Unconsciously Graceful: Lillian Bassman

I love Faded + Blurred so much, I think I could spend days just reading their spotlight articles. I had never heard of Lillian Bassman so thank F+B for this

“I am completely tied up with softness, fragility, and the problems of a feminine world.” – Lillian Bassman
When you think of iconic fashion photographers, chances are you think of names like Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, or, perhaps Cecil Beaton. However, a name that should not only be on your list, but somewhere very near the top, is Lillian Bassman, who, for more than 60 years defined not only fashion, but the role of a fashion photographer. Ms. Bassman, although shooting women, was living and working in a man’s world but she did not let that to hold her back. Instead, she spent her career pushing the boundaries and breaking the standards of traditional fashion photography and, in the process, created a brilliant style that was uniquely her own. Lillian Violet Bassman was born to very bohemian parents in 1917. She and her sister were given freedom to do what they wanted as long as they ironed their uniforms and took a bath every Saturday. Other than that, they were completely independent. At the young age of six, she met nine year old Paul Himmel, the son of her mother’s boss. They quickly became close friends, which eventually turned into a romantic involvement, and, at 15, her parents allowed her to move in with him. Within a short time, they were married and ended up spending the next 73 years together, until Paul died in 2009. READ MORE

 

Thank you Faded + Blurred

 

Between Moments: Gregory Crewdson

I have featured Gregory Crewdson numerous times because I think his work is fascinating and visually exciting. This article on Faded + Blurred gives much greater insight into his methods and ideas and there are many more pictures than we have found before.

“My pictures must first be beautiful, but that beauty is not enough. I strive to convey an underlying edge of anxiety, of isolation, of fear. ” – Gregory Crewdson
Few photographers have had such a dramatic impact on photography as Gregory Crewdson. Like Richard Avedon or Henri Cartier-Bresson before him, Crewdson fundamentally changed not only the photographic language, but also the process of creating images and, in doing so, established himself as one of the most visionary photographers of the last decade. His photographs hang in museums, galleries and private collections all over the world and can sell for upwards of $100,000, but seeing him on the set of one of his productions, you might think he looks more like a film director than what has traditionally been the image of a photographer. In fact, he rarely even presses the shutter button. “I prefer not to be behind the camera,” he says, “because I want the most direct experience with the subject as possible.” Creating one of his photographs means dozens of crew members, unbelievably large budgets, and magnificent environments that require sets to be built or streets and neighborhoods to be temporarily shut down. Large in scale and obsessively detailed, they are made even bigger by what the viewer doesn’t see. “In all my pictures,” he says “what I am ultimately interested in is that moment of transcendence or transportation, where one is transported into another place, into a perfect, still world.” READ MORE

 

 

His Own Cocoon: Anton Corbijn

Anton Corbijn you may know because of his work with U2. For a long time he was the rock music photographer of choice. This article on the excellent Faded + Blurred is about his career and thoughts on photography

“Photography was the only thing that mattered in my life and I gave it everything.” – Anton Corbijn
Whether or not you know the photography of Anton Corbijn, you’ve undoubtedly seen his influence. As both a photographer and music video director, Corbijn helped to define the visual styles of bands like Nirvana, Joy Division and Coldplay, as well as U2 and Depeche Mode, with whom he has collaborated for more than two decades. Collaboration seems to be one of the hinge pins of Corbijn’s creative process, whether you point to his 35-year ongoing collaboration with Tom Waits, or the incredible body of work produced with Depeche Mode, which includes more than a dozen music videos, from the spaghetti-western inspired Personal Jesus to the tongue-in-cheek homage to 70s cinema, It’s No Good, in which Corbijn even cast himself in a cameo.  READ MORE

A Book Of Contrasts: Bill Brandt

I began taking pictures when I was 12, at school a boy in the year ahead of me who also lived near me had seen me with my camera and befriended me. He was also interested in photography and it was he who introduced me to Bill Brandt. Up until I saw the book Shadow of Light by Brandt I had no idea photographs could almost be about anything as long as they had some meaning, atmosphere, emotion. I gave up just taking pictures of my dog or my mates mucking about and started trying to take pictures like Bill Brandt. Some 46 years later I am still trying.

Maybe this article will be me passing the baton on to someone else who is looking for a better reason to pick up a camera. From the excellent Faded & Blurred site a long and very interesting article about the great man who made me become a photographer

“It is part of the photographer’s job to see more intensely than most people do. He must have and keep in him something of the receptiveness of the child who looks at the world for the first time or of the traveler who enters a strange country.” – Bill Brandt

Heralded by many as Britain’s greatest modern photographer, Bill Brandt was a man who never took a photograph unless he had something to say. On par with Man Ray, Brassai, and Atget, Brandt accomplished what few photographers have been able to do (either before or since), which is to successfully bridge the gap between photojournalism and documentary photography all the way to the other end of the spectrum of fine art. His work is characterized by stark contrasts between black and white and strong geometrical structures, whether the images are of a miner bringing home his coal for the day or the nude form of a woman on a rocky beach….READ MORE

 

Faded + Blurred On Taking Pictures #92: The Analogy of the Sphere

I really like the Faded + Blurred site, it is a place I regularly visit and have recommended it to you before. The On Taking Pictures podcasts are interesting and worth your time.

Every week, Jeffery Saddoris and Bill Wadman take on the art, science, and philosophy of photography and explore how they play out behind the camera in the process of making images. Go here for the links 

Show Notes
This week, we chime in on a recent NY Times article that questions the new definition of photography. Should using a camera somewhere in the process be a prerequisite to calling something a photograph? Are curators simply throwing stuff at the wall and hoping that Art is the only thing that sticks? We also discuss a listener email that centers around the flood of tutorials and techniques available to photographers, which begs the question “What should I learn?” Plus, National Geographic shooter Bruce Dale is our Photographer of the Week.