Charles Belden was born in San Francisco in 1887. He was a rancher as well as a photographer, and generally photographed areas in Wyoming, with a particular interest in taking pictures of animals and aviation.
This Image, found at this site uses hard lighting. The large white cloud rising from the back of the pack is a foggy region where detail cannot be seen. Yet hard light makes the area in front of the stampede clear. The texture of the ground is distinguishable in from of the horses, contrasting with the foggy region behind. The hard lighting also helps to make the image vibrant and active. The shadows of the horses, cast out in front of the horse by a key light from behind help to establish this motion, by making the horses seem to chase the shadow. Also, as the key light is a back light, detail cannot be seen in the faces of the horses or the riders. This makes the scene hurried, as if there is no time to catch the look of the faces, only the shadows of figures racing by.
Harry Benson
Harry Benson was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He photographs mainly celebrity portraits. He got started as a photographer in London, trying to chase good stories to photograph for newspapers even though no one knew about him, and there were many other people like him waiting for a break. In the meantime, he learned photography well by himself. This big break came when he was assigned to follow the Beatles and take pictures of them, first around Europe, and then the US. Once he got to the US, his images became so well respected, and he made New York his home. He has photographed much of the last 50 years, presidents, celebrities, and the changes that occured in politics and social life in the US. His sometimes iconic photos have turned into a record of these years in history. In april of 2006, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Scottish Press Photography Awards.
I chose this image, from this site, because it makes effective use of hard light on a portrait. The light shines from the top, illuminating the forehead and nose, and casting shadows elsewhere. The texture and wrinkles of Sammy Davis Jr.'s (actor/dancer/singer) face are made prominent. We can see line of wrinkles and the comical expression is unmistakable. As the shadows shape and define the smirk on the cheeks, we cannot help but see the grin underneath the expression. It is aslo interesting to have a portrait without the eyes showing. The closed eyes make for an interesting picture, where we are able to pay more attention to what his face is saying rather than his eyes. Also, the portrait is very close up, leaving no background, no neck, and minimal shoulders. This makes the picture rather personal, even more than the fact that each wrinkle and each whisker can be seen under the harsh lighting.
Elliott Erwitt
Elliott Erwitt was born in Paris around 1928. When he was young he moved to the United States, where he studied at both the Los Angeles City College and the New School for Social Research. This education was followed by an assignment as an assistant photographer for the army in Europe, where he came in contact with many famous photographers. After that, he switched to freelance photography, mainly taking pictures for magazines. Today he is known for pictures of everyday things with a slight absurd twist on them.
I chose this image, from this site, because it is a landscape image, with a bit more to it. The foggyness at the back creates a soft light around the skyscraper, contrasted with the harder lighting, and lack of fog at the foreground that allows more detail to be seen. While the lighting is soft, I would not say that it is the main thing that adds interest to the image. I would attribute this to the composition - the placing of the foreground and the background in such different circumstances, as if they were not even connected by some ground in between. The woman, close to us, with an outline easily discernable gazes out into the misty background. She seems to mirror the interest that we feel at seeing this eerie background. While it is a simple skyscraper, it has been presented in such a way as to make it seem 'out there' and different. Nothing can really be seen around the skyscraper except a few shapes, but mainly, it is the skyscraper and the woman, alone. The image is tranquil, and seems to provide the viewer with a minute to just look and enjoy the way that something so normal can be made abnormal, to enjoy some everyday thing in a new way as the woman does.
Sources:
1)http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/beldenhorses.jpg
2)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Belden
3http://www.takegreatpictures.com/HOME/Columns/Photo_Book_Reviews/Details/params/object/4996/default.aspx
4)http://www.atlantagalleryassociation.com/gallery_shows/uploaded_images/Jackson2-736035.jpg
5)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Erwitt
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