Elliott Erwitt

Elliott Erwitt is an advertising and documentary photographer known for his black and white candid shots of ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings. I was inspired the way he framed the subject matter. By mainly focusing on the mirror and defocusing on the background, he made a good decision to give a massage to the audience by using the water in the background. Water always represents pure, relaxation, life. Overall, the picture seems much more romantic. Based on my understanding, the massage of the picture is "pure love".

"Joanna Laughing, Hotel Paris, 1999" Nan Goldin

As a teenager in Boston in the 1960s, then in New York starting in the 1970s, Nan Goldin has taken intensely personal, spontaneous, sexual, and transgressive photographs of her family, friends, and lovers. The picture of “Joanna Laughing, Hotel Paris, 1999” was inspired me to comment about. She basically used lighting sources to make the picture more interesting. By putting the forces straight Joanna’s face, the photographer tried show the big laugh from Joanna’s face. The background texture was much more amazed to me and I believe it make the picture much more colorful. The pictures gives a massage about smokers. By showing a big laugh, the photographer trying to show that smoking makes you happy. 

"President Kennedy"-Arnold Newman

Arnold Newman was an American photographer, noted for his "environmental portraits" of artists and politicians. He was also known for his carefully composed abstract still life images. The picture of “John F Kennedy” is the one I was inspired to comment about this great photographer. I basically interested about those diagonal element that he used in the background to make the picture more interesting. Second thing I realized was the light source that he used. The light comes above the right top corner of the picture and it makes the picture more appropriate with President Kennedy. 

Susan Sontag

"Photography is the only major art in which professional training and years of experience do not confer an insuperable advantage over the untrained an inexperienced"P.24

"We want the photographer to be a spy in the house of love and of death, and those being photographed to be unaware of

the camera, "off guard." No sophisticated sense of what photography is or can be will ever weaken the satisfactions of a picture of an unexpected event seized in mid-action by an alert photographer."P.44

"To aim at the perpetuation of memories means, inevitably, that one has undertaken the task of continually renewing, of creating, memories—aided, above all, by the impress of iconic photographs."P.69

Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark is an American photographer known for her photojournalism, portraiture, and advertising photography. This picture seems to me like an inspirational one in her collection. Picture is mainly focused on the men with the cigarette. It does not have any objectives in the background to distract the image. Also, she is trying to give a massage through the picture. Based on what i understood, men in the picture is addicted to smoke and he suffers from it. By closing his eye express that it the sad emotional behind the seen. Making the picture black and white seems more appropriate here, if it was a colored one, it would have been a typical picture.  

Michael Kenna- "Death Gate"

Michael Kenna (born 1953) is an English photographer best known for his black & white landscapes. This picture seems to me an inspiring one because the techniques that he used. He titled the picture as “SS Guard House, (Death Gate), Birkenau, Poland, 1992”.  I found out that he used wide angle to get this picture. Also he centered the main subject matter in the picture to identify the massage it gives to the audience. Making the picture black and white seems more appropriate here. Next big thing is lighting here. He captured the seen in a cloudy time in a day. 

Ernst Haas-Pedestrians Crossing a New York Street

Ernst Haas (March 2, 1921 – September 12, 1986) was a photojournalist and a pioneering color photographer. During his 40-year career, the Austrian-born artist bridged the gap between photojournalism and the use of photography as a medium for expression and creativity.

                The picture “Pedestrians crossing a New York street in winter time cast long shadows, 1980.” Is much more focused about pedestrians. Their cloths express that the season of the year. Its winter and the smoke represent that how cold it is in the outside. The main thing that the picture looks more appropriate is lightning. The sunlight comes from the top right corner of the picture and the shadows make it much more interesting to see. The yellow taxi represents that the vehicle belongs to NYC. As I feel about the picture, people in the picture are looking at the yellow taxi and there must be something wrong with the way of taxi driver came in to the pedestrian walk. In conclusion, I could say that this is a nice way of using lights and shadows in appropriate occasions.