Virtual Essay

              Steve Carty is a Canadian photographer from Toronto, Ontario who has been in the industry for 20 years shooting fashion such as Canada Goose and La Vie and Rose, musicians such as Kanye West and celebrities such as Charlie Sheen. His work has been featured in prominent magazines such as Maclean’s, Vogue Russia, American Photo, Intersection UK and Naked Eye.  I found Steve Carty’s work very intriguing because of his ability to bring his work to life. His technique is marvelous and much of his great work is situated around urban scenery; albeit he does provide excellent photos of nature. I have chosen to compare his work with that of mine because my best work centers’ around urban scenery and nature just like Steve Carty. His use of technique, lighting and positioning allow for a great composition of excellent photos. 

Below are a few shots of Steve Carty’s work:

Below you fill find photos I shot:

 

               After conducting some extensive research, I discovered that Steve Carty used the Canon EOS 7D Digital SLR Camera which is the same camera I use, thus making a comparison between similarities relative. After scrutinizing the work of Mr. Carty, I drew a number of conclusions; Steve Carty uses his technique, positioning and lighting to convey his photos message and in some cases to express his emotions at the time of shooting. For instance, I felt as if his first photo of a Vancouver condominium skyline subliminally expressed his emotions at the time the photo was taken. He may have been feeling unhappy, doleful or dispirited. The significance of this is that I used neutral density filters and fill-flash reflectors to give my first image of the CN Tower a dark contrast look. The rationale behind this is that I was feeling gloomy that day and I wanted to use this photo as a means of expression. Given the similarity in technique, I find that this matches well with Steve Carty. The second photos shares similarities in the sense that Steve Carty and I both appear to enjoy capturing parts of Mother Nature at its finest. His second photo of the Pacific Ocean surrounding Vancouver with the Rocky mountains in the background appear to give the impression that Steve Carty enjoys capturing photos of nature. This compares well to my second photo I took while I was in Cuba. My photo shows the sun set hitting the ocean with my friend walking ahead in distance. The purpose of this photo was to demonstrate the joyous feeling I had when taking the photo of nature at it’s finest. Steve Carty’s third photo of bikes parked with cod webs on them is quite similar to the positioning and technique I used when taking my third photo of a taxi parked outside the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto. In regards to positioning, Steve Carty and I both captured our respective photos from upfront and close to the subject at hand. This shows how close we got to our images to capture the most detail we could and I believe we both shared similar positioning (upfront and close) in these photos. In regards to the technique, I used the artificial sunlight technique to give the feeling of a late afternoon shot. This appears to align with the time setting that Steve Carty captured his photo.  Last but not least, Steve Carty’s fourth and fifth photos appear to mirror my fourth and fifth photos in that we both reiterate our joy of capturing photos of city skylines and nature’s offerings. For instance, Steve Carty’s last two photos are of the CN Tower and the ocean surrounding Vancouver with the beautiful mountains in the background. My final photos are of an upright picture of the CN Tower and cars in the middle of Dundas St. in downtown Toronto. These photos demonstrate our similarities in the sense that both of us enjoy taking photos of urban settings such as city skylines.

Sources:

 http://www.stevecarty.com/vancouver-snaps/

http://www.modelmayhem.com/224688

Assignment 3

Press Photography versus Art Photography

1.            Press Photography is synonymous with photojournalism in that its purpose is to tell a news story or event through the use of “moment” pictures – pictures taken of the event at the time it took place. Press photography is used in newspapers and magazines to convey the latest news to readers with the idea being that readers will be able to have a visual representation of what took place. Press photography is supposed to tell stories with their images. On the other hand, art photography is more creative in that it can be used to create photos with the intent of articulating an impression, a feeling, specific emotions and relationships with the world; be it personal or natural. The similarities between the two are that they are both a form of photography and both are used to tell a story of some kind. Press photography tells a story of real life events whereas art photography can tell a story with subliminal meaning. The main difference between press photography and art photography is that press photography is purer in the sense that it captures the moment at hand by taking real life pictures right at moment events take place. Press photography tells the truth because it captured what took place at the time it took place. Art photography is more of a creative expression because it allows the photographer more freedom to capture photos that may be relate to the photographer’s feelings, emotions or expression at that particular juncture. Another difference is the mobility of press photography and art photography. In press photography, the photographer is almost always ready because they carry with them a small camera and notebook to be ready to capture the “moment” at anytime as news is always happening. This is a stark contrast to art photographers who usually carry larger equipment and need more preparation time. This point is corroborated by Andre Kertesz, “I always had a small camera with me on the front line, where I made candid, informal photographs, unlike the official photographers for the War Department. They always came with a huge camera on a tripod after the battle was over to make a scenic photograph that would show the destruction.” (Kertesz, 1985, p. 23).

2.            I believe it is ethical and acceptable to alter art photographs because in this form of photography, the photographer is able to exercise his freedom of expression to his satisfaction. Art photography is more of a creative form of photography, so it would be great for photographers to have the ability to alter their photos in order to make the perfect picture. This would be acceptable because the photographer is looking for ways to better enhance the images for the audience, and because the photos need not be factual, it would be a good thing if photographers are able to add value to their photographs by altering those photos through a program, such as Adobe Photoshop.

3.            In regards to press photography, I believe it is unethical and unacceptable for press photographers to alter press photographs. The main reason behind this is that press photography is suppose to capture the “moment”,  thus implying that the photographs must be factual and tell the truth and real story behind the images. If press photographers are able to alter their press photographs than the story behind the photographs may be fabricated; this would defeat the purpose of press photography as it no longer is telling the real story behind the images. This could be seen as unacceptable because the photographer may manipulate the photos in order to tell a different story for his/her own benefit. Ultimately, it would be unethical and unacceptable because the truth or the real story behind the press photographs would be compromised. 

Sources: 

https://gbc.blackboard.com/webct/urw/tp0.lc5122011/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct(Cartier-Bresson's Decisive Moment and The World of Photographers and Photojournalist)

                                                            

A man is attacked during the Greek bailout riots.

Citizens protest at a Syrian anti-government rally. 

Art Photography. People walking on city street.

Art Photography. Photographer taking a photo of himself.

 

 

Assignment # 2

CN Tower Photo

Summer Sunset

Niagara Gorge

   

 

 

Bridegroom and I

            Tall Rock, Downtown Park        

         With the advent of photo editing tools, photographers can now alter their photos to convey a different message, emotion, perspective or overall feel. With the assistance of Google Picasa 3, I edited a few photos which I had taken with my Apple iPhone 4S which comes equip with a 8 megapixel camera. On my first image, I captured a photo of the CN Tower and the adjacent Toronto skyline. I added a "Neon" effect in order to accentuate the CN tower, seeing that it is a symbolic figure of Toronto. Neon lights can be seen commonly on store signs such as "OPEN 24/7" and restaurants names such as "Jimmy the Greek". This effect is suppose to bring awareness to the CN Tower as one of the world's tallest free-standing structures just how neon lights bring awareness to store signs informing the public that they are open. The second photo is one I took of the sunset on a summer day. On this photo, I added the "straighten" effect which gives you the ability to turn a photo either clockwise or counter clockwise to a certain degree. I decided to turn the photo clockwise to give it the feel that the scene is changing just as the sun is going down and the time is changing from day to night. 

The third photo is a photo I took of the Niagara Gorge. I found this photo fascinating because the Niagara Gorge has one of the strongest river currents in the world. It is truly amazing to marvel at. For the Niagara Gorge photo I used an image process effect called "Boost". The "Boost" effect brings out the colour of a photo and increases its contrast. As you can see, this effect adds a different dynamic to the photo, it gives it a vibrant feel and the dark colouring of the trees brings the photo more life in my opinion. For the fourth photo, I had a friend take a photo of the bridegroom and I on his wedding day. This photo has a lot of meaning to it because the bridegroom is my best friend and it this was a very special day for him. For this photo , I used the "HDR-ish" effect which allows the photo to appear as a painting. I choose to edit this photo to look like a painting because it was the bridegroom's favourite photo taken of us and he had it made into a painting. This effect gave me the best effect to emulate that painting.  The final photo is one I took of this tall rock at a park in downtown Toronto. For this photo, I used an effect called "Focal Zoom" which allows you to focus on a certain part of the photo in order to make it stand out. The reason I shifted the focus on this tall rock is because that day there was a wedding taking place at the park and everyone was lining up to take a photo of them standing in front of it. So I decided to make this rock stand out because of the importance it had that day behind everyone's own photos. 

It is amazing how photo editing tools allow us to edit, alter and manipulate photos to fit our liking. All of these photos are original photos I took using my iPhone 4 8 megapixel camera. The editing done on them reflect my feelings and accentuate the city of Toronto.

Assignment # 1

1. What are the main differences and similarities between portraits in the early days of photography and portraits today?

A daguerreotype photo from U.S in the 19th century.

               Portraits in photography, both in its primitive and contemporary stages, shared many aspects in common but were distinguishable as well.  The first known portraits were the daguerreotype. The daguerreotype was a process in itself and was invented by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre , a romantic, French painter on January 7, 1839. The daguerreotype consisted of a image depicted on a silver plate of copper. One can see the main difference  between portraits in the early days of photography and today's portraits by making the distinction that portraits were paintings to begin with, as opposed to the modern day were portraits can be photos of high-definition quality. Color and quality are also major differences. Portraits before were black and white compared to today, where portraits are much more vivid and can be multicolored. In the early days, these portraits took a considerable amount of time to develop as they were made by hand. In today's world of photography, photos can be developed in a matter of seconds. This is an immense difference. Another significant difference was the accessibility factor. In the early days of photography, portraits were available only to the elite if you will. Lawyers, doctors, politicians and celebrities were capable of purchasing portraits such as physionotrace portraits as they required a deposit of half the payment in advance and had to buy a minimum of two portraits. It's quite palpable that you had to have purchasing power in order to buy these portraits and not everyone in the 1800's had the means to do so. This is a stark contrast to today's world of photography where just about anyone can buy a portrait or better yet, make a portrait themselves by shooting their own photos.

               With that being said, the main aspect that portraits in the early days and modern day had which were similar are; capturing the essence of the subject. Both time periods share this similarity as portraits before and now each had a purpose. People wanted to and will always want to feel important. Portraits provide that sense of importance as they convey to the public the emotions and personality of a person. Portraits were a means of expressing one's self and people flocked to miniatures and physionotracists to have their portrait developed so they can have an avenue of expression. Just like how people take photos of themselves or have photographers capture an image of them, they feel the need to express themselves. These are similarities that the early days and modern days of photography shared. 

2. Who was the photographer and who was the subject of photographs in the past and today?

A physionotrace portrait of Pierre Gaveaux by Edme Quenedey, 1821.

                In the early days of photography, the photographers were the painters , engravers and silhouette cutters. It could also be seen as a team working together. For example, in the miniature portrait the artistic skill and ability of the painter was needed to define the photograph and the silhouette cutter had to have manual skill, in order to develop the portrait. They would be responsible for capturing images of the subject either by drawing, painting or tracing their image through devices. The subjects of these photographers in the past could be separated into two classes. The first belonged to the miniatures. They made portraits available to most people because their prices would diminish due to the level of competition. Because photography gained such a high level of popularity, miniature portraits were discounted in price in order for the photographers to make a profit. In the second class, physionotracists made portraits available much more quicker because of the invention of physionotrace. These portraits were most sought after by celebrities of France because of their new found combination of less money and time spent. For a good price and for a considerably less amount of time (as opposed to miniatures), the production of their portraits sat well with the celebrities. For this reason, they were not the only class albeit they were the most common subjects of the physionotracists work.

              It is also important to note subjects of photography were lawyers, doctors, industrialists and politicians and they were catered to by luxurious studios such as Mathew Brady's of New York. These subjects were willing to pay a high price for luxury. At the same time, studios belonging to the likes of Edward Anthony would cater to a larger clientele base in order to increase that very same clientele and circumvent the social factor of the time by making portraits considerably less cheaper. Moreover, the photographers of today can be either professionals such as English photographer David Bailey or anyone who has access to a camera. They have the ability to capture a photo by just focusing the camera on a subject and taking that photo. The subjects of photographs in this day are just about anyone or anything for that matter. Subjects today can range from people such as Prime Minister Stephan Harper, free-standing structures such as the CN Tower, and nature such as Algonquin Park. 

3. What was the impact of technology on the portraits in the past and today?

            The impact which technology had on portraits of the past was immense. Portraits began as daguerreotypes, then miniatures and ultimately progressed into physionotrace. Photographers gained more knowledge in the latter years of the 19th century and this led to the development of new methods of developing portraits. Technology was of utmost significance because these new advances led to portraits being developed more quickly and allowed photographers to make great profits. The physionotrace, for instance, made miniatures obsolete because of the technological advancement made possible by the principle of the pantograph. The pantograph mechanically reproduced a drawing or diagram. The invention of the physionotrace was such a break-through that the physionotracist did not require much skill, he need only to outline the figure of the subject and engrave it to a metal plate. These technological advancements made it possible for photographers to service a larger clientele base and turn a bigger profit, as portraits were developed much more efficiently and quickly, as a result. 

Technology has given us the digital camera in today's world.

      In regards to the impact of technology on portraits today, that too has made the development of portraits even much more quicker and efficient. From photographic film to digital photography, portraits are now developed instantly. The technology used in photographic film was the exposure of light to a sheet of plastic, coated with light sensitive emulsion. When the film was exposed to light or electromagnetic radiation, it depicted an image. Technology, however, led to even more advancements in that digital photography was introduced. Digital photography is made possible by digital imaging. Digital photography is so advanced now that images can be stored and displayed on the digital camera. Portraits can even be printed now very easily via a computer. Technology has made it possible for anyone to capture photos.

Just the best. This is a photo of my nephew and I. I love this kid so much.

The Scream by prominent Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. One of history's most well known expressionist piece of art.