An English street snapper.
Martin Parr’s street photography is funny, specializing in amusing juxtapositions of people with their backgrounds.
You can see him at work at the Ascot races, where English ladies parade their finery and silly hats, in the video below.
Only the introduction is in Dutch, the rest is in English.
Magic.
The magic, romance and infinite possibilities of lighter-than-air flight were never better suggested than in these magnificent early pictures of dirigibles from the New York Times at it’s extraordinary ‘Lens’ blog.
Click/touch the image for the photo essay.
Photographer to the Stars.
George Hurrell’s star shone brightest when the Hollywood studio system was in full flow. Stars may not have made the extraordinary compensation packages of today and, indeed, their long term contracts pretty much made them indentured servants to the studio bosses, but they had regular work and who would argue that today’s movies are better?
I was reminded of this splendid book when setting up the lights for our son’s tenth birthday session, and surprised to find I had never mentioned it here. The boom light used on the hair is pure Hurrell, and you will see its effect in almost every picture in the book. I have had this book in my collection for years and it’s still in print, though my Scottish gene reminds me that I almost certainly bought it at a remaindered price.
Highly recommended not just for Hurrell’s tremendous skill with lighting – and we are talking large plate cameras here – but also because of the many memorable images of stars of the golden age of Hollywood. My favourite is Loretta Young – a face of quite exceptional beauty.
The placement of the subject under the boom light is critical with the relatively small light sources used today. Hurrell used enormous light boxes which gave off a broad soft beam, making placement of the subject easier. With small strobes, if your subject is as much as an inch or two too far back the face will wash out into a ghastly death mask. I make things easier for Winston by marking the placement of his toes on the ground with tape, once the right position is determined. The cover photograph, above, interestingly uses the single boom light only, to superb effect.
A pioneering artist.
Until Irving Penn made the style his own, the province of high contrast, high style fashion photography was that of Lillian Bassman, who passed away eight days ago aged 94. Here are a few examples of her beautiful work.
She worked mostly for Harper’s Bazaar in the 1950s.
Another great English photographer.
Click the image to go to Amazon US.
That fine English photographer Roy Hammans mentioned John Blakemore’s new book to me the other day and no more encouragement was needed to wave my credit card in Amazon’s direction.
Blakemore, born in 1936, has gone through several styles in his photographic life, starting with street work in London’s poorer areas (very moving), through theater, landscapes (excellent wind effect pictures) and still lives (see the cover, above), always finding something new and fresh in his approach.
The quality of the book’s production speaks to the photographer’s fastidiousness and perfectionism, the mostly monochrome prints rendered slightly warm to great effect. There is also some limited color content, original and beautifully reproduced.
This book is an example of what high quality photography books should be like. If you like the contemplative approach to these subjects, rendered with originality, this book is strongly recommended.