Have you ever considered who or what influences you? I hadn’t really considered who influenced by photography until I watched a lecture given by John Szarkowski (the former director of photography at MoMA) on Eugene Atget (available on Amazon Prime!). Szarkowski started comparing putting photos by Atget and Evans side by side to demonstrate the influence Atget had on Evans’ work.
There was one pair that struck me – they seemed familiar to me, but I hadn’t seen either of them before. But then I realized I had taken a similar picture!
The first two pictures below are pictures that Szarkowsi had paired together. The third is one I took (obviously) when I first moved into my condo. I don’t recall what caused me take the picture at the time but I have a series of photographs of my bed that I took that day.
Jean AtgetWalker EvansYours Truly
I’m definitely no Eugene Atget or Walker Evans, but it’s exciting to know that I’m apparently learning something from them.
P.S. I promise I make my bed on the mornings that cats aren’t in it.
A few weeks ago, on bitterly cold Sunday, Randy and I met for brunch and then ventured downtown to view the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago. I have a teeny tiny confession to make. I’m not a fan of Andy Warhol. I agreed to go because there was a Dorothea Lange exhibit that I wanted to see.
After several hours roaming the museum and one alarm later (we’re not sure which one of us set it off – I say it was him, he says it was me), we were winding our way through the maze of exhibit halls looking for the exit when I happened to look out a window and see some train tracks. It was arresting to be walking through halls filled with beautiful art and then looking out to see an ugly, dirty snarl of train tracks and cables. I took a picture.
After roaming the museum for several hours, we decided to meet a friend for pizza and beer before heading home for the day. Since the pizza place was a short distance away, we decided to brave the frigid weather and walk. As we turned left out of the museum and walked across the bridge, I again saw the train tracks I had taken a picture of earlier from the museum. They looked even more unsightly from this side. I took another picture.
A few days later I was sitting in my office watching a one of my online photography classes during my lunch break. The lesson covered color photography vs. black and white photography. I immediately thought of these photos. Curious and eager to put my lesson into action, I made these photos in black and white.
I don’t like, what I’ve dubbed the A-Side photo (above) in black and white as much as I do in color. I really like the color quality in the original photo. It feels retro to me, as if it were taken in the 70’s or 80’s. The blue of the sky against the white buildings highlights their shapes. Without that color, the photo feels flat and boring.
In contrast, I think the B-Side photo (below) is more striking in black and white. The geometric shapes of the tracks and buildings standout more in black and white.
What do you think? Do you prefer color or black and white?
