Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Ralph Eugene Meatyard took up photography by photographing his children in the 1950s. Little did he know that his weird and uncanny style of photography would make him known as one of the most successful photographers of his time. What we usually see from Meatyard is an interesting combination of using children and props to promote his ideas, mixed with an eye for seeing interesting compositions that would help to further these causes.
The first photo (above) of a little boy holding a baby doll gives us a great introduction to the style that Meatyard is going for. We see him holding an American flag, which is waving to show motion (something that Meatyard constantly incorporates in his images) and the flag post is interestingly enough, jabbed through the stomach of the baby doll. Was Meatyard contemplating these things while he photographed them? Did he realize the social and political content that he was delving into? I have a sneaky suspicion that Meatyard took all of this into account and perfected his way of photography by sticking with the same types of situations and topics. The successes of this first image are quite obvious to me. He has a very good use of composition and design and blatantly spits a concept at us whether we are willing to see it or not. How each person chooses to interperut this photo is up to them, but whenever you have a flag: poking out of a baby doll, with a flag shoved in its stomach, being held by a BOY no less, your brain has to start turning.
This second photograph (below) shows two ideas in which Meatyard used extensively. The idea of motion, and the idea of masks. The figure on the right is moving in a way which the slow shutter speed picks up some details of the face and arms, but leaves others behind, creating a very interesting aesthetic. The figure on the right's mask hides it's identity completely which leaves more to wonder. Someone who thought it would be funny to put people in masks, or make them move around may just place his subjects anywhere and snap a photo, but Meatyard took into consideration the composition around his subjects and how it relates to the scene at hand. The way the post points us back down to the left subject after we have already scanned from left to right is very interesting. It gives us a reference to go back upon after we have seen enough of each character.
Overall, Meatyard has accomplished what few photographers ever have. He selects interesting subjects and uses interesting techniques to accomplish his photographic goals. I respect what Meatyard has done and hope to pursue some of his ideas in the future.
Garry Winogrand
Oh! now we get to talk about Garry Winogrand, whom my photo history professor Byrd Williams rightfully nicknamed "The asshole with a camera." This is a fitting nickname which Garry may even agree about himself if he were around today to talk to us. The thing about Garry's work which is so intriguing is how he finds humor in almost every scene that he captures. I rarely find anyone who is willing to pursue humor in their photos, mostly because it is very hard to achieve.
The first photo that we see (below) was shot at a meeting of veterans, and we see veterans interact and chatter, all keeping a safe distance away from the man who has lost his legs in the war. Isn't it interesting how all of the people stay away from the person who is different instead of going to get his story. There may be more to this story, or maybe this is an accurate representation of what really happened, but either way this moment will forever be remembered since Winogrand decided to capture it. The composition of this photo falls a bit to the wayside, but this doesn't matter so much due to the interesting subject matter that is chosen.
This next image (below) shows another scene where Winogrand has specifically chosen a scene which would not make the subject matter very happy. The large animals in the background compete with the woman in the foreground, and we are forced to connect these two animals with the lady, just because of how the frame leads us. Is it right for a photographer to exploit people in this way? It probably is not right, but Winogrand found a way to make images which are humorous and make a statement as well. Obviously, Winogrand was a master at finding that "decisive moment" to photograph and choosing what that subject matter would be when he found the right moment. I think that the work is important to us, because it shows us the use of humor in photography, which can sometimes be forgotten by the seriousness of the craft at times. Winogrand chose to let the viewer take what he or she wanted from the frame after viewing it. Perhaps we have a new understanding of society, or perhaps we will just be more inclined to hate Garry Winogrand for what he did!
No comments:
Post a Comment