Category Archives: Photographers

Robert Capa: The Paris Years 1933-54

Book reviews, Photographers

Fine photojournalism.

When the effects of America’s Great Depression swept across Europe, the revolutionary fervor of the French manifested itself in strongly held opinions. As the author of this book, Robert Lebrun, puts it “You were either ‘for’ or ‘against’. There was no ‘neutral’ “. Many of the street demonstrations of the time were captured by three of the greatest photojournalists the world has seen – David Seymour, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa. You could not hope for better documentarians and this tome includes many of Capa’s images which ran in the vibrant French press of the time. Later sections deal with the far better known images from the Spanish Civil War, WWII and Viet Nam, but it’s these early Parisian images which really resonate.

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If you love great photojournalism – for goodness knows it no longer exists – this book is for you.

6:30 am

Book reviews, Photographers

53 images.

In 2003 Malibu photographer Robert Weingarten took a picture daily from his oceanside home toward Santa Monica Bay using a long lens and the same composition. The result is magical and if you thought Rothko could paint this is far better. Available very inexpensively – click the image – and exquisitely printed. 53 of his images are reproduced and you will not believe the variety.


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Arthur Rothstein

Photographers

Depression era photographer.

Though Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans may be better known, Arnold Rothstein’s Depression era photography for the FSA is striking for its composition and compassion, never better illustrated than in the image below.


Oklahoma migrants, 1936.

There’s a fine paperback to be had including some 120 of his pictures and you can buy it for very little from Amazon by clicking the image below:


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Arnold Newman at the CJM

Photographers

Outstanding.


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Arnold Newman is the father of the environmental portrait with a strong, severe vision which he applied to taking portraits of some of the most famous people in all areas of endeavor during his life (1918 – 2006). The show at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco displaying much of his best work is highly recommended.

The related book, above, is worth getting, but most certainly not for the plodding writing which somehow manages to make even the two most thrilling encounters of Newman’s life – the portrait of the Nazi murderer Krupp and that of the no less despicable Arafat – boring. But there are many images, well reproduced, making the cost bearable.


Entrance to the show.


The famous people documented by Newman are profiled on the wall.


Inside the show – my son is in the foreground. The prints could be bigger ….

Given that Newman invariably worked with a 4″ x 5″ camera there is little excuse for the small size of the prints on display, though the coverage of his work is comprehensive. All of the images on display are monochrome, which is a shame.