Nikki Sixx
Sabi Sabi South Africa - Nikki Sixx
Nikki Sixx
Nikki Sixx
Nikki Sixx
Cambodia. - Nikki Sixx
Inside Angkor Wat… - Nikki Sixx
Photography is one of few things
that can stand the test of time. Even
with the advancements in cameras many photographs taken 100 years ago have more
impact than photographs taken today with the best camera money can buy. Dorothea Lange is one of these
photographers. Even though her most
famous photos came from the Second World War her photographs have stood the
test of time. A simple Google search for
famous photographers will show sites with lists of the top photographers. In the majority of these lists Dorothea Lange
is in the top 5-7. Dorothea believed in
creating happiness out of sadness and that the camera was a powerful tool. She also had plenty of patience and roamed
until the right shot showed up. The
images above are similar to that style Dorothea used.
Dorothea
Lange took photographs which captured a moment in time. “Photography takes an instant out of time
altering life by holding it still” was a famous quote from her which is
represented in her work. This idea means
taking a moment in time and making it immortal.
All of her subjects showed varying emotions and looked natural; like the
people never knew she was there. A good
way she shows this is with the subjects not looking at the camera. Her most
famous photograph “Migrant Mother” depicts these ideas and techniques very
well.
Dorothea
Lange travelled to many places. While
travelling she would document the rural hardships people endured. She took many photographs during this
time. Her most notable ones were during
the great depression and inside the Japanese-American internment camps after
the Pearl Harbour incident. She tried to
take photographs of the people who were supposed to be at some of the lowest times
of their lives. From her images no one
would be able to tell this. Her main
belief was to make her photographs uplifting even if the subjects were not.
Unlike the
photo-journalists of today Dorothea was more humble. She would not get in people’s faces or ask
them to pose for her. She was considered
a very quiet and stealthy photographer.
She would wander around until she saw something she liked. Once her camera was out if she noticed the subjects
objected in any way she would not take the picture and put the camera
away. Many times those who had objected
would eventually open up as everyone got used to her.
Dorothea
thought of her camera as a powerful tool. “I believe the camera is a powerful
tool for communication and…a valuable tool for social research which has not
been developed to its capacity.” Is something she wrote in her application for
a Guggenheim Fellowship. She left her
portrait studio so that she could photograph economic disasters. She felt using her camera to show the mass
audiences what was going on in the world was more important than the ordinary
photography she was previously doing.
Dorothea Lange was a photo journalist who believed that her camera was a tool. She believed that informing the world about the economic disasters through her photography was more important than her old work as a portrait photographer. She wanted to express everything that was going on but she was never willing to take a picture of someone who objected. She had a firm belief that photography takes a moment time and keeps it still while altering life.
References
http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0812/beyond-icons-and-the-art-market-dorothea-lange-as-documentary-photographer.html
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fachap03.html
http://www.thefirst10000.com/2012/05/beyond-photography-robert-hughes-meet-dorothea-lange/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/dec/06/dorothea-lange-biography-review
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