Hiroshi Sugimoto

Jacob Cavenee

Art 177-001

Professor Pease

23 February 2016

Hiroshi Sugimoto

            Hiroshi Sugimoto was born in 1948 in Japan. Sugimoto has been photographing since the 1970’s (Fraenkel Gallery). Before leaving Japan, he received his bachelor’s in sociology and politics at St. Paul’s University (Caplan). Sugimoto attended the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles (Caplan). Sugimoto travels back and fourth from Japan to New York City. Sugimoto’s photography style is seascapes, movie theaters, history dioramas, waxworks, and Buddhist sculptures (Gagosian). Sugimoto’s main influence is surrealism and Dada. He likes to mix old century photography with modern day elements.

            Sugimoto’s technique is defined as a nineteenth century style, large formatted camera with a long exposure. He like to “explore the idea of photography as a method for preserving and modeling time” (Artsy.com). Sugimoto’s studio in New York City faces the north. This is important for his technique because all direct sunlight is avoided (The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts). Sugimoto’s long exposure photos are typically 20 to 40 minutes long with the use of a tripod (The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts). To achieve this type of photography with modern day cameras, you would have to set your shutter on bulb and hold down the shutter for up to 20 minutes. For printing, Sugimoto uses his own style of silver based developer (ART21). This creates rich tones for all his photographs with no pure whites but rich black tones, and he prefers to hand-develop his images. (ART21). I think that they way he photographs with the long exposure creating a bright image but then counter acts the pure whites with the silver developer is amazing. After researching his different subjects of his photography, I think his images are brilliant. It’s amazing to see his blend of nineteenth century photography and be able to blend modern textures and architecture with the rich tones from the developing process is so cool to look at. One of my favorite pieces from him is the “Stadium Drive-In, Orange, 1993.” I love how you can see the scenery around the screen, and the few stars. All of his work is so good it’s hard to find a piece that you don’t like. Personally, I am not a big fan of the wax figures. I think that the wax portraits that he takes are definitely different from his other photography, but is another example with his blend of old and new. His style of work really separate’s him from other photographers, but in an abstract way.

Works Citied

Caplan, Marla. "Hiroshi Sugimoto | Japanese Photographer." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.

Gagosian, Larry. "Hiroshi Sugimoto - Gagosian Gallery." Hiroshi Sugimoto - Gagosian Gallery. Gagosian Gallery, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.

"Hiroshi Sugimoto - 62 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy." Hiroshi Sugimoto - 62 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy. Artsy, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016

"Hiroshi Sugimoto | Fraenkel Gallery." Fraenkel Gallery. Bad Feather, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.

"Hiroshi Sugimoto's Photographic Technique | The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts." Hiroshi Sugimoto's Photographic Technique | The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.

"Hiroshi Sugimoto: Tradition | ART21." Hiroshi Sugimoto: Tradition | ART21. ART21, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.

(All photos from Artsy.net and Artnet.com)

Panning

Shutter:1/20 Aperture:6

Shutter:1/60 Aperture:7.6

Shutter:1/50 Aperture:9

Shutter:1/50 Aperture:9

Panning- The rotation in a horizontal plane of a still camera or video camera. This results to a picture motion of someone moving their head back and fourth.

Zombie

 

For my zombie photo my shutter speed was 2 seconds and my aperture was 6. I had some trouble with this photo at first because of how orange the light was in the room. I ended up just using my iPhone flashlight and I think it made the picture more zombie like. It was cool to play around with the facial expressions and when to pause.

Zoom Portrait

Shutter: 1 Aperture:9

For my zoom portrait, I used a 1 second shutter speed with a aperture of 9. My brother really wanted to be in a photo, so I thought it would be a good zoom picture. The key to doing a zoom portrait is to have really good lighting. With my camera I was having a problem with it being to bright outside. So I went inside of our shed with the light on and it worked out a lot better. It took some time to play around with the settings and how I wanted to zoom in or out. I think this photo came out really good.

Lewis Hine Essay

Jacob Cavenee

Art 177-001

Professor Pease

16 February 2016

Lewis Hine

            Lewis Hine was born in Wisconsin in1867. He became a school teacher and a photographer (Getty Museum). Hine as a big supporter of taking pictures for “social reform.” In 1904, Hine had a big photography project he did on Ellis island. He took photographs of immigrants on Ellis island, as well as the tenements and sweatshops where they lived and worked (bio.com). After that project he was hired by the National Child Labor Committee, to take pictures of child labor pictures (bio.com). A lot of people associate Hine as a sociological photographer and photojournalist. Hine began going to different factories to take photos of different children around 1908. Hine would use different disguises to attain access into the factories (Aviles). It became very dangerous for Hine to go and take photos. Photography was still starting up, and many people did not take it very seriously. He is known to be the first person to use photography as a documentary tool (Getty Museum). In 1909, Hine published his child labor pictures for the Nation Child Labor Committee (The History Place). Although, some laws for child labor had been in place, after Hine published his photos the government took it seriously putting a bigger ban on what they could and couldn’t do (The History Place). After his work with the National Child Labor Committee, Hine began to freelance his photography. Another big project that he did was taking construction pictures of the empire state building. Hine took photos of the men working in very high heights to get the project completed (Twistedsifter). In order to get the best photos, Hine would go up in a basket, go up about a thousand feet to take the best angle (Twistedsifter). After that project, he did more freelance work. His last years of life were filled with lots of struggles. He did not receive a lot of photography work, and the government didn’t offer corporate patronage (Getty Museum). Not a lot of people were interested in his photography at the time. Eventually, Hine lost his home and applied for welfare. Hine died in 1940 (Getty museum). After his death, a museum of his work was put in place to honor his death. Although not many people appreciated his photos back then, he is still a very photographer with his work still being sold.

All photos from The History Place

Sources:

Works Citied

Aviles, Luis. "Lewis W. Hine - Biography." Lewis W. Hine - Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.

"Lewis W. Hine." Getty Museum. Getty Museum, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2016

"Lewis Hine Photography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.

"Photos of the Empire State Building Under Construction." TwistedSifter. TwistedSifter, 20 June 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.

"The History Place - Child Labor in America: About Photographer Lewis Hine." The History Place - Child Labor in America: About Photographer Lewis Hine. The History Place, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.

Motion Freeze

Shutter: 1/2000 Aperture: 7.1

Shutter:1/2000 Aperture: 4.5

For the Motion Freeze photos, I had a lot of fun taking. It was cool to mess around with you camera settings to get a perfectly clear motion photo. For my implied motion picture, I had her throw the football in the air. I wanted the implied motion to be as if she was going to catch it when it came back down. To take a implied motion picture with no blurs you need to have a very fast shutter speed. It is really good to take your pictures when its very bright because of how fast the shutter is. Although, it did take a couple tries, I was able to get the shot that I wanted.

Motion Blur

Shutter: 1 second Aperture: F/16 ISO:100

For my first motion blur photo, I wanted to take a picture with a really pretty and focused background while someone is walking/running by. It took a couple tries to fix the aperture to the perfect setting and I'm really happy how it turned out. My sister was very cooperative with being my model.

Shutter: 1/5 Aperture: F/5.6 ISO:100

For the second blur photo, I sped up my shutter speed just a little bit and brightened my aperture. I wanted the stop sign and the beginning of the canal bank to be in focus while the cars were moving in the back. I took a couple photos of the same place and this one was my favorite. I wanted to have more of the blur from the cars and not just the lights from the cars. The sky is amazing to shoot around five o'clock.

Shutter: 2 seconds Aperture: F/4 ISO:100

For the third blur photo, I was in phoenix and I wanted to take a really long shutter with a bright aperture while on the highway. I wish I could have pulled over, but I like how the hood of the car is in focus while everything in the background is bright and blurred. It took me a while to find a slow shutter with a bright aperture and I was finally able to get the shot.