Henri Cartier-Bresson

Born on the 22nd of august 1908 Henri Cartier-Bresson grew up in Paris and bought his first camera when he was 24 and spent the next few years traveling across Europe as well as an expedition to mexico. During the war he joined the 'film and photography' unit and he where he was taken prisoner by Germans. He managed to escaped on his third attempt. after the war he worked as a professional photographer until he stopped at the age of 66 in order to focus on drawing. Henri works were mainly focused on street photography however this image is one of his few landscapes and I choose it because of the composition. He has kept the largest focus point, the Eiffel tower, in the right hand third as to to show the scale and magnitude of it's presence.  

Andreas Gursky

Andreas Gursky born on the 15th January 1955 is a German visual artist known for his large format architecture and landscape color photographs. Gursky broke the world record for the most expensive photograph ever sold with Rhein ll. It like many of his photos was larger than average photos, His process involved shooting chromogenic prints with film, using a large-format 5 × 7-inch camera; he scanned the images and digitally edited them on a computer. Rhein II was 5 × 10 feet. The unique compositional strategies of his photos have resulted in images that walk the line between representation and abstraction. 

Rhein ll

I feel that he reason why this photo was sold for such a large sum was because of it's simplistic and abstract look. Another reason is because of the editing that he did to change this from the original which would of involved houses on the horizon. this means that it would be very hard to get a photo to look exactly the same. 

I took this photo in the style of Gursky by using horizontal lines to split up the photo. I edited it in photoshop using the warp tool in order to get the horizontal lines straighter. I also edited levels to increase the contrast and vibrance to increase the intensity of the background.

Harold De Puymorin

Harold de Puymorin was originally from Toulouse France and is now living in Hong Kong, he has always been deeply attracted by colours, shapes, and the rich visuals that Asia has to offer. Whether he is using classic photography or more advanced digital techniques, his works presents an original yet artistic vision of life.With his special fascination with geometric shapes, vibrant colours and sometime humorous scenarios. Harold de Puymorin transforms reality into the abstract and unconventional shapes and compositions which we see in his photos.

This photo is a good example of his love for colours and how he uses them in order to convey his images in an abstract manor. This photo is also similar to the work of Andreas Gurksy, which also focuses on abstract lines however his photos mainly look at horizontal lines rather than vertical.










Mess
This image is similar to previous one and has been edited in order to give the appearance that they are converging towards the centre of the photo. This photo would of been taken using a high aperture to get the whole photo in focus. 

Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied film at Pennsylvania State University, before going on to work for a local newspaper. When McCurry made his first of what would become many trips to India he went around with little more than his clothes and his camera. After much traveling he found himself crossing the border into Afghanistan where he brought the world it's first insight into the war going on there. He has since been all over the world and received multiple prestigious awards for his work.

In this photo he has used a very high aperture such as f16 in order to get the both the foreground and background in focus. It is also under saturated which makes the light that is being cast into the valley more prominent. His use of the broken wall in the foreground also makes the valley seem more distant and just out of our reach.

In this photo Steve mcCurry has also used a high aperture and a low shutter speed which has caused the person to be slightly out of focus. i also like how he has not waited for the people to leave the shot before taking the photo which makes it seem more natural.

Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams was an american photographer best known for his photos of the American west and exspecially yosemite national park. Adams professional breakthrough followed the publication of his first portfolio, Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras. The portfolio was a success, leading to a number of commercial assignments. Between 1929 and 1942, Adams’ work and reputation developed. He achieved financial stability from selling over one thousand unique prints of the moon rising above a village taken just before the attack on peal harbour.In his later life s photography became more popular his work began being shown in museums and gallery's.

Golden gate before the bridge

In this photo you can see how Ansel Adams has used black and white to emphasis the shapes and contrast between the edges of the zones within the photo. He has also taken up two thirds of he photo with sky, this leads to the very vast and open feeling that this photo has.

Tetons and the snake river

This is one of Ansel Adams more famous photos. In this photo you can really see the different zones within the landscape. I feel that this photo benefits from being black and white as it keeps it uncluttered from colour and emphasises the textures . I also find it remarkable how he managed get everything just right when he only had a limited number of negative plates.