed documents the ongoing environmental
catastophy as it unfolds. He speaks about how he found his subject; humankind’s
impact on the land. Someone likened this film to watching a bad accident happen
in slow motion. Powerful film.
Territories: Larry Towell – Photographer DVD
By Mary Ellen Davis ©2007
This film delves into the the life, work, and working
methods of one of Canada’s greatest living photographers. Breaking into the
scene in the 80’s with his searing photo essays of life during the civil war in
Nicaragua, Towell went on to become the only Canadian working through Magnum
Agency. Larry Towell is a gem - in the rough.
W. Eugene Smith: Photography Made Difficult - DVD
Directed by Gene Lasko - 1989
A well done docu-drama about a legendary of documentary
photographer who worked through the forties to the early seventies. We have all
been influenced by his work because he catapulted the photo - essay form into the forefront. His work in Minamatu, Japan immortalized him. A tremendous silver printer, Smith was famous for his speed fueled marathon printing sessions. A seminal figure in the history of American photography.
Daido Moriyama: Stray Dog of Tokyo – DVD
Excellent
interviews with someone I never expected to see in front of a camera as
much as he is in this doc. For all his transparency in the interviews, it feels
like we are only being shown the tip of the iceberg, or the volcano. A
charismatic photographer – he is also a ground breaking, pioneering street
photographer whose influence is easy to understate. On the way to breaking
every rule that exists in photography in the 60s he created a few himself….’go for broke
at all times’ being rule number one.
LINKS
Compilation
courtesy of Michael O’Brien Photography
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