I’m reading M. W. Marien’s great book “Photography. A cultural History” and i am amazed by the photographs the pioneers of photography created.
“View from the Window at Le Gras”- 1826 - The photograph which is considered to be the first one.
“Boulevard du Temple”- 1839 - The first photograph to depict a person.
“Leaves of Orchidea” - 1839 - Photogenic drawing negative
“The use of Aether for Anesthesia” - 1847
“Mrs Elizabeth Hall, Newhaven fishwife” - 1843/46
Categories: Art · Books · History of Photography · Photoblog · Photography
Edward Burtynsky: The China Series showcases twenty large-scale, newly completed works on five themes related to China’s booming development over the past decade: manufacturing; recycling; shipbuilding; urban renewal; and the Three Gorges Dam.The artist writes:
“These images are meant as metaphors to the dilemma of our modern existence; they search for a dialogue between attraction and repulsion, seduction and fear. We are drawn by desire – a chance at a good living, yet we are consciously or unconsciously aware that the world is suffering for our success. Our dependence on nature to provide the materials for our consumption and our concern for the health of our planet sets us into an uneasy contradiction. For me, these images function as reflecting pools of our times.” Where once Burtynsky stood as an apolitical documentary photographer, he now endeavors to raise awareness of the consequences of development. While unexpectedly beautiful, Burtynsky’s China is a vast, modern example of the unfolding, potentially disastrous consequences of globalization. China’s transformation into an industrial superpower and global economic player has brought exponential population growth, a dramatic shift from a rural to a manufacturing existence, and unprecedented urban development. The Three Gorges Dam (one of the exhibition’s foci) is the world’s most extravagant and environmentally altering engineering feat, a great source of pride for China, and a microcosm of the relationship between progress and consequence.[Text: Tufts University Arts Gallery]
More information and photographs: edwardburtynsky.com
Categories: Photoblog · Photography
“For the last few years I have been documenting the streets of Sydney.”
“My photographs are more questions than answers. I use photography as a way to help me understand why I am here. The camera helps me to see.”
“When I was young my mother died suddenly of an asthma attack. From that day on I questioned everything around me – life, death and our reason for being. Forever searching.”
“There is no hard journalistic line to the photographs. They are, however, real moments in time, drawn from the masses, of life in Sydney. Some say this is a very different, unrealistic view from the traditional way Sydney is shown. For me it is as real and normal as when I walk out the door every day. Reality is only as real as everyone’s own perceptions of what is normal.”
Trent Parke is represented by Magnum Photos and Stills Gallery
[Text from in-public.com]
More information and photographs can be found on in-public.com
Categories: Photoblog · Photography
Categories: Photoblog · Photography
A great source for various photo essays is the photographical archive of TIME
On The Trail In Iowa The race for the White House is well under way in the Heartland
Oil Boom in Azerbaijan The former Soviet republic overflows with oil and cash
Narco Netherworld Japanese photographer Kosuke Okahara traces the dark path of drugs from the jungle of Colombia to the streets of Medellin and beyond
Categories: Photoblog · Photoessay · Photography
