William Klein and Elliott Erwitt

William Klein

      After looking at William Klein's images, my mind kept going back to Henri Cartier Bresson and his storytelling type of photography. Each image that I see tells a detailed story, not necessarily clear, but still effective.  The image that I chose to talk about (right) really struck me the second that I saw it.  I opened a window with numerous Klein photographs and this image jumped out at me like....well....like  a person pointing a gun at me!  Obviously this photograph is showing anger and possibly rage, but at the same time, the calm face on the right begs the question "What else is going on in this image?".  The composition is very nicely put together, and the expressions in the image are very bold.  Overall, Klein did a great job of conveying a message simply with one photograph.





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Elliott Erwitt

Elliot Erwitt's family emigrated to the United States from France when he was only 10 years old.  By viewing his work, you can see that many of his photographs are taken in France and rightfully so, because this is the place where he grew up.  Some of best examples that I saw included many leading lines and  compositional genius.  Erwitt amazes me because he was able to photograph many different themes and ways of life.  Many photographers stick with one subject matter or one mood, but Erwitt on the other hand chose to explore many emotions and different situations in his photographs, and I admire this.  The photograph that I chose (left) was my favorite for a few reasons.  First of all, the leading lines of the road and trees lead the eye right back to the main subjects on the bike in the middle of the frame.  This photograph has special significance to me because as a child I grew up riding a two person bike with my father, and this brought back memories of those simple, relaxed rides along the open back-roads of Oklahoma.  The connection between the two subjects, and the child to the photographer never cease to capture our attention in this photo, and the composition adds the visual aspect that this photograph needs to be successful. 

What the class liked. What I like.

1. Above is the image that the class found most interesting.  The main points that were made is that this image is visually dramatic, and that the silhouette adds emphasis to the image.  The negative aspects that were mentioned is that the location is somewhat hard to determine, and does this image have a universal appeal?  If I were to re-shoot this assignment,  I would have probably found a way to shoot this image with a football player in full uniform on an actual football field.  This would make it obvious what the location was and why the model was there.  



2. Below is the image that I find most interesting.  A few things about this image really make it stand out to me.  First of all, the environment that I chose for this image was one of a run-down alley, a strong contrast  to the well-dressed model.  Andrea (the model), with her very nicely done hair and fancy dress, stood out quite nicely in this environment and I love to create contrast (not necessarily color contrast, but rather aesthetic contrast) in every image that I shoot.  The model's pose is very nice, and I enjoy the way the small section of the wall she is standing by is decaying and breaking down.  This decay makes you want to read into what exactly is going on in this picture, and to me, gives it a universal appeal.

A little bit about Collier Harrison Whitefield

Collier grew up a military brat.
Collier was homeschooled until his Junior year of high school.
Collier has people issues, probably because of being homeschooled until his Junior year.
Collier is a believer in Jesus Christ and the sacrifice of His life for us.
Collier wishes he would share his beliefs more often.
Collier used to be a nerd, maybe he still is....
Collier wore glasses, and had braces at the same time all the girls were shorter than him.
Collier is extremely strong-willed.
Collier has a crazy amount of self-discipline.
Collier is one of the world's greatest procrastinators.
Collier took forever to decide he wanted to be a photographer.
Collier doesn't enjoy taking pictures of people.
Collier LOVES taking pictures of buildings.
Collier wishes that he could be everyone's best friend, and sometimes he tries.
Collier is perceived as a very nice guy.
Collier really is a nice guy....deep down inside!
Collier isn't looking for a girlfriend, and it's difficult.
Collier worked at Chick-fil-A for 5 years, and never got tired of the food.
Collier has a twin named Troy, but not really.
Collier has another twin named Collin, but again, not really.
Collier finds himself more and more every day.
Collier wishes that he had the money to buy better camera equipment.
Collier will probably put this on his Facebook.
Collier has 3 siblings whose names all start with the letter C.  (and a dog)
Collier loves music.
Collier loves kids.
Collier loves playing music for kids.
Collier loves the B.I.B.L.E.
Collier loves life, but sometimes he forgets this.
Collier hopes you read this, he read it many times.