Weegee

Love Weegee's "street" photographic style. Supposedly he got this nickname because often times he would beat the police to the crime scene.  

Weegee said "I'd wait across from police headquarters and when something was about to happen I could feel it. My elbows would start  to tingle and itch"

I love the dynamics of the below photo. Its said he set this one up by getting the street person drunk,

then taking her to where there was an upscale event of wealthy patrons to torment them. He denied the setup.

Whatever the truth it seemed to work out well for him.

Weegee
Born	Usher Fellig June 12, 1899 Złoczów, Austrian Galicia (nowUkraine)
Died	December 26, 1968 (aged 69)
Residence	New York City, United States
Nationality	Austro–Hungarian
Other names	Arthur Fellig
Ethnicity	Jewish
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Photographer
Known for	Street photography of crime scenes or emergencies
Spouse

 Above info per wikipedia

Francesca Woodman

Images by Francesca Woodman. I am compelled to look at these images but find them repulsive because they seem so painful. Her photographic talent seemed focused on portraying pain. Maybe it was catharsis for her to take these photos. Was she trying to get rid of her inner demons?

Francesca Woodman (April 3, 1958 - January 19, 1981) was an American photographer best known for her black and white pictures featuring herself and female models. Many of her photographs show young women who are nude, who are blurred (due to movement and long exposure times), who are merging with their surroundings, or whose faces are obscured. Her work continues to be the subject of much attention, years after she committed suicide at the age of 22.


Above info per wikipedia.

Stan's Seven Deadly Questions

Question #1- Photography  records the existence of animate and inanimate objects  as it appears at that moment.

Question #2 -  What's the difference between a snapshot & photograph? Truth be known I've never thought about those two terms having different meanings.
   Off the top of my head snapshot sounds informal, whereas the word photograph seems more formal. Snapshot reminds me of a term that one would have used after taking a "picture" with their Kodak camera years ago. Both words represent an art to me but a photograph seems to be more deliberate in its delivery and a snapshot spontaneous.
   I like this definition of the difference between a snapshot and a photograph I found on the internet. "Snapshots are for myself and photographs are for others"

   I consider the boy in the hat more of a photograph and the other image a snapshot.

Question #3-What is a cliche? For me its the overuse of the same type of photo or photo theme.
      1) Dog jumping for frisbee. 2)Raindrops on window. 3)James Dean. 4)Marilyn Monroe.
5)Butterfly on flower. 6)Car blurred in motion. 7)Carnival ride blurred in motion.
8) Balloon race at Forest Park. 9)Bike races. 10)Old rusty abandoned trucks. 11)Still life with
bowl of fruit. 12)Still life showing stack of books. 13)Cats & dogs playing. 14)Homeless
person collecting funds at an intersection. 15)Reflection in sunglasses. 16)Ballerina shoes.
17)Women in a foreign country carrying an object on their head, dressed in brightly colored garb.
18)Image of person taking a photograph. 19)Andy Warhol's Elizabeth Taylor. 20) Andy
Warhol's Pancho Villa.


Question#4-Family and friends are the most imp thing in my life.

Question #5- My greatest strength is I'm willing to work hard to improve my life skills. My biggest challenge is procrastination. Even though I'm a hard worker once I start working, often times I put off the current task at hand.

Question #6- My greatest strength and weakness as a photographer is the same. I worry  if the image is both flattering and or demeaning in any way.

Questioin #7-As a photographer I want to strengthen my technical and lighting skills to have the ability to photograph special needs children.  I would love to be able to make the child the focus and not their differences.

The Original Jersey Girl

Annie Leibovitz vs Pete Souza

Found this posting on Yahoo the other day of Obama's 2009 and 2011 family portraits.

Images taken by established photographers, Annie Leibovitz and Pete Souza.

My fav is the one taken by one of the most successful celebrity photographers in the world.

Which portrait appeals to you the most?