My image of Manhattan was a big busy, crowded city. Many neon signs in Times Square might have brought me that idea of crowdedness. In fact, the street was full of people, and they were shouting and cars were honking all night. On the other hand, very early in the morning there was a short time of silence. I felt kind of awkward going to bed with lots of noise and waking up to almost no sounds. However, there were some people already walking on the street when I looked down from the window; most of them seemed like office people who were heading to work. It is hard to believe there are so many offices in that area from the day and night. This sign of Starbucks that is located where just a block away from Broadway is difficult to find because the typeface isn’t distinct enough. Even more, the reflection decrease legibility as well. That makes it easy to lose the detail and from the front of the sign it is almost impossible to define the letters. However, most of the Starbucks Coffee shops have the recognizable signs with that famous logo, so it is easy to find the place even in busy streets like Broadway. This sign of Starbucks doesn’t have as much impact as the usual one, but it stands there humbly.
The next photo is an advertisement of DKNY, a famous clothing bland in the Soho area. Even, it is a huge image it was hard to recognize that it as typography, but once I noticed it gave me a huge impact and stayed in my mind. The letters are really bold to creates the space of painting in the typeface. The painting is a beautiful monotone site of NYC, which indicates the mood of NY and how the brand strongly relates to the city. These typographies are common in calmness, but both of them gave me strong impressions to me; moreover, they are representative of people who are quiet but who are maintaining the city.
“Parsons The New School for Design” people know the name, but others don’t know it. Before, I was the latter. On the second day of our trip in NY, we visited the school. The people welcomed us warmly, and showed us around the school. Of course, the school buildings were larger than our school, and they were fully equipped, but the contents of study and form of class work was the same as our school, KIDI. Put the final works on the wall, explain about one’s own piece, and then discuss with the teacher and other students. The scene was similar to our school. Also, it was comfortable for me that students hurried up to print out for assignment, making with something to eat, and atmosphere of freedom and messy rooms.
That afternoon we went to communication design department, and we sat in on a class to observe how it was conducted. We could know learning environment at the Persons. Also the teachers were calm and had friendly personalities, so they were glad to meet us. Then suddenly, a big pizza was carried in the middle class, and they treated all students and gave it to us. That floored me, but the taste was good. Later we talked to the students about campus life, after graduation from the school, etc. We made good use of the time there.
Parsons was an international school, and students were together from a lot of countries who have a purpose, so they study harder for the goal. I envied them, because everyday they have a mutual influence on each other, and develop as good designers in a good learning environment. The day was a good day for me, the reason why is that day I receiving the good impetus of by Persons students.
We visited Lucie at MyORB office and looked at her works that she had actually designed for clients. Her office’s atmosphere was so comfortable because of the open space, well-organized ledge and the warm sunlight through a large window. The office had wooden shelves and desks and floor, so the mood was soothing. That helped the designers to communicate easily with each other. On the other hand, they could concentrate on their work because they had their own area. The office had both elements of personal and communal.
Lucie showed us some of her works, website, package design and business card. All of them were so interesting and greatly stimulated to us. For the business card, it had a scratchable layer on the part of a person’s face. Once this layer was scratched off, you could see the injured face of a man. We thought this was a great idea because it entertained people with humor. The website , which was for a jewel company, was so beautiful visually and was thing stimulates people to look at the next page. She told us that her first idea was much different from the final one. We were happy to hear that because we knew that even real designers didn’t always come up with the best idea in the first step. We learned that even a professional designer goes through a process to create a good thing.
New Museum is literally a new museum located in Bowery, which is supposed to be one of the new cool hip neighborhoods in New York city. I imagined New Museum to be sub-cultural, much more modern than the MoMA. I was expecting this trip to New Museum would be something exciting and inspiring. However, it turned out rather gloomy and distant, besides the fact that it was unlike a museum, but a large gallery with a couple of average, minor exhibitions. In other words, the context of the museum gave me the impression much like the exterior of the museum: squared, inflexible, unstable, or unearthly suffocating, with a mocking twist. In Paul Chan’s The 7 Lights, silhouette images of “life” through a windowpane are projected on a wall and floor. The images were not changing fast and it seemed as though time had stopped like in the surrealist paintings of Chirico. The captions read something like. “the 3rd Light” and that’s about it. I couldn’t figure out what the artist’s intention was, in the concrete surrounded closed space with only lights and shadows. I felt uneasy. Perhaps, intellectual patient introverts would have found the exhibition more stimulating. In Double Album by Daniel Guzman and Steven Shearer, there were paintings, installations, and some art pieces. All I remember was a colorful skull sitting on a column with some element tormenting it, and obscene words such as, “molestations” and “necrovomit” as a part of their works. There also were images of exposed genitals, suicide, and a noose…
I thought the whole experience in New Museum was weird and absurd, but perhaps that is just me. I think New Museum offers personal experiences rather than homogenized ideas. In the end, I still hope to visit New Museum again in the near future. Maybe.
Sometimes we need fellows to confront hardship, but it can be a special opportunity to meet people who have a same determination. They make the group stronger and give us the chance to overcome hardship even those which are impossible for one person to solve. The power of company makes a person strong and makes impossible things to possible, even changing the world. Magnum Photos is the most powerful and innovative group of photographers which changed the world.
In the world of photographers, Magnum Photos is the group which has the strongest power. One of the biggest achievements they made is an establishment of photographers’ personal rights. In the early 1940s, photojournalists didn’t have their own rights about their photographs because they had to sell the rights about their works with their original negatives to their clients. But Magnum Photos which was created in 1947 by 5 photographers in New York changed the situation. Magnum Photos were made to establish photographers’ own rights by creating their own company and control their works by themselves. And also they raised status of the photographers. Before establishment of the Magnum, photographers, especially photojournalists were treated by companies without consideration. For instance, they went to take photos on the front liner of the war at the risk of their lives, but a company paid little money to buy their photographs and they could fire at will. By the actions which Magnum Photo made, people noticed how Magnum were brave and important for our society and even the companies, started to treat photographers better.
They are also the most innovative photo group. In the 1950’s, simply, it was a very innovative and precious happening for all photographers to join a big photographers’ group, but Magnum was not just a group. It also worked as an agency. But this agency was not like other agencies because photographers who joined Magnum had a freedom to take pictures of anything. Magnum is the agency for the photographers themselves so they didn’t require the members to take pictures. On the other hand, at that time, other photographer agency required pictures for photographers which can sell to tabloid or magazine companies. Magnum did not do that because photographers and magnum were not be there for money, they were for themselves so each of them took pictures of what they want. There is no other photographer agency like Magnum. And most innovative activities they do continue today. They have kept running their own group for more than 60 years. Because of the concept of Magnum, they haven’t had sponsors and they run a group by themselves. Actually it was hard to keep such a big group and they didn’t have any practical ways to keep their group because they were not familiar with such kind of business and they were just photographers. But they keep running Magnum because of their strong concept and it has impressed a lot of people who help them. It shows us how important it is to act in accordance with our beliefs.
Finally, cooperative spirits guide people in a good direction and give them the power to solve the problems which are impossible for each of people to solve. Sometimes that impresses people who are around them. Magnum Photos is the most important group of photographers not just for photographers or artists, but also for all people because of its power and inventiveness. Even now, people in the world can be impressed by the photos they take.
Published on
2007-10-04 in
Art.
Jacques-Henri was a French photographer who is known as a genius in photograph in France. He was born in 1894 and was brought up in a wealthy family. When he was eight years old, his father gave him a camera. He was fascinated with it that was valuable at that time. He began to keep a photo diary and created photo albums. He continued to do it for his entire life. He liked taking pictures freely without being affected with any tradition of the picture. His diary says that ‘Daddy promised to buy a camera for me. Daddy is the god! I can finally take pictures of everything in the world! Everything!‘ It makes us understand how much he wanted the camera.
He took about 200,000 photos of everyday fascinating things to the end of his life. Every photo makes me feel happy. Throughout his photos, I can sense his love for photos and can imagine him holding a camera full of wonder. Usually, when we watch photo that someone took, we have interest in a concept of the photo or itself. However, his photos interest us a man Jacques-Henri Lartigue. He took many pictures not for sale but for sharing the pleasure with his family and his friends. For him, taking pictures was his living proof. That’s why his photos bring us peace and comfort.
The picture of the left taken in Paris was a kind of snapshot of female dancers. Looking at the photo, the imaginary scenario comes to my mind that they are talking about dancing of the day and then…. It may be that a woman standing with the feet wide apart who is having her friend make final check for herself dancing. Henri-Lartigue gives us the pleasure of imagining.
Yoshikazu Shirakawa was born in Ehime in 1935. He is known to the world as a photographer who challenges nature such as the Alps and Himalayas. Especially, taking a picture of the waterfall is important for him because he feels “water” is the source of all lives. He graduated The Photography Section of Department of Art at Japan University. He worked as Art and Literature producer Department of Japan Broadcasting Company. Later, he worked as Chief Cameraman in Fuji Television Company, and in 1962 became a free lance cameraman.
He chooses the mountain as targets in the photograph, and he takes a picture from helicopter. It is very dangerous because he approaches waterfall as much as possible. There is no method of taking a picture of the whole except the flight because there are a lot of big waterfalls. His photograph which shade was extremely emphasized and mountain seems so hard. It shows that he think mountains are targeted in the artistic production. The weight of the machine parts that he uses is over a ton. Most cameramen use only several kilos. The taking a picture cost is about 450 million yen per year. There is a thing that it costs 20 million yen to take a picture once, too.
William Henry Jackson that took a picture of ‘Large cataract in yellowstone’. Yellowstone National Park became the world’s first national park on March 1, 1872. The work of photographer William Henry Jackson and painter Thomas Moran is personally related to the birth of the first national park in the world. He made beauty in untouched nature known all over the U.S..
The waterfall exists naturally, and is related to the word negative ion, it is a summer resort and a sightseeing spot. However, it is actually more violent, and severer? Such a this photograph, ‘Jullan waterfall’. (It’s top photograph.) The golden waterfall looks like dropping flame. It is instinctively gruesome and scary waterfall. Why he said, “Struggle may begin to get a water. 4 million people already dead for lack of water in every year. I hope you to think about water problem.” It is a modern keener problem that transmits from Mr. Shirakawa’s photograph. And, the problem is asked not the assembly in the country somewhere but we each one.
Terry Richardson is a famous American fashion photographer. He was born in Southern California in 1965 and now lives in New York. He is influenced by his fashion photographer father, Bob Richardson, and combined a passion for fashion with a sense of 70’s cinematic realism. He captures real people. People are his fashion as he believes “photographs are more about people than clothes.”
Terry Richardson’s style is unique. He uses an old “instamatic” type of camera that isn’t made anymore, because he loves negatives and being able to make prints. He is famous for his provocative, often explicit photographs. With many other photographers, their style is easily recognizable. However, with Terry Richardson, every picture leaves you wondering whether it was for art, humor, fashion, intimacy, or a mixture. He pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable to magazine publishers while still exploring sexuality through photography.
Terry often poses with other models, often engaging in sexual activities for his photographs like in the picture left. This style of “art” is not often seen. At first this picture appears to simply be a mustache. It is comically sexual. He is posing, but his face and eyes have this look of surprise. It focuses on the humor of the scene. This picture is very Terry Richardson, and many of his photographs are a blend of sexuality and art.
He is such an icon and his presence in his pictures is a signature. There was a mask of him in a Sisley Catalog, one of the fashion brands he works for, and it is interesting because photographers don’t often add their own portraits to their works. His underground real people and improvisational obscenity have inspired ad campaigns for other brands like American Apparel. Terry will continue to shock and amuse the audience while occasionally provoking disgust.
Michael Kenna, The landscape photographer, was born in England in 1953. Michael created dream-like scenes by combining innovative and traditional photographic techniques. He traveles around the world to countrues such as Brazil, Mexico, China, India, and Japan to take that beautiful and attractive photos.
Kenna’s works are characterized by their attractive composition and beautiful prints. Most of his work are taken in night using technique of exposure. As he said “Nothing is ever the same twice because everything is always gone forever.”. However, it is not just abou his technique that makes great pictures. He also said “In my photograph I try to be senstive and responsive to whoever or whatever I meet.”The ability to bring out its beauty inside of the motif is what makes his photos special.
This photograph is from a famous project named “Impossible to forgrt”. In this project he took pictures of Nazi camps. He captured and expressed an unusual and dark atmosphere. Moreover, his style is suited well to shoe such a place in photos. Looking at the photo, the very high wall and the barbed wire give us the feeling that it is impossible to escape and people felt being surrounded with this wall. Michael Kenna creates photos that convey the atmosphere of places.
Man Ray was an American Dada and Surrealist artist. He born Emmanuel Radnizky in 1890 Philadelphia. When he was seven years old, he moved to New York, and there he was influenced by important modern art movement in “291” gallery Stieglitz. He learned drawing in high school, and then he worked as a merchant artist but he continued painting pictures. In 1915, he inaugurated the New York Dada movement with Marcel Duchamp and Francis Picabia. Then he became interested in taking pictures. In 1921, he went to Paris. Duchamp introduced him to Pablo Picasso, Andre Breton, and Jean Cocteau. He became an active member of Dadaism, and then he also became an important Surrealist artist.
Man Ray had a long career. He made many works using a lot of media, such as paint, lithograph, sculpture, and collage. He would get one idea, then he express it in a lot of ways. He discovered new photographic techniques by trial and error. He put an object on sensitized paper, and exposed it to light. The technique was called a ‘Rayograph’. Furthermore he discoverd ‘Solarization’. Solarization changed the relative darkness by overexposure to light during the development process. He also developed a lot of other new photographic techniques.
The next to top picture, taken in Paris in 1924, is of a star in Montparnasse called Kiki. At that time, she was in love Man Ray. He took a picture of her back, and then he added an f-hole to her back. This picture is called ‘Violin d’lngres’, and was inspired by a ‘Turkish bath’ painting by Jean August Dominique Ingres. Who always played violin at his exhibitions even though people didn’t want to hear it. In the case of Man Ray, people admired his photo works, but not his paintings, objet d’art, and other art works. He thought ‘My art is terrible hobby too?’ He insisted that ‘My photo works are not just photos.’ He elevated photos to art. He later said ‘We can’t close the door of history, because history has a break in the door. You must be proactive in history, and not walk slowly. You should run and go for history. ’
