Shoot 2 Artist Research - Alfred Stieglitz
Why am I taking inspiration from him for my shoot 2? In my short 2 I wanted to take photo's of the sky and I came across Alfreds work randomly while looking for artists. I saw his beautiful photos of the sky and instantly wanted to look deeper into who he is and what his work is about. So that's what I plan to do Here!
Alfred is a famous artist from New Jersey, America who originally went to school in Germany to become an engineer! In around 1890 however Alfred decided it isn't what he wanted to pursue and journeyed to New York in an attempt to prove to everyone that photography is a financially sustainable job and that it is capable of artistic expression like what of sculptors or paintings. How did he do this? Like a lot of other photographers Alfred wanted there to be meaning to his work. He didn't just want his work to be a photo but something that tells a story and he wanted to make it so you are able to see the emotion in his work.
Alfred would often publish work by other photographers who shared his interest in photography and his views. He did this to show off what other people are producing and how they show off expression in their work. It could be a completely different emotion they are trying to portray but as long as they shared his ideology he didn't mind!
He would often produce a print called a 'Platinum Print'. What is this? A platinum print (also known as Platinotypes) is a type of print which uses platinum as the main ingredient for black and white/monochrome printing. To understand more on what platinum prints are I watched Ian Worths "How I make Platinum Palladium Photo Prints" YouTube video. In the video he explains that these prints can last over 1000 years due to their solid foundation which is why people like doing this method!
Looking into this image I'd first like to look at the sky itself and not the cloud. I really like the gradient which the monochrome creates in the sky. At the top of the image the sky starts off quite dark but as it gets to the bottom right corner it starts to get considerably lighter. Why is this? The reason its lighter on that side could be because its closer to the sun and due to the easy visibility of the clouds in the black and white image I'm going to assume that it was day when this was Taken.
Next, the clouds! The clouds in this image look like they are swirling which is beautiful. The reason they are swirling is most likely because of the wind pushing them this way, this could suggest that while the sun is out there is quite a lot of wind. I like how the larger cloud is situated in the middle of the image and it looks like the cloud starts at the bottom and ends at the top because of the smoother finish nearing the tip. At the bottom the clouds look quite harsh because of the thick lines. I feel as though these clouds are manmade. Most manmade clouds have stripes throughout and this cloud has quite a lot.
Finally I'd like to look into the perspective of this image. On the far right we can see a small portion of what looks to be a tree, it looks like we (the viewer) are under the tree. Would this suggest that the photographer took this photo while lying down to make the viewer feel as though they are looking up at the clouds?
Finally I'd like to look at this image! Starting off with the sky, not including the clouds, much like the sky In the last image there is an obvious gradient of where it gets lighter but this time it starts at the bottom right corner (there being the darkest) and ends at the top left (there being the lightest). This could suggest that the sun is situated near the top left. I feel like this photo was taken later in the day because of how dark the sky looks compared to the last image. Another reason for the sky being dim is due to bad weather by since the clouds have no dark patches throughout I'm going to continue to assume that its late in the day
Next, the clouds! Also like the last image the main cloud is in the middle of the photo, showing the viewer straight away exactly what the photo is about. As I said while talking about the sky the clouds don't look to have any dark patches and they are mostly white. Unlike the other image I don't believe these clouds are manmade. They seem spread out and quite smooth.
