Ernst Haas (1921–1986) was a pioneering Austrian-American photographer renowned for his innovative use of color in photography. Born in Vienna, he began his career post-World War II, gaining recognition for his poignant photo essays, including one on returning prisoners of war that caught the attention of LIFE magazine. Haas declined a staff position to maintain his artistic independence and later joined Magnum Photos, where he collaborated with legends like Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson. In his pictures uses a very low shutter speed to trace the movement of people or cars on the streets. He also uses very contrasting colors to illustrate the main characters of each picture. Ernst also used depths of field to show the buildings and blur out the person figures. He also used reflection to clearly show the people through the glass. His picture convert the feeling of noticing the beauty of the city around you. In his pictures you are able to notice the beauties that you are not able to notice in real life. His picture have the overall impression is one of a busy, urban environment. He was instrumental in elevating color photography at a time when it was often viewed as inferior to black-and-white. His vibrant images transformed ordinary scenes into extraordinary compositions.  He employed slow shutter speeds to create a sense of movement and used selective focus to isolate subjects, resulting in images that resembled abstract paintings. This approach allowed him to convey emotions and dynamics effectively.

I like this photo because this image captures the movement and energy of a city street scene. The car is blurred, creating a sense of motion and speed, while the background is also blurred, suggesting a busy urban environment. The color palette of the image is vibrant, with contrasting shades of blue, yellow, and pink, which add to the dynamic and lively feel of the scene. The use of motion blur techniques gives the image a cinematic quality, evoking a sense of excitement and nostalgia.

Alexey Titarenko is an outstanding Russian photographer known for his memorable black and white photographs that explore themes of urban life, time, and memory. Titarenko was born on November 25, 1962 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), and his early experiences in a city marked by historical trauma deeply influenced his artistic vision. Titarenko began his photography journey at a very young age, joining an independent photography club at the age of 15. He later graduated from Leningrad Cultural Institute in 1983 with a Master’s degree in Film and Photography Arts. Titarenko’s innovative use of long exposure and intentional camera movement, creates images that convey a dreamlike quality and is able to show the city’s historical depth. Titarenko’s photography is heavily influenced by Russian literature and music, particularly the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Dmitri Shostakovich. He often uses these influences to create metaphors that connect the past with the present, exploring themes of isolation and human resilience amid urban landscapes.

This is also a picture that I really enjoyed because this image has a distinct noir-like aesthetic, capturing a moody and atmospheric scene. The primary focus is on a set of metal stairs or walkway, enveloped in a hazy, ethereal mist or smoke. The stairs lead up to a dimly lit, ominous-looking building in the background, adding to the sense of mystery and foreboding. And if you look very closely you are able to notice that all of the blurry mist kind substance is a huge herd of people.  This gives off a bit of a mysterious and scary vibe to the picture, making it more entertaining for the audience.

Yellow Photos:

Green Photos:

Here are the ten best photos: (from left to right then go down)

1. An elf  sitting in the water like blue lights and have around her is a line  of blur
2. An elf looking at her own reflection but that reflection is like sunlight, making it difficult to see clearly
3. An elf  touching the ruins of her home, the ocean
4.  An elf trying to touch her former self but fail, and in the illusion there is also butterflies flying out.
5. An elf touching the ruins of her home with a reflection on the ground.
6. The elf reaching to touch the citizens of her realm
7. The elf now trying to touch her former self, who was not hurt, who still had a beautiful home.
8. The elf reaching out to touch the sea turtle that came to say hi to her.
9. The elf watching the part of her forest which was ruined.
10. The elf before, who was not hurt was playing with her fishes happily.

Red photos:

The picture that I chose is the one on the top right. In this photo is shows the  theme of  the hurt that human being have done to the nature. The butterflies that were on the transparent side, they symbolize the animals that have lost their homes due to human destruction, leading to a decrease in their numbers or even extinction. The reflection of the elf on the transparent side it’s symbolizing the happiest memories for that elf. The elf has a flower band with normal color, and she was smiling happily. But on the side of reality, the elf had a fluorescence flower band on her head, that symbolizes the trees and plants damaged due to industrial pollution. The reflection that the elf on the reality side was trying to touch was on water. But the water had stripes of red in it. That symbolizes the water that was polluted due to human garbage and waste.  While the elf herself that is on the left side, on the side of reality, symbolizes the nature that was gradually destroyed by humans.

This photography on the bottom right has the theme of longing for past. The elf on the top half symbolizes the self now who is hurt and needs help. The bottom is the happy self that had no trouble. The top half the trying to reach for the bottom self. Which is the longing for the past. And the butterflies flying out means that no matter how hard they try, no one is able to go back in time.  If you look extra carefully, you are able to see that the nose of the top elf is hurt, which more clearly shows that the present life of the elf has been full of sadness and pain. Which brings out the theme of longing even more. This picture used the techniques of reflection and composition to make the audience more interested. Starting off with the reflection, the use of reflection is able to add depth. This also able to connect between different states of being. With the use composition in this picture the placement of the subject near the bottom of the frame draws the viewer’s eye to both the subject and the reflection, creating a balanced and harmonious composition.

The theme for the picture on the top right is the past self that is slowly disappearing. The left side with the darker color tone symbolizes the present self that is is in the dark present times, the times that bring pain and hurt to the elf. While the left side is the happy memories that is starting to fade away. The photograph is able to use several photography  techniques to create a dreamlike atmosphere. The use of soft focus and low lighting enhances mythical feeling that the pictures give off, while the blur like sunlight adds on to the fairy-tale like feeling.  The floral crown adds a element of a elf, contrasting with the deeper blues and greens of the background, which helps to evoke emotions. Additionally, the layering effect, where the figure appears both in focus and slightly blurred, contributes to a sense of duality, inviting viewers to ponder the relationship between reality and memory.

The picture on the bottom left is the photo that just

My photographer is Annie Leibovitz, this artist was born on October 2, 1949 in Waterbury, CT. She studied painting at the San Francisco Art Institute with the intention of becoming an art teacher and attended photography night classes. In 1970, she began working as a commercial photographer for Rolling Stone magazine and quickly became the first woman to be appointed as the chief photographer.  Anne Leibovitz is a renowned American photographer known for her captivating and dramatic portraits of celebrities. She excels at capturing the personality and inner life of her subjects, and her photos reflect intimate or staged moments, revealing the playful and expressive side of her photographer, just as she saw in the Disney Dreamy Portrait. Her series of fairytale inspired photos, were able inspire me. Her fairy tale series were taken across the time from 2007 to 2014.  This series were portraying real life celebrities as fairytale characters, and to give off a mythical sort of feeling.  

The pictures show different celebrities being seen as different character of different fairytales. The main focus of the photos are usually on the character that are portrayed in each photo, secondly you would be drawn to the very creative and unrealistic setting that each picture has. What I like very much about the images are that the photographer is able to use lighting with setting to give off a very colorful and story-like picture, which is able to attract me into wanting to look at more pictures. In her photos she usually uses the rule of thirds to lay her character on the sides of the pictures to be able also show her cleverly plotted background which is able to act in cooperation with her characters. From personal view, she usually has two light sources in her photos, one from the front to light up her characters, the other one in the back ground lit up the background and show it more clearly to the audience. Strong color contrasts often appear in her photos. Firstly, using color contrast can make the protagonist stand out more. Secondly, using color contrast can also make the story of the entire photo stronger. Like the pitch black attic behind Rapunzel and the dark toned forest beside Snow White. All of these make the entire photo more vivid and provide the audience with a better viewing experience. In her photos, characters often use facial expressions to express their emotions, like two elves in the forest telling us with happy expressions on their faces that they are now free and happy. And Princess Long Hair conveyed to us with her own expression the fact that she was not happy alone in the attic.

citations:

The working title of my project is: The elf of the Woods.

Theme: I want my audience to convey a feeling from my work that we need to work harder to protect the environment. Because in the first few pictures, I plan to take a photo of a very happy and free-spirited girl elf.  But from the later  on, the color tone on the picture gradually became dim and low. The girl’s face began to show scars, and her once happy image began to turned sad . I want to convey through my photos a kind of forest spirit, as human injuries begin to become filled with scars. This also represents that in the real world, forests are beginning to suffer from large-scale deforestation, and many animals are unable to survive due to habitat damage, leading to extinction. I hope to convey to the audience through my photos the idea of not destroying nature anymore.

I got my inspiration from people photo shoots on Xiao hong shu and google. Which is able to how the different feeling that I want is able to be connect together.

Here are some of my test photos but they didn’t work out the way that I wanted them to, but I have a better thought on what I should do. Firstly,  for the first picture, I should moved something to cover up the background. And have more thought in the costume, also the fishes in front of her  are all out of focus. Next time I maybe could take two photos separately one the person in focus, the other one the fish in focus. Then use technology to put the two photo together, to be able to make both the fish and person to be in focus to show a picture with more than one main character.

For the second picture, one very obvious issue is that the photo is over exposed, which cause use to not able to see the person clearly. The other two issues are still the same the messy back ground and the main character that was not dressed up properly.

The third picture was the best one of all four. The lighting was good enough to be able to show the character clearly, and it also was able to show the the approximate outline of fish for the viewer to understand that it is a fish.

The fourth picture was able to show a good reflection, but the model closed her eyes, and the lighting was a little weird. This caused the pictures main color to turn into a blueish color. And not the color of normal people.

This set of tryouts were not able to show the main idea of my statement of intent. It was unable to clearly communicate the main idea off how human being were damaging the environment.

Due to personally feelings, I feel like the two pictures that are rather dark, and involves water are at a high quality than the other four. In the second photo I changed the aperture to make the picture seen darker and make the viewer a more interesting view point.

using the technique of changing some color and using different placement and distance. I was able to take the pictures that are shown.

Lee Friedlander

Lee Friedlander, an artist born on 1934 July 14th, in Aberdeen, Washington. After his high school year, he enrolled the Los Angles Art Center school, only attending school for a short while in 1953, he continued the rest of his education independently. He worked with one of his school instructors, Edward Kaminski. His early pictures were inspired by Eugène Atget, Robert Frank and Walker Evans. He also said that, “I always wanted to be a photographer. I was fascinated with the materials. “During his time when his took his pictures. The most people used black and white, because the colored photos are usually used for advertisement.  He usually takes photo of people in everyday life. His photos focus on the scenery that we are able to see in our own everyday lives. And his pictures usually don’t have colors, just using plain black and white colors to show us what he wants us to see. In these four photos. Lee uses his camera in the perspective of his own eyes to show us his view of the city and himself. From what has been shown to the viewers, the author Lee seems to lean more towards the side of natural lighting, although we can’t see the lighting very well due to the black and white photos. Furthermore, Lee also very creatively uses mirrors, windows and doors to create a reflection, with the use of these special item, he is able use the technique of framing and gives his photos a special touch. In comparison of his photos to the other artists, he and the Japanese artist Naoya share the similarity  that they both share their own perspective of their own cities. Moreover he also shares the most similarity with the artist Lisette Model due to their similar use of color and views, they both uses the colors of black and white to show the different views of the city. Lee shares the least similarity with the author Robert Holden, these two artists use completely different views, perspective, and even to their color scales. Most of Robert’s picture are set up in the studio, with specifically lighting and a special way of placing his camera. On the other hand,  Lee leans more to natural lighting and taking pictures at places that he feel appealing to himself.

Robert Holden

Robert Holden is an artist the based his pictures on his personal life and his own experiences. The pictures above are based on the idea that, “if my house was burned down, what would I save.”. His picture all connect to his own, or other people personal lives, it share the item owners feelings with the audience. It is able to let the audience think about the stories behind the items that are chosen. His picture are all taken at a specific angle, he uses perspective in all of his pictures to show us a view from above. His picture are usually colorful, and all the items in his pictures are always organized. Which give the viewers a sense of order while viewing his pictures. His main difference with the other three artist is that, the other three artists use reflection for the main technique of their photo, while Robert Holden uses the technique of self-reflection. Robert shares similarities with  Naoya with their use of many colors in their pictures. In comparison to the picture of the other two artists Lee and Lisette, Robert share zero to none similarities with them. Robert uses completely different colors, perspectives and techniques with the other two.  Lee and Lisette uses black and white to illustrate the city in their eyes. While Robert uses many different color to illustrate items in our everyday lives. l

Naoya Hatakeyama

Naoya Hatakeyama was born on March 19th, 1958, focuses most of his photos on views of his city, but in water.  He takes his photos on the architectural and landscaped vision of Nature, which is influenced interest in science and archaeology of the city. He uses his own photos to draw our attention to angles and scenery that we may not notice in our daily lives, making us unconsciously drawn to his photos. In his photos you might not be able to accurately distinguish what the main idea or scene of this photo is, but you will definitely be attracted by its composition and strong light and dark distribution. In many of his photos, water is also involved, using light’s reflections on the water, presenting a surreal and unreal effect, bringing a very different experience to the audience. Between Naoya and Robert there are several very similar points. Firstly, both of them are accustomed to using colors to bring rich visual experiences to the audience. Secondly, both of them will use perspectives that may not be found in daily life to let us mainly focus on the surrounding environment, objects, and scenery. His commonality with the remaining two artists is that all three of them use their own ways to record the world in their eyes, although their shooting methods, angles, and even colors are very different. But all three of them are using their own ways to show everyone the world they have deep feelings for.

Listte Model

Lisette born on November 10, 1901. She went to school first in first in Vienna and then in Paris. She discovered photography through her sister Olga and her friend Rogi André, André Kertész’s wife. uses her own photos to show us the colorful scenes on the streets of her time. She only used black and white colors, and the light was only natural light on the road, but it could make the audience feel the vitality of every person in her lens. She also often uses reflections to overlay scenes that would not normally overlap, bringing a different visual impact to people. Make the audience unconsciously attracted to her works at first glance. She and the first author both used the same black and white colors to depict the world in their eyes and the world around them. But they also have differences, as the first author’s photos occasionally feature himself, while this author’s photos usually only feature others. And the commonality between her and Noaya is that both of them use unique perspectives and employ different reflexes to present different scenery. However, Lisette and author Robert have almost no common ground. Their shooting techniques and presentation of photos are almost completely different. Lisette tends to capture the lively side of people on the street, while Robert presents important objects in his photos, which do not include humans.

Citations:

Jungyoon Choi (2009 Beijing, China) makes film and photography

As an artist, she has always been  fascinated by the work of photography. She believed that meaningful art emerges not solely from execution, but also from an embrace of the unpredictable. The process of creating is a negotiation between the artist’s vision and the inherent qualities of the materials used.

Moreover, she is  interested in the role of the viewer in shaping a work’s meaning. A piece created with certain intentions can take on vastly different interpretations. She try to create open-ended works that invite the viewer to bring their own perspectives.

Lastly, Her art reflects her belief that the most deep and meaningful photos come from unplanned, all of the most important things come from surprise.

Balance: During these two pictures the hello Kitty is in the center of the entire picture. Emphasizing that it is the main character of the photo. Also, using the technique can make the viewing of this picture more satisfying. For the reason that a balanced scene or picture would give a much better viewing experience for other people.

Depths of Field: The technique of depth of field I chose to blur out the background and mainly focus on the Hello Kitty and the hand holding the dog. I used this technique to lead the focus to the dog and the kitty so that people’s focus would not be taken by the background.

Rule of Thirds: The Hello Kitty is on the 1/3 place of each picture. This is able to make the audience also focus on the background as well as the Hello Kitty itself. It is able to form a scenery for the audience that are viewing this photo.

Leading line: With this technique of leading lines, it uses a line to lead us to my Hello Kitty. It uses a line to lead us to the main character of this character. It uses this was to help the audience focus on the most important of the picture.

Framing: This technique uses a frame to put the main character right in the middle of the entire picture. I used this technique to show my audience that the Kitty is the most important part of my picture.  Framing also helps to make the viewing of the picture easier to find the most important part. And not having to just look at everything and then pick out a main part.

Negative space: This technique is used to give some empty space around the subject. To  show the audience some space and give balance, this would also give the subject space to breath.  to be able to give a clear view for the audience.

Symmetry and pattern: With symmetry and patterns the picture usually presents a visually more harmonious view for the audience. Which is able to let the audience view without having to think for the different things that are shown.

Perspective: With this technique, we are able to see views that we do not usually see. We are able to show the audience things that they might not notice in their usually lives. Witch would bring the audience a very fresh feeling from viewing.