Tate Trip
As a class, we visited the Tate Modern art gallery to view the works of Harry Callahan, William Eggleston and two other photographers. Although I had already been to visit these exhibitions I still really enjoyed seeing them as it gave me more time to observe the photographs properly and gave me a more in depth understanding of the artists aswell. On our journey there and back we had to take street photographs using our chosen equipment - I used my phone as I had a camera app on it that I was familiar with so that I didn't waste any time having to alter settings. I really enjoyed this experience as the streets gave a lot more exciting photo opportunities than just capturing moments in the school, therefore it wasn't restricting in any way.
Harry Calahan's four room exhibition at the Tate is strongly biographical and illustrates his diversity in all subjects.
BACKGROUNDBorn in Detriot in 1912, Callahan started off as an engineering student however dropped out returned to Chrylser where he joined its very own camera club. Inspired, Calahan taught himself photography in 1938 and began exploring the different possibilities of it. In 1914 he was heavily influenced by a talk given to him by Ansel Adam's, an american landscape photographer, who gave him the confidence to take his work seriously. In 1946 he taught photography in Chicago but 15 years later moved to Rhodes Island to establish a photography program at a school of design and taught there until his retirement in 1977.
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SUBJECTSCalahan's work explores most subjects of life however mostly concentrates on the themes of buildings, people and nature. This gives him a very broad scope, but seems unusual as some photographers limit themselves to just one subject matter. His photographs mostly encompass what he saw, they demonstrate his interest in line, composition, depth of field and double exposure. This is very clear through the images as the composition is as important as the content.
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BUILDINGSCallahan's images of buildings have a style which could be seen as quite different to the rest of his images. Instead of him cropping his images to a precise point he is keen on capturing the 'big picture' by this I mean he enjoys large scales to really fill the capacity of an image. Also his use of line makes his images of buildings linear and quite central which futhermore drawer the viewer in, to look deeper into the image.
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PEOPLE'People' is Callahan's most interesting subject I feel. His images convey emotion like no other subject, especially his images of Eleanor. They are truthful but different to many other street photographers work. Instead of capturing signs and business of streets Callahan focusses very much on human behavior and picks up on people's movement quickly and thoughtfully.
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WILLIAM EGGLESTONE
William Eggleston is another street photographer who's work we also saw at the Tate. Despite the fact Eggleston and Callahan share the same subject matter Eggleston's work is seen as more colourful and less specific than Eggleston.
BACKGROUNDRaised in Missisipi, United States Eggleston grew up as quite as quite an intreverted character, he enjoyed drawing and working with electronics and from a young age enjoyed cutting images from magazines. From this, we can see his passion for photography was not suprising.
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STYLEEgglestone experimented with a mixture of colours in 1960's at a time where colour was strictly associated with advertising and 'unsuitable' for fine art photography. He experimented by making prints out of 'transfer dye' which is a process that allows a photographic print to be to be printed. He often took images around his hometown and was especially drawn to colourful and bold interiors, gasoline stations, cars and portraits of unknown individuals. As well his keen interest in colour he also payed a lot of attention to diagonal lines, reflections and composition which is clear in his images.
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Evaluation of my own images
I mainly like this image because of the depth and texture of it. I was able to capture in a way that made the reflection from the buildings and river visible even though there was another layer of shadow. Because of the depth in this image, it makes it more intriguing as you are constantly searching deeper into something, possibly finding new meanings. For example the meaning in this image for me was the fact that the figure seemed annoymous and mysterious because the face, expressions and gestures are not being revealed. I got this technique from one of the street photographers in a film I watched names 'Everybody Street' who shot angles from the hip. This image is interesting because although the legs in the image are made predominant because they are central in the image, the main subjects in the photograph are whats on going on behind it which is something more busy and chaotic that contrasts against the legs peacefully walking along. Overall the composition helps to define the subjects going on in this image.
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Despite the fact there is a finger blur in the right bottom corner of the image I like the sense of community and companionship in this image. The elderly figure is sitting next to to somebody younger than her, maybe her son? friend? or possibly even a stranger. Despite who the man is, he is obviously helping her in some way by placing his arm on her arm for support. They are both pulling quite puzzling expressions as if to look confused as to what is happening around them however overall they seem contempt and minding their own buisness. I decided to capture this image so that all the elements such as the feet fit into the photo so make it more truthful, this is why the image is slightly slanted. I think this works better than for the image to be completely straight because its makes it more truthful and realistic and less formal. I also really like the contrasting colours in this image that really lift the photograph up as maybe without the strong magenta and bright purple the image would remain dull and not as intriguing and exciting to view.
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The element of shadows in this image gives it a surreal touch. The two figures standing facing different directions in fluorescent jackets. One of them creates a shadows against a concrete wall which creates the image to be more surreal. It also gives the image a lot contrasts as the harsh blue out line of shadow against the wall and the yellow jackets the men are wearing are appealing but contrasting colours. As well as the shadow there is a slight silhouette from the other mans face as it is almost blacked out which yet agains adds to the surrealism in this image. His face also gives an outline to the rest of the building which could represent him blending into the background of maybe where he works or lives?
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To create this evenly balanced and formal image I used the compositional technique of 'walk on by' which is a technique where you capture somebody or something walking past something, and in this case a building with windows. I really like how this image is in some ways uptight and also formal. Not only is the composition regimented and precise but the gesture the man is making also seems quite formal as he is swaying his hands black and fourth and wearing what looks like a black suit. I also really like the texture and colours of the bricks as they draw the viewer in.
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