Lee Friedlander:

Naoya Hatakeyama:

 

Lisette Model:

 

Robert Hilden

 

Lee Friedlander utilizes unique compositions of reflections to express a sense of depth and context. For instance, the first photograph demonstrates a juxtaposition between the lady in the reflection of the mirror and the man leaning by the side of the street, highlighting the daily life that is usually unnoticed. Lee Friedlander also focuses on a black and white theme to further portray tone and contrasts in his photographs. Lisette Model’s use of composition is similar to Lee Friedlander’s style. Both photographers uses a juxtapostion between the reflection on a glass window and the scenes behind the window. Photograph 4 that Lisette Model took displays a unique juxtapostion between the woman and the people outside the glass window. The direction that the woman is looking at guides the audiences’ attention from the woman to the crowd of people outside the window. Moreover, Lisette Model also shares the same theme of black and white with Lee Friedlander. They both aim to show evident contrast between the dark and light tones in their photographs to make the subjects look bold and stand out from the background. On the other hand, Naoya Hatakeyama focuses more on the sense of balance in his photographs. The composition of his photographs are often symmetric. This technique is shown in photograph 1. Additionally, Hatakeyama also captures the sparkles of light, contrasting with the dark backgrounds. Specifically, in photograph three, every detail of the reflection of light on the water surface is portrayed in the photograph. Furthermore, different emotions is also communicated in Hatakeyama’s photographs with his use of warm or cold hue. For example, photograph 1 indicates a feeling of loneliness by making the subject take up a smaller area and having a cold tone. In contrast, Robert Hilden shares the least amount of similarities with the other three photographers. His burning house series is revolved around self-reflection, which is demonstrated through photos of different items in his daily life. Hilden focuses on the composition of the objects in his photos, creating a sense of balance by having the objects take up equal space.

The historical context is also a key factor that influenced the photographers. Lee Friedlander lived in the 1950s, where street photography emerged as the most popular form of art. His photographs follow the elements of street photography, including a theme of black and white, and a quick capture of people passing by. Similarly, Lisette Model was also inspired by the idea of street photography. She lived in the 1920s, where the form of street photography first appeared. Model’s photographs focuses on street portraits of ordinary people, showing the daily life of people around. On the other hand, photographer Naoya Hatakeyama and Robert Hilden has a much more different style. Hatakeyama concentrates on landscape art, highlighting simplicity and subtle details of the nature. Holden’s photographs contains some elements of documentary photography. The objects in his photographs is documentary of the items he adores in daily life. His photographs evoke emotions by making the audiences self reflect and think about their own daily life through building connection with the objects in the photos. Overall, all four photographers share some qualities but are all influenced by different historical context.

 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_photography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_photography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naoya_Hatakeyama