40 Must See Photos From The Past

Earlier in the week social media directed me towards this website:
http://www.boredpanda.com/must-see-historic-moments/

I found this collection of images fascinating, but what really stuck me is how powerful the title and description of the photograph is setting the scene and impact of the photo. Take for example "Disneyland Employee  Cafeteria in 1961". On face value you'd think you might be looking at the cafeteria of a mental asylum, but the caption completely changes your perception of the image. My favourite image is the last one "First morning after Sweden changed from driving on the left side to driving on the right, 1967". At first it looks like a chaotic rush hour scene in a city, then the caption reveals the true power (and historical significance) of the photo.

Art of Photography - Introduction

Last weekend I made my way through the exercises in the course materials that act as an introduction prior to the first project. As recommended, I first of all sat down with my camera and the instruction manual to go through all the settings of the camera. Whilst I had realised many of these settings on my own, there were numerous settings that I hadn't explored or used, such as the aperture priority and shutter speed priority settings.

I then went on to complete the different exercises in looking into the lens, focus and camera movement. Whilst some of these exercises created the desired effect there were one or two, particularly the ones where print outs were required, that I don't think I chose the right scene to get the most benefit from the exercise. I therefore decided that I should repeat them on a different subject.

The Photograph

I was reading the first 2 chapters of the The Photograph, which came with the course materials. The first chapter was an interesting insight into the history of photography, but I found the second chapter particularly interesting; it really changed the way I looked at photographs and why you shouldn't just take them on face value.

The Diane Arbus example they use (Identical Twins, 1967) I found particularly effective as I had noticed the difference in facial expression immediately, but only after I read on did I begin to see the other differences in the girls appearances. After this, you get a really effective contrast being the perception of identical twins and the reality; they are in fact two unique individuals.

Albuquerque (Lee Friedlander, 1972) was a example that I'm still indifferent about. Whilst I agree with the analysis of the text in how there are multiple examples of different forms of communication in the image, I struggle to comprehend that this was going through the photographer's mind when he composed the image. What struck me the most about this image is how important a photographer's commentary is to the image; whilst we can all form an opinion about an image, it's also important to get an impression of why the photographer took the photo.

Welcome

This is the blog I've set-up which will act as my learning log for the OCA Photography 1: Art of Photography course I recently enrolled on.