Bizarre Visitors

Yesterday, I uploaded around 136 images from last weekend's Chertsey Town vs Dorking football match. As is often the case, I received a spike in the number of visitors to my photo stream, but I also received dozens of "Favourite" notifications. Had I been discovered by some photo agency, earmarking my images for future attention?

No. Bizarrely, I'd been invaded by a Sock Fetishist. I had a look at his collection of "favourites" on Flickr - expecting to find sports & football images - but instead found numerous pictures of men...in socks.

Weird.

Shorpy

I've just added a link to Shorpy - a historic photographic archive chronicling American life from the 1850's to the 1950's. It's an amazing blog, well worthy of the widespread recognition it receives. The images are largely taken from the Library of Congress archives and cover an extensive range of topics. They also sell prints of the images.

The motto of Shorpy is "Always Something Interesting" - a conclusion I wholeheartedly agree with.

AS11-40-5903

The title is the innocuous official NASA catalogue reference for this image on the left, one of my favourite photos of all time.

It is so iconic, showing Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, on the moon, that it has almost become a cliche. Yet, look at it again with fresh eyes, and admire it from a photographic perspective. It is simply astonishing. The strong light from the sun, the reflection of Armstrong in the visor taking the photo, the LEM nearby, the footprints in the dust, the pure blackness of space around - it all adds up to one of the most powerful images in human history.

I wholly encourage you to look at the large version on the NASA website, even if you've seen it all before:

http://history.nasa.gov/ap11ann/kippsphotos/5903.jpg

Plantation Owner and Field Hands

As I've posted before, I'm quite a fan of American photography - particularly that from the years of the Great Depression. The image below is another one of my favourites, speaking volumes about power, wealth and race relations in pre-war America.

"Plantation Owner and his Field Hands near Clarksdale, Mississipi"

- Dorothea Lange (1936)

The whole image is dominated by the white plantation owner, confidently stood with his hand on his knee, leaning against one of the most potent symbols of American industry - a motorcar. To own such a car was a sure sign of wealth. By contrast, his black field hands are sat, submissively, in raggy clothes waiting for their next orders. Despite the plantation owner being physically the same height (though not width) as the workers, he appears to have a stature of largesse and grandeur. The workers appear thin and malnourished, while the plantation owner is fat and well clothed. He appears like a Roman Emperor - all-conquering and powerful within his own domain.

Bob Landry - Part 3

This week's Bob Landry round-up finishes with two contrasting photos, both taken in the same year, showcasing Landry's outstanding photojournalistic prowess and his effortless eye for classic Hollywood glamour. I won't add any of my own comments...suffice it to say that I will let the images speak for themselves.

French Patriots and a German Collaborator -Bob Landry (1945)

Fred Astaire - Bob Landry (1945)

Bob Landry - Part 2

Rita Hayworth - Bob Landry (1941)

As well as war photography, Bob Landry perhaps rose to fame with this iconic shot of American actress Rita Hayworth. It rapidly became one of the most popular pin-up shots of the war, adorning GI's lockers all over the world. It was considered racy and provocative in 1941 but is, of course, tame by modern standards. In technical terms, it isn't even a particularly good shot - Hayworth's face is a tad over-exposed and she is casting a fairly strong shadow - but this wasn't a set-up studio shot. Landry managed to capture Hayworth in an intimate moment, and there is no single definitive story of how this came about. Landry managed to capture intimate glamour - indeed, I would argue that the technical deficiency of the image actually enhances this. The viewer is invited to feel like they are looking at a cheeky clandestine shot of one of the world's most famous women. The image feels (by 1941 standards) voyeuristic - a forbidden pleasure.

Bob Landry

Perhaps more famous for being the only photographer to be in the first wave of troops on D-Day in 1944 (and consequently losing all of his footage), Bob Landry took many iconic shots of the 1940's. This is one of my favourites:

Chaplain playing violin with singing British 8th Army staff the night before an attack - Bob Landry (1942)

This image has particular resonance with me, as my own grandfather was in the 8th Army in North Africa at this time, and for all I know he could even be in that photo. It's a wonderfully simple, powerful image, with the troops framed by a setting sun on the horizon that says a great deal about humanity at a time of war. The only detail that can be seen in the shot is the truck, with all the troops reduced to silhouettes - anonymous for all time.

I will post another iconic Bob Landry shot tomorrow.

No Way Like the American Way

Breadline During the Louisville Flood - Margaret Bourke-White (1937)

An iconic shot from LIFE magazine - one of my favourites.

Bluebells in the Woods

Bluebells in the Woods
Originally uploaded by Photo Plod

While we're experiencing some summery weather, I thought I'd post this recent shot of some English Bluebells, using evening sunlight to add a bit of extra depth and interest.

This was taken in Friday Street, Surrey. I'm not normally one to enjoy photographs of flowers, but I love the way that the sunlight fell on the bluebells, and tried to use a shallow depth of field to pick out what I felt was important in the scene (f5).

You can see some of my favourite walking photos on my Flickr stream.

The Lonely Donkey - Part 1

The Lonely Donkey
Originally uploaded by Photo Plod

Following on from my theme yesterday about the importance of framing in altering the meaning of a photograph, here is an example I shot a couple of years ago.

Cause of Death

Cause of Death - John Hilliard (1974)

This image by John Hilliard (click to see the larger view) is an excellent portrayal of the importance of framing a subject. Each of the four images shows a body, wrapped in a white shroud. In each frame is something suggesting the Cause of Death, and by adjusting crop of each frame, Hilliard changes the meaning in each. It is a very clever example of showing how the camera can "lie", and questions how subjective photography can really be. After all, the photographer has the final say in what goes into a finished image - and what gets left out.

Steps in the Woods

Steps in the Woods

Shot near Polesden Lacey in Surrey, I like challenging myself to taking photos from unusual angles. It's a really basic tip that I've learned to take on board, and I don't think anything has had such a dramatic effect on my photography. I'm a big fan of getting "in" to the subject, and in this photo, I particularly enjoy all the detail on the floor and the way that the steps lead the eye up to the bridge. I ended up covered in dust and dirt, but I got the shot I wanted. If you're shooting something at head height (as most subjects are usually shot), try having a go at shooting it from below - you don't need any extra equipment, just a willingness to get a little mucky! I'll upload some shots of some bluebells where I used this technique in a couple of days' time. Do make sure you have a look at the large shot to get the full impact, and let me know your thoughts.