Virtual Essay: Eugene W Smith

Eugene W. Smith has left behind a legacy within the world of photojournalism. He has followed through a dedication to show the world the life of a soldier and the views of war. Many photographs taken by Eugene W. Smith has been war related in his early photojournalism years. Through his photographs, we can sense battle beyond the camera lens and through the camera lens.


1991, Christopher Morris, 2nd prize, spot news


Eugene W. Smith

Smith has given a lot of his dedication to showing the world the real time of the battles he has come across with. He had made it his mission to become a part of the war, the very subject he had under his lens. Yet it wasn't only the battle or the explosions of war that he had taken. During the times of World War II, many photographers that were sent to cover the story of the war, aimed to take pictures of the battle itself. Yet through Smith's photographs, we can set it aside through its differences as it entails the casualties and the stories of the very soldiers.


1991, David Turnley, World Press Photo of The Year


Eugene W. Smith

Through this style of photography, Smith had made it his mission to show the world the vision of war behind the eyes of the suffering soldiers. These photographs that have touched so many readers and viewers have made such an impact throughout the history of photojournalism that photographers today have covered war stories behind the eyes of soldiers. I believe that it is through the legendary works of Eugene W. Smith that modern war photographers have also made it their mission to open the eyes of the world, to see beyond the explosion or the shell casing. I believe that it is through Smith's work that people are able to witness the casualties of war on behalf of the soldiers, victims and even enemies.


2007, Tim Hetheringtonm World Press Photo of The Year


Eugene W. Smith

Eventually, Smith had suffered serious injuries that would hospitalize him for two years. After the war, Smith had adopted a new, unique style of photography which would be yet another legacy passed down through photojournalism. This style of photography done by Eugene W. Smith is known as Photo Essay. This style of photography requires the photographer's presence to be stronger than ever. His influence is so strong due to the fact that he or she must remain immerse with the subject for weeks, months or even years. The photographer becomes so attached to the subject that in order to adopt the full scale of emotion and action, they feel obliged to stay and work with the subject for long periods of time.


1986, Alon Reininger, Individual Awards, Budapest Award

This 1986 photograph has grasped the concept of photo essay in ways which Eugene W. Smith had first adapted. The story of this photograph portraits a man named Jerry Cirasulo making it his vocation to aid and care for his 35 Aids patients and to help them die with dignity. The photograph which retells this story adapts Smith's unique style of photo essay as the photographer has made himself immersed with the work of the subject as well. Through this immersion, the photographs are able to open the eyes of the viewers in hopes to show the life style and work of an individual such as Jerry Cirasulo.


Eugene W. Smith

Smith had made it his vocation to show the world its secrets. Through his attachment to his subjects, he has been able to create series of photo essays of several crises and events. This photograph which is very similar to the photograph by Alon Reininger describes the event that had occurred in Japan during the late 1970s of mercury poisoning. When i see both photographs and understand the story told through the series of photos, I feel as if Eugene W. Smith has left behind an example that made a difference for Alon Reininger, in order to capture his own work.


1983, Stormi Lee Greener, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award

This 1983 photograph tells the story of a 106 year old woman named Hattie Vaughn. The series of photographs tells us a story of how her life has been secluded to her own nursing room where she only receives visits from nursing aids. She tells the photographer "I'm praying every day to go but He does not take me". This photograph shows a deep connection between both sbject and photographer. The time spent with the subject has created such a bond that the photographer has undoubtedly felt an emotional turmoil. Again, the style portrayed by Stormi Lee Greener is a setting example of the legacy that Eugene W. Smith has left behind for the modern world of photojournalism.


Eugene W. Smith

Smith also portraits the life of an individual. Nurse Midwife describes the life of an individual black lady as a nurse and how she has impacted society. The story tells how a black woman working in an impoverished community is doing a remarkable job under a remarkable situation. Both Eugene W. Smith and Stormi Lee Greener have used the style of Photo Essay to establish a deep connection with their subjects in order for the world to see and understand that connection through the photographs.

Eugene W. Smith has left a legacy for the world to adhere. Both styles of casualties of war and photo essay has received world wide attention from past to present. The one thing photographers have learned from Eugene W. Smith is that in order to show the world the real emotions felt by the subject is through understanding with the heart as the camera will follow.

Portraits of yesterday and today

Portraits of the olden days and portraits today varies in many ways. One of the most influencing factors of photography in the early days was technology itself. There were two types of methods that were used for different reasons. The first method was used primarily for studio typed portraits while the other was used for outdoor photography. People who were wealthy enough to have their pohotos taken were able to have a portrait of themselves taken. Though through the standardization process of photo-taking had decreased, many other common people were able to have their portraits taken.

Photos and portraits today are much more affordable and common among the public than they were in the past. Technology has also greatly influenced photography today as well. With the evolution of photography through digital cameras, people have the option to have their own portraits taken or to have it professionally done. Though the cost of having your portrait professionally done is still expensive. Just like portraits in the past, the prices will vary depending on the photographer's equipment, assistant, and expertise.

One major influencing difference between the photographers of the past and today is the technology available. In the past, technology only granted negatives, calotypes, and Le Gray methods. Because of this, the only way to physically alternate a photo was to have different photos taken and to mount onto one photograph to retouch the photo. Today, we have computerized software at our hands that gives us the ability to retouch photos digitally. This major influence gives us the ability to recreate a photo through the pictures we've taken and to enhance much more such as the tone, clarity, colour, etc. without having to take negatives.

Portraits of the past are very much different from the portraits of today. For example, photos taken in the past were not necessarily “beautifully” done. Portraits of the past were pretty much a picture taken of the subject without any special requirements or retouching of the subject. Here is a 1900 portrait of Winston Churchill. He was widely famous and regarded as one of the great wartime leaders.



In fact, portraits taken today must be eye appealing to the viewer. The subject must be retouched to be beautiful and must be surrounded by beauty in order to capture the audience's positive attention. Here is a picture of a GQ magazine cover. The photograph on the front is a portrait oh Brad Pitt. We can tell the difference of both portraits of Winston Churchill and Brad Pitt. Pitt is made to look stunning and even has a tattoo of a gun right below his eye in order to capture the audience's interest even more. If the same style of portrait of Winston Churchill was taken of Brad Pitt, we could be sure that it would not reach the cover of GQ magazine.

Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson versus Smith and Salgado

"Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph." - Andre Kertesz (1894 -1985)

Born on July 2, 1894 in Budapest, Hungary, Andre Kertesz was one of the most important figures in the coming age of photojournalism and the art of photography. He started working at Budapest Stock Exchange to provide enough resources to purchase his first camera. In 1914, Andre was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army in which he brought his camera. This was the beginning of his work being taken as a serious artist. Andre's photographs were mainly focused on the lives of soldiers outside the fighting unlike others.


Self portrait of Andre Kertesz in Poland.

Andre's ability to cast attention on seemingly unimportant objects has given him even more praise for his genius ability. His style to catch moments of joy and contemplation in his subtle images were a revolutionary use of the newly invented hand-held camera.


Soldier Writing taken by Andre Kertesz

In 1925, Andre had left for Paris, which was considered the center of the art in the world, to begin his life as a freelance photographer. He found Paris to be a welcoming and artistically inspiring place. Throughout the 1930s, Andre studied the people and their inhabitation of the streets and the play of light and shadows which gave him much attention through his photos. He was always able to create strong lines and geometric shapes. People were often used as an element in his composition, or as a focal points to create tension. His photos reflected a sense of amusement through the photos of the streets and the world around him. For the most part, great empathy was felt in his subjects through his photos.


Eiffel Tower, Paris Taken by Andre Kertesz

Andre Kertesz created distortions within his nude photos. This peaked his fascination with questioning realities, including the human form.

A series of photos called "Distortions" were taken by Andre Kertesz, revealing his fascination with the human body and its accepted reality form.

By 1936, Andre Kertesz had moved to New York due to the death of his mother and a contract to Keyston Agency , which was eventually cancelled a year later. Moving back to Paris was impossible due to war and he was treated as an enemy by the government. Andre had lost all supportive artistic community in which he had lost recognition for his gifts for nearly twenty years. It wasn't until 1964 where Andre's career was reawakened. Early European artists were being recognized for their work which had advanced art photography in America. He was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government in 1983 and was able to have one-man shows in Paris, Tokyo, London, Stockholm, Budapest, and Helsinki. Shortly a year after his Legion of Honor award, Andre Kertesz had passed away in his New York home.

Andre Kertesz has given a profound effect to the hand-held camera. His photos of common people, places and events expresses a universality of human experience and redefined concepts of beauty.


Kertesz: Landing pigeon, New York City



"To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It's a way of life." - Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908 - 2004)

Henri Cartier-Bresson was born on August 22, 1908 in Chanteloup, France. His work had helped photojournalism be established as an art. Through his images can be best described as capturing the climatic instant whether it being an emotion interaction or peak expression. The Decisive Moment is best known to be his central idea to his work being the very moment his subject reveals the significance of the event through the most telling of forms.

Henri Cartier Bresson, Rue Mouffetard, Paris - a young boy cradles two large wine bottles with an expression of pleasure.

The use of his 35-mm Leica was relevant to his belief in his work. Cartier practiced unobtrusiveness in order to capture unposed photographs. By doing so, he was able to take natural, revealing images of his respected subjects. Cartier even covered his camera in black tape so much to remain invisible to his surroundings and to remain silent.


Alicante taken in Spain by Henri Cartier-Bresson

Cartier extensively travelled throughout Eastern Europe visiting Germany, Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. In 1933 he then set off to Provence, Italy and Spain. During his travels, Cartier expressed a desire to move slowly, to live on proper terms in each country, to take his time, so that he can be totally immersed in the environment. In 1934, he left Europe for Mexico where he was based in one of the most degrading parts of the capital, near the Candelaria de los Patos and the Calle Chimalpopoca, a zone reserved for prostitution and poverty. The majority of his work was done in this neighbourhood.

A great majority of Henri Cartier-Bresson's work in Mexico was done in a degrading zone near the capital.

Henri Cartier-Bresson had almost stopped taking pictures at one point. In 1934, he had left Mexico for America where he would stay in New York. He found a passion for films and learned motion pictures photography. Cartier was involved in the Spanish Civil War and shot a documentary film called "La Victoire de la vie" about a Republican hospital. After the Spanish Civil War, in 1940, Henri Cartier-Bresson joined the army in Paris when World War II broke out. He was captured by Germans and was forced into a labour camp. He managed to escape to France and later joined a photographic unit of the French Resistance that recorded German occupation.

Photograph of Henri Matisse taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson during his time with the French Resistance

In 1945, Cartier was once again a freelance photographer. During this time, he became the co-founder of Magnum Photos, the first photo agency that provided photographs by top photographers working around the world which soon became an influential force in photojournalism. In 1952, Cartier prepared a book which is known as "The Decisive Moment". This book is arguably the most important photo book of the 20th century, to the great interest and contribution of photojournalism and to the history of photography. In the book, Cartier writes "I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situations that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes"

Henry Cartier-Bresson has been around the world to India, Burma, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Cuba, Mexico, Canada, Japan and the former USSR, to name the least. During his travels, his faithful camera, also known as his sketchpad, has accompanied him throughout. His recorded images and works have been compounded into his amazing photo book "The Decisive Moment" and archives at Magnum has inspired the world of photography to capture life in single moment.


"There was a plank fence around some repairs behind the Gare Saint Lazre train station. I happened to be peeking through a gap in the fence with my camera at the moment the man jumped." - Henri Cartier-Bresson



"I've never made any picture, good or bad, without paying for it in emotional turmoil." - W. Eugene Smith (1918 - 1978)

William Eugene Smith was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1918. His life of photography had started at the age of thirteen, through inspiration from his mother. In 1936, at the age of 18, he entered Notre Dame University where his work was so impressive that a special photographic scholarship was created for him. By twenty-one, he had already published in dozens of magazines. During his work with Life Magazines, he described it as "overconscious of technique and artificial light, mainly multiple flash" and left his post for life of free lance photography.


Photographing the initial landings of Iwo Jima during World War II taken by W. Eugene Smith

What was best known for this legendary photojournalist was his dedication to his mission as a photographer. This was shown through his most famous works and first breakthrough, World War II. He received an assignment to cover the war in the pacific. He threw himself into the action, taking photos on land, sea, and in the air, in hopes to get into the heart of the war. During the time, he was involved in 26 combat missions and 13 invasions. On D-Day, he hitch hiked twelve hundred miles to Guam from Okinawa in order to get his pictures delivered to Life as fast as possible. He then returned to the invasion on the first plane to arrive.


A picture of a wounded soldier was taken in Okinawa by W. Eugene Smith in 1945

On May 23, 1945, Smith's luck had ran out, suffering a serious injury from a Japanese shell fragment, while taking a photo of a soldier on the front line. The missile hit him in the head, cutting both cheeks, injuring his tongue and knocking out some of his teeth. His comment at the hospital was "I forgot to duck but I got a wonderful shot of those who did... my policy of standing up when the others are down finally caught up with me."


US Marine rifleman taking aim near a body of a dead Japanese soldier taken by W. Eugene Smith

Because of his war wounds, Smith was hospitalized for two years and had gone through plastic surgery. Through these years, it was doubtful if he could take another picture. It was then, he had taken a walk with his two children, and even though it was painful to operate a camera, Smith had taken one of the most famous photographs of all time: "The Walk to Paradise Garden". It was to be one of the most enduring and best-loved photographs.


"The Walk to Paradise Garden" - W. Eugene Smith

After the war, Smith had taken a very different approach of photography where he would spend weeks in immersing himself in the lives of his subjects. This approach reflected his desire to reveal the true essence of his subjects. One of his photo essays with Life, “Nurse Midwife” is a story about Maude Callen. He wanted to show people that a black woman working in an impoverished community in the rural South that a remarkable woman is doing a remarkable job in an impossible situation of racism. His method of getting close to this subjects and photographing them from a more intimate proved successful. Through his work, there was a huge response from both his editors at Life magazine and the public.


"Nurse Midwife" a story of a black woman through an impossible situation taken by W. Eugene Smith

In the late fifties, Smith left his family and moved to a loft in New York City to devote himself to his artistic life and his work. He spent most of his time in his loft, taking pictures from the window. He photographed many artists and musicians who shared his lifestyle and life in the streets. In 1970, he began to work on what would be his final project. Working with his second wife, he spend several years in Japan collaborating on a book about victims of industrial pollution in Minimata.

Smith left behind a legacy of powerful photographs in the history of photography and journalism. His approach to immerse himself with the lives of his subject has became what is now a new form of photojournalism known as photo essay.


Minamata, Japan - W. Eugene Smith 1972



"I try with my pictures to raise a question, to provoke a debate, so that we can discuss problems together and come up with solutions." - Sebastiao Salgado (1944)

Educated as an economist, Sebastiao Salgado started his photography career in 1973. He is one of the most respected photojournalists working today. Appointed a UNICEF Special Representative, he has dedicated himself into taking the world's deprived and dispossessed into ten books and many exhibitions that has won him many awards in Europe and in America.


Feet, Brazil, 1983 - Sebastiao Selgado

His first book, Other Americas, about the poor in Latin America, was published in 1986. Also published in 1986 was his book Sahel: Man in Distress, the result of a 15 month long collaboration with Medecins San Frontières covering the drought in northern Africa.

Other Americas by Sebastiao Salgado

From 1986 to 1992, he covered manual labour world-wide, resulting, Workers, documented in a book and exhibition. It was monumental for him which confirmed his reputation as a photo documentarian.

Dispute between Serra Gold Mine Workers and Military Police, Brazil, 1986, Sebastiao Selgado

From 1993 to 1999, his attention turned to the global phenomenon of mass displacement of people, which resulted in Migrations and The Children. These internationally acclaimed books were published in 2000. "More than ever, I feel that the human race is one. There are differences of colour, language, culture and opportunities, but people's feelings and reactions are alike. People flee wars to escape death, they migrate to improve their fortunes, they build new lives in foreign lands, they adapt to extreme hardship…." This was the introduction that was written in the book Migrations by Sebastiao.

There are Over 100 Million Migrants Today - Sebastiao Selgado

Mr. Salgado exhibited 90 portraits of displaced children taken from his booked The Children exhibited at UN headquarters in New York. This shows that 30 million people throughout the world, mostly women and children, are without a permanent home.

Babies Playing on a Roof on top of a FEBEM Center taken by Sebastiao Selgado

Sebastiao Salgado's respect for his subjects and his determination has created an imagery that testifies to the fundamental dignity of all humanity. Protesting the violation by war, poverty and other injustices is shown through his works and photographs among his books and exhibitions. Sebastiao Selgado is certainly a leading icon that continues to show the world the imbalances of our world.

The Differences

Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson believed that capturing the moment regardless of time and environment is the best way of depicting the photo. An example of such capturing the moment would be Kertesz’s “Landing pigeon” picture in New York City (1990). Kertesz commented that it took “maybe 30 years for that instant”. The need to be invisible is also prevalent in both of Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson work. Cartier-Bresson would describe the action of tip-toe picture, velvet hands, and hawk’s eyes. Because of such stealth state both Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson believed that the proper expression would be present if there were no disruptions in the photo – capturing the real moment of the action. Even though both these men had at one point of their career worked for a magazine company, they believed that putting words into their photographs was not necessary, as they believed that it should be up to the audience to decide the meaning of their works.

On the other side, Smith and Salgado believed that being involved in the photograph is the best way of capturing expression. Salgado will often enter the circle and interact with his subjects in order to get closer and squeeze more expressions from the subject. The photo’s that Smith and Salgado take, it makes the subject feel as though that the one taking the photo is so close to them, they feel that the photographers are in the photos. A great example of that is Smith’s picture of the “Spanish Wake” whereby he captured a family that was all mourning the deceased. Smith’s view of “I give myself to the story” is prevalent in most of the photo’s that he took. Compared to Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson, Smith and Salgado were not shy of post production work in the dark room. Often changing lighting in order to guide the audience on how Smith and Salgado wanted to convey their photos. Sebastiao Salgado was known also to spend time to get to know with his subjects before taking photos of them. Most of his works are those the working class. He believed that interactions with the people in his photographs would convey a better message of what his subjects are going through.

The Similarities

The works of Andre Kertesz, Henri Cartier-Benson, Eugene Smith, and Sebastiao Salgado are all considered as pioneers or photojournalism. Their works inspired numbers of photographers to do photojournalism. The similarities between these photographers are few since they believed in different ways to tell their stories through their photographs. One similarity is their use of black and white film. I personally feel as though black and white can set a certain mood, especially in pictures involving negative situations. Another similarity they had was their passion to want to tell their journalism through their photographs. They all wanted the audience to truly see what was going on, even though they had different ideas on how this should be done.

The Better Approach

In determining who has a better photojournalistic approach, it could be argued that Andre Kartesz and Henri Cartier-Benson had the preferable compared to Eugene Smith and Sebastiao Salgado. Photojournalism, has it s roots on journalism, which tends to present facts without any alteration or bias from those presenting it. In the case of Eugene Smith and Seabastiao Salgado, they spend time with the subjects in their photos getting to know them. This might lead them to have a bias towards their final works. They might have the tendency to show their works from their subjects perspective, not in a neutral one as a journalist should have it. Also in Eugene Smith’s case, he spends more time in editing his works. This dilutes the level of reality in the works he produces.

References:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/andre-kertesz/about-andre-kertesz/645/
http://www.corkingallery.com/?q=node/172
http://www.biography.com/articles/Henri-Cartier-Bresson-9240139?part=0
http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2004/08/cartier-bressons_impact_on_journalism.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/w-eugene-smith/about-w-eugene-smith/707/
http://www.unicef.org/salgado/bio.htm

Press Photography vs Art Photography

Press Photography: "...must be invisible when taking photos"


Guang Niu, China
http://www.worldpressphoto.org/index.php?option=com_photogallery&task=view&id=2040&Itemid=292&bandwidth=high

Press photography is a story described within a single photo, yet without a single word spoken or read. Pictures within press photography is a moment in time that tells us exactly what is happening. It is a story, a news, a lifestyle that we can read just by glancing. Press photography fills in the voids and questions that we ask ourselves when we hear or read something in the news such as “Who was the victim?” or “What happened to the victim?”. Photojournalists brings world news to our attention through photographs that have been captured within the moment. Through these photographers' passion, we are able to be at the exact time and place the news had occurred. It is so important that these photographers go unnoticed so as to not disturb the scene so that we, as viewers, will see the exact moment captured in life. “In whatever picture-story we try to do, we are bound to arrive as intruders. It’s essential, therefore, to approach the subject on tiptoe-even if the subject is still-life. A velvet hand, a hawk’s eye – these we should all have…Unless a photographer observes such conditions as these, he may become an intolerably aggressive character” (Cartier-Bresson, 1952).


Péter Lakatos, Hungary
http://www.worldpressphoto.org/index.php?option=com_photogallery&task=view&id=2030&Itemid=292&bandwidth=high

To alter Press photography is to tell a lie. It is unethical to alter a press photograph unless it was to enhance the image. To remove and object or person or to change it would be like stating that the current President of America is George Bush, not Obama in world news. The ethics of photojournalism remains the same approach towards manipulations of the photo. To improve the quality of the photograph is acceptable but to change the context/fact on the photograph is to go against all ethics. Even if the photographer had missed the perfect shot or had forced the photo to become what he had hoped it to be, it would be going against what photojournalism is truly about. "Life is once; forever" - Henri Cartier Bresson, "The Decisive Moment".

Art Photography: “From today painting is dead”


Nina Pak
http://www.ninapak.com/

The question we ask ourselves with photography is whether it is an art or it is to capture reality. Art photography is the beauty expressed within ourselves through the manipulations and work that we do on captured photos. As expressed by Charles Caffin, there are two ways we may take when taking photographs. One is to capture reality and the other is to express beauty. “There are two distinct roads in photography - the utilitarian and the aesthetic: the goal of the one being a record of facts, and the other an expression of beauty.” - Charles Caffin

Pictorialism was a photographic movement which started at around 1885. It describes the need for art photographs to emulate the painting and etching of the time. Pictorialism is the personal artistic expression in which artists take their photographs and manipulate them through the tone, sharpness, filters and lens coatings. This leading movement called Pictorialism was lead by Alfriend Stieglitz in promotion of photography as art. In a sense, photographers who use photography as an art are painters, using their cameras as the paintbrush.


Erik Johansson
http://www.fubiz.net/2009/06/12/erik-johansson/

The similarities of press photography and art photography is presented through the work of the artist. Press photography tells the news and events that occurs around the world and is expressed through a single shot. Art photography tells the art expression and the beauty that is expressed through the artist's mind and thoughts of his work and his photograph. The difference between both styles of photography is that manipulation in press photography is unethical while manipulation through art photography is expressed as art itself. While both will bring us into perspective, they will also leave us curious and wondering about the work.

Photo Manipulation: Gecko Heaven

Manipulation

Original


The photograph that I manipulated was an old picture that I took last year. The reason why I had decided to manipulate this photograph is because I wanted to manipulate something that used to be a part of me but is now gone. I call this piece “Gecko Heaven” because my loveable gecko that I once owned had passed away. When I look back at this picture, I think about I've grown so attached to her. When I first got her, she was scared and was not accustomed to human interaction. Eventually, she would be comfortable enough to let me touch her when it was feeding time. Then she let me hold her in my hands. When she first let me hold her in my hands, I took the opportunity of taking a picture on my Nikon D40 on timer. When I look back at this photo, I see the very first pet I ever had.

The reason why I manipulated this photograph this way is because I wanted to present a before and after manipulation. The before picture shows a colourful gecko, so full of life and easy to hold. The after picture, my manipulation, shows a colourless almost sepia toned gecko. I had manipulated it this way to show that she is within heaven. The picture has a lighter contrast and higher exposure as to show that she is in God's hands now, in Gecko Heaven. To show this effect more, I lessened the saturation to dull the colours a bit to show almost a lifeless form of a lizard. By lessening the saturation, I was also able to take away the depth of colour within her eyes almost to show no signs of life. I had also sharpened the image to bring out the texture of the hands. The reason for this is to show that the hands are in great detail in caring for the gecko. I was also lucky that I was wearing a white shirt so that I was able to control the exposure more easily to bring out a lighter balance.

I first had my gecko in grade 11 high school for a biology experiment. My project was to take care of an animal and observe her habitat, eating habits and way of living. Unfortunately my gecko died from a fire that burned down my old house. It was during the night that my brother had left the stove on, forgetting about his cooking. When he went to sleep, the smoke alarm went off and we all rushed outside the house as the roof caught on fire. When the firefighters came, they were able to put out the fire but my room, which was closest to the kitchen, was already caught on fire before they were able to put it out. It was then and there my gecko had laid, dehydrated and lifeless in her tank. The sight of her tank melted made my heart drop. Rest In Peace Mewmew. You will be greatly missed.

PHOTO MANIPULATION: BBOY ARMS

Manipulation

Original


I recently took a vacation to the Dominican Republic at Puerto Plata and one of the things they love to do most there is dance. I was at a night club and while I was there, I had the opportunity to see a dance competition. One of the competitors was a bboy and boy was he amazing. He was moving so fast in so many ways, it was as if he had an extra arm somewhere. When I took a photo of this I thought I could somehow grow an arm on him to show what kind of talent he has. In the end he told me his name was Bboy Arms. This is the reason for my manipulation

Photography Changes What and How Much We Remember

Photography has given us the ability to remember where we have been, what we saw and what we did. This is especially true for myself as I forget easily. Portraits of new and old for me gives me a time line. Pictures of when I was young doesn't just remind me of how I looked but also what I did at that time, who I saw, where I was. The special thing about photography is that no matter where we are and when, we will always look back at a photo, no matter how old, and remember that very moment. The same could be said for everyone. Photography has been so significant in our time and past times as well. My dad would always like to look back at his photo albums and remember moments of his life dating back years ago.

When something significant and amazing happens in our life, nothing makes it more perfect than remembering it for the rest of your life. Pictures do just that. For me, when I was given the opportunity to work at a hotel to cater for a Bar Mitzvah, it meant a lot to me. Seeing this picture over and over again has reminds me of what we served, who was there and just how chaotic it got.



Let's admit it, if it weren't for pictures, we'd even forget what we looked like when we were young. We obviously can't remember our facial features from 10-20 years ago. Photography plays a significant role in our lives in helping us remember who we are. The best part is that, as we get older we advance. As we get older, photography technology advances with us as well.



And with that I say no matter where you go with a camera, you'll never forget where you've went in life.

Shooting The Truth: The Truth About Me.

Hi! My name is Austin Ng Lee. Before I even got the chance to start this blog, my mind was wondering as to how I can show who I am with just one photograph. For starters, I am a food lover. I love eating and I love cooking. Food inspires me to be creative. I am currently taking Culinary Management at George Brown and I'm in my last semester of my program. The reason I took this online course is because photography captures our interests and portraits the truth. In the media, words alone cannot describe the situation. Words alone can in fact, be very manipulative. As a previous photography and journalism high school student, I've had the opportunity to learn and understand the truth behind the media and the truth photography can offer. And with that, I leave you a photograph that I've been wondering what can describe me.