Cameras of the time were large boxes with glass plates to be exposed to sunlight but their size didn't change for a long time. 1890s, George Easton, Kodak founder, found a way to make the camera and film much smaller (this included developing roll film and the Box Brownie in 1900). Kodak took entire camera back, took them apart, developed film. These 35mm cameras were revolutionary being small and light enough to be able to be transported anywhere. however, photographers were still restricted to subjects without speed and early cameras were very sensitive to the blue end of the spectrum which meant that skies appeared washed-out. Early photographers would collect images of skies and then add in a sky via a photo montage of negatives.
For a historical timeline by Philip Greenspun, click here: http://photo.net/history/timeline
And a liast of 'firstst' in photogragraphy, click here: http://www.neatorama.com/2006/08/29/the-wonderful-world-of-early-photography/
Revolutionary users of 35mm cameras:
Henri Cartier-Bresson (France)
Idea: The Decisive Moment
Link: http://www.henricartierbresson.org/hcb/home_en.htm with more photos here: http://www.afterimagegallery.com/bresson.htm
He worked to capture 'the decisive moment' where all the elements come together and make a wonderful image only in a particular instant. Would research locations and be very well prepared before he arrived.
- a person in mid-stride, mirroring in puddle and figure in background
There seems to be a similar quality (sponteneity and mirroring ) in Elliot Erwitt (b.1928 in France to Russian parents and migrated to the US) and some lovely humour, especially with his dogs (and other leg shots!): http://www.elliotterwitt.com/lang/en/index.html
Lee Freidlander (USA, b.1934)
Idea: picture planes and two-dimensions to add layers of meaning
Typical technique: extreme depth of field, mirrors and glass, strong composition (rule of thirds and repeating lines and shapes)
Link: http://www.fraenkelgallery.com/index.php
eg a memorial (?) statue of a rifleman which appears to be stalking two other people walking by. Contains strong verticals (the central black pole divides photo into two images - impression of movement? time?) and is composed using a soft, long scale - many tones in his black and white work (new art photographers often choose few tones - extreme blacks and white).
eg shot from inside a bus or truck capturing the wing-mirror and bust road behind. Strong verticals again chop up the image and the string of cars.
eg a cyclist riding past an external staircase - curve of road edge in background, foreground curve of staircase.
Often experimented with juxtaposition of objects to create a surreal setup as in these people who seem to be walking into each other
Willam Eggleston (USA, b.1939)
Idea: colour (of very ordinary objects, pople, interiors)
Link: http://www.egglestontrust.com/
Amongst first art photographers to use colour. While colour film became cheap enough for most people to use in 1960s, prior to 1970s, most fine art photographers did not us it as black and white was accepted as the preferred presentation.
eg elder woman on a sagging sofa - her floral dress is reflected in both the pattern of the sofa as well as the leaves behind the trellis and under her feet. Strong repeating pattern of squares in trellis and paving.
eg tricycle - a very low angle with a wide angle lens (can be seen in the distortion) of a mundane object.
eg corner of a red ceiling with a central naked globe with three cables leading to and bits of a door and dubious posters - hints of seediness.
There's not just seediness in this photo, but threat - I can't help feeling afraid for any woman who enters this claustrophobic box. The attempt at homeliness with the gingham curtains fails next to the fan and the red drawers on top of the white box, which suggest to me some sort of diabolical machine within with the lonely broom to the right the evidence of the last victim.
Gary Winogrand
See YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eitfGxc6vbw,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl4f-QFCUek&feature=related etc
Idea: 'I see life'...'I frame picutres in terms of what I want to include...I don't worry what they'll look like'.
He also says that the picture must be complete in the frame - Virginia Woold says something similar about novels when she's condemning the laboured, indirect and doctrine-loaded writing styles of the 19thC.
Winogrand used a Leica and walked around the street (particularly LA and Texas) with a camera held to his eye and just took photos - he left behind thousands of unprocessed rolls of film.
It's hard to believe that shots like this aren't staged (talk about narrative), but then I don't know how many shots he took that day and rejected. Apart from the 'Chinese whispers' affect, I like the framing of the women by the men and the pole/tree separating black from white.
It reminds me of Da Vinci's Last Supper:
...which concerns a moment of revelation, a scandalous truth, and the painting freezes this moment of action. given that Da Vinci was not terribly good at finishing anything he started, he might have appreciated a Leica.
Another 35mm revolutionary: Robert Frank, 1950s, and his revolutionary 'The Americans'.
Is the 35mm too big for current paranoia (privacy, Paparrazzi, paedophillia etc) - not very discreet?
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