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What to learn from Masters?
Comparison of photoghic styles of the best. What makes them unique?
These are visual excerpts to revisit once in a while when thinking about next photography endeavours to get an inspiration how others see the world.
Elegance, simplicity, depth.
"Photograph is not created in camera, but either side of it."
Edward Steichen
Portraits
Moody and cinematic lightning
Strong compositional elements.
Commercial photography was new in the 20s
Photogravures
He studied painting
Hand colored
...by adding substances to print
The Pond—Moonlight sold for $3.9M, the highest price in 2006.
- by Photographic Eye
- prints on Artsy.net
- prints on MutualArt
Timeless and elegant
Irving Penn
Angled wall
Angled wall or simple carpet for subjects to fit in (pose however you want) created a busy uncomfortable space to show how personality of the subject reveals.
Wide angle.
Favorite film: Kodak Tri-x
Richard Avedon
Raw personality and emotion. No props, just subjects.
"Good surface is full of clues. My photographs don't go below the surface"
Dynamic and emotional fashion
.Accidental spontaneus moments from dynamic moves
Portrait of a personality
"All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth."
"My portraits are more about me than they are about the people i photograph"
Beekeeper: sustaining pain of model stinged, >120 photos
In the American west
Portraits of 752 people from 17 Western states; commissioned by the Amon Carter Museum for $100,000 a year for five years.
8×10, Kodak Tri-X, white paper background
Innovative
Expressions, framing and cropping, collages
Pairs
…
Organic framing and sculpting
Robert Mapplethorpe
Simple shapes
Body landscape, tonal richness of the skin
…
Objects
Glamorous and sophisticated celebrity portraits
Soft lightning
Patrick Demarchelier
.
.
cinematic and moody
spotlight of Hollywood movie classics
Vincent Peters
.
.
celebrity portraits and unique storytelling style
do your homework - respond to situation - cocky sometimes
Annie Leibovitz
.
Portraits on travel assignments
Started as a side-project on his fashion shooting in Peru. He paid models instead of vice versa. Working class. Peru and capital cities.
Then Vogue gave him paid travel assignment: A window to entirely different world. Collapsible outdoor photo studio
Travels
.
Fashion models
Icy sophistication instead of smiling.
Issey Miyake said of the collaboration: "I was looking for one person who could look at my clothing, hear my voice and answer me back through his own creation." They never met in person
Resurrected 19th century printing process giving photos a special look: platinum-palladium prints.
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