Category Archives: Photographers

Photographer of the Year – 2008

Photographers

A great portraitist.

I have decided to apply a limited set of criteria in making this award.

The work has to say something new.

It has to be fresh.

It has to regularly surprise you.

You must learn from it.

And it constantly comes to mind.

But, above all, it must stir the emotions.

Now, 2008 has blessed me with many additions to my extensive library of books about photographers (click in the right hand column), yet, looking at those requirements, the choice was simple.

Horst P. Horst is the Photographer of the Year.

You do not need to have a fascination with great fashion or famous people or exceptional portraiture to enjoy Horst’s work. Yes, most of the people photographed by him were famous but they were also beautiful and a beautiful subject rarely hurts a photograph, though it takes a great photographer to do it justice. And you will not find any politicians in Horst’s work, reminding us that politics is Hollywood for Ugly People. Just glance at the front page of any newspaper for confirmation.

What so distinguishes Horst’s work then, is not just the beauty of his subjects. It’s the aesthetic sense he brings to his photography, so much so that you leave his pictures remembering the interpretation and the insights and not especially cognizant that the technical side has been despatched with the greatest aplomb. In the world of painting Raphael and Degas come to mind. Everything is just right.

Horst’s powerful skills and self effacing nature are best illustrated with one of his portraits.


Gloria Vanderbilt. 1941.

Yes, the subject is a knockout. Yes, the composition is startling in its originality. And yes, the gown is sublime. But Horst puts it all together, lights it beautifully – none of this is less than carefully planned – and the result is perfection.

Horst P. Horst is this photographer’s Photographer of the Year.

Eric Lafforgue

Photographers

Exceptional photography, exceptionally presented.


Click the picture to enter Eric Lafforgue’s site

There is a remarkable paucity of iPhone applications which focus on content rather than technique. One standout which I have had on my iPhone for a month now, is Eric Lafforgue’s superb application which does one thing only. It showcases his exceptional travel photography. Further, the implementation is so drop dead gorgeous that it’s a wonder to me that more photographers have not released something similar. Go to Lafforgue’s web site and you see the same elegant presentation with near-total focus on content – something many photographers with insanely irritating Flash websites would do well to learn from. Lafforgue uses Flash sparingly and to great aesthetic effect on his web site. The iPhone variant is as simple as can be – pictures are simply flicked with a finger to turn the ‘pages’.


On the iPhone

I find myself firing up Lafforgue’s application at odd times just to enjoy his work. During the one month it has been on my iPhone it has been updated several times for newer content. Highly recommended on the desktop or on your phone.

Paris by Night

Book reviews, Photographers

One of the finest photography books ever.

I wrote a couple of years ago about Hungarian master photographer Brassaï and made mention of his great book Paris de Nuit in that piece.

I finally tracked down a remaindered copy of this book and the first word that comes to mind is electric, for that best describes the emotive power of these images.

Originally published in 1933, I recall first seeing it in the Kensington Public Library in West London around 1965 or so and recall well how thrilling the work was. This edition includes 62 gorgeously reproduced plates on very heavy, black paper, and you really have to look at the photographs in daylight to get the full depth of tones, all the way down to the inkiest of blacks. This friend of over 45 years remains as fresh and exciting today as it was all that time ago and, were I to compile a list of the ten most essential books of photographs, it would be there without a doubt.

These images speak not just of superb technique but to the work of one of the greatest photographers of the time who preserves the wonderful city of Paris for modern times. Mercifully, the French have done relatively little to destroy their city (can you say Musée Pompidou or I. M. Pei’s ghastly Louvre pyramid?) and in many places it probably looks little changed today.

Whereas O. Winston Link, the other great night photographer, used his own lighting, Brassaï uses what the city gives him, to haunting effect.

This scan scarcely does the original justice, but the atmosphere is so powerful I swear you can smell the women’s scent when you look at it. Magic.

No wonder that Paris was such a magnet for artists between the wars.

American Monument

Book reviews

Really, really Big.

For an index of all my book reviews click here.

‘Really, really Big’. Thus starts the introduction to this book of photographs by Lynn Davis, authored by Witold Rybczynski. Rybczynski’s 4 page introduction is alone worth the price of admission to this book, which features pictures of American Monuments – be they gas stations or the Lincoln Memorial – all in gently printed monochrome. The whole production reeks of class and presents the viewer with subtle images which let you do the thinking. Not that common in photo books where the images frequently scream for attention.

If your interests include architecture and fine photography then there is every reason to own this beautifully made book.