Mentor Essay on Garry Winogrand

Mentor Essay

Garry Winogrand – By: Brooke Williams

      Garry Winogrand was a street photographer that used photography to capture life in America in the 1960s. His photographs showed social issues and the role the media played on people lives. His photos captured people’s real emotions and how certain things that affect people and take them to another level. His photos were mostly taken in black and white and on the streets.

      Garry Winogrand was born January 14^th 1938 in New York City. He was a street photographer known for his photographs on American life in the late 20^th century. Garry Winogrand studied painting at the City College of New York, and painting and photography at Columbia University in 1948. In 1952 two of Winogrands photos were displayed at The Family of Man exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art.  

      In 1964 Garry Winogrand was awarded his Guggenheim Fellowship to travel America and was awarded his second in 1969 to continue exploring the medias effects on the public.

      In 1971 – 72 Winogrand taught photography at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Before his death of gal bladder cancer in 1984, Garry wrote nine books and took part in approximately thirty-three exhibits.

      Garry Winogrand was an excellent photographer. Showing of pictures of the public’s effects on media and their daily lives made his photographs more relatable to the people. He became the media, taking photos at events and putting them on display for everybody to see. Winogrand believed that if the press didn’t pay attention to everything that went on other events wouldn’t even have happened at all. Telling us that the press is an important part of our society.

      Garry first picked up a camera in 1950 and didn’t put it down until his death in 1984. He started off doing commercial work. Inspired by Walker Evans and Robert Frank, Winogrand emulated their intelligent use of the photographic medium. 

     

       

                                                 Los Angeles 1964

      This photo shows what seems to be a couple driving in their car. The photo was not staged and is even a bit blurry because the cars were moving. The photo is a real picture of real people going on with there daily lives. In this photo the man is looking at the camera but the women is not. It is a very natural photo because the subjects in the photo didn’t know that there picture was going to be taken. Garry was trying to capture the average persons life in 1964 to be exact in this case.

Peace Demonstration 1969

Looking at this photo we see American flags, soldiers and civilians. This photo appears to be taken when a fellow soldier is being buried. We see this because of the mourning civilians and the soldiers are getting ready to cover his coffin with an American flag. This photo shows real emotion. War effects many lives and Garry was trying to capture peoples real feelings and how they are affected by the media and what’s going on around them and in this photo we can see that the people in this photo are being affected by death of somebody who had served and fought for there country.

Women and Man dancing, Hands at same position 1969

This photo shows a man and a women dancing in what seems some kind of club or party venue. The woman is wearing an iconic Oasis Clarke dress and must be of some importance. The people in the picture seem to be enjoying themselves. The party I assume is at an important event.  This image documents a time in American History but gives you a glimpse of how these situations were created for the media. The woman Garry photographs are going on with there daily lives unaware they are being photographed. This photograph, and Garry Winogrands other photographs, seem to be less about a particular subject and more about where the subject lies in space and how the light works to illuminate them and there surroundings.

      Garry Winogrand was very important in the photography world. Today many photography students study his work and use it as a guide for there own experimenting. His fantastic shots of American life make him an icon. Garry Winogrand transformed the photos to more then they could be. The proper use of light created something different then ever before. Garry Winogrand was one of the most successful photographers for social studying and this makes him one of the best photographers in history. 

Silk Screen

Silk Screen

Steve's Music Store

For my silk screen project, i used a picture i took in toronto of a Steve's Music Store sign. The process took a long time and i had to redo it 3 times because things werent working out for me. It got really annoying but i find it was worth it because i love my final copy. I decided to use black paint because if it had color i dont think it would look as good. I decided to add a little something to the shirt by making black lines all over the shirt with paint. I thought having more then just the picture on a shirt would give it a little more "oomph" Overall i am very happy with my final project and thank Sara Kelly for modeling my shirt for me!

Acrylic Lift

Acrylic Lift

For my acrylic lift i took a picture of a car windshield. The picture was specifically of the windshield wipers. I chose to take this picture for its deep meaning. Windshield wipers clear the windshield so you are able to see out of it. The deep meaning is that the windshield wipers are what is making life clearer. Its the outlook on life. For my acrylic lift i used 10 layers. When making my lift i got really frustrated and almost threw it out a couple times. I had a hard time getting the paper off and ended up with a hole. Trying to patch up the hole with glue left a mark on the lift causing me to get frustrated again. To be honest Im surprised its not in the trash. I like my picture a lot and it is not using any rules. It is not balanced, there is no rule of thirds, and no framing. Those being just a few examples. Overall, I like my picture a lot and hope you do too. 

Renaissance Photo

Fra Filippo Lippi. Madonna Enthroned. 1437

The photo i chose is of Madonna and is from 1437. This was painted by artist Fra Filippo Lippi. The picture is a 45 x 25 1/2". It was waited with oil on panel. Lippi was an Italian painter, born in Florance in 1406. Lippi painted pictures of Scenes from the life of the Virgin and painted them for the apse of the Cathedral. Lippi painted from 1430 till 1469 when he died while working ont he frescoes of Scenes of the life of the Virgin. Lippis paintings were hung in the churches because they were painted for the churches. Lippis paintings all have the same women in them, Madonna. The perticular painting I chose has a women and a small child. Most of his paintings include children but not all of them, but all having the same consecutive women in them. Lippi does many other works including sculptures. Lippi was an amazinf renaissance painter and will be remembered for he amazing works of art that, in his time, were hung in churches everywhere.

Painting With Light

For my photo project we had to paint with light. I decided to make my picture a picture of a camera because i thought it was suitable for a photography project. I had my shutter speed at 30 and my f stop at 5.6. I used a little flashlight to draw the camera. The photography took me ten times to get it the way i wanted it because it was hard to tell where i had drawn things so i kept on messing up where things were. This project I found really cool because I didn't know you could adjust the shutter speed and use a flashlight to "paint with light." Overall i found this project really educational in the photography unit.

Three different pictures in different lighting.

 This picture of Sam, shows us perfect studio lighting. Her face is properly lit and there is no shadows on  her face. We are able to see everything. In order to capture this picture we had to put lights on both sides of sams face, equal lighting, also I told her she was adorable which gave her the biggest smile as you can see, and turned into an adorable picture with perfect lighting.

 For this picture, Sam is not properly lit. Half her face has a shadow making it hard to see that side of her face. It is not perfect studio lighting. In order to capture this picture we only turned the light on to the right of the picture, Sams left. This created a shadow on the opposite side of her face. In order to get this natural picture we were goofing around and weren't being serious so she was able to smile very naturally.

This picture is clearly not properly lit. There is only one light source and it is from below her. Putting the light below her creates a shadow on the bottom of her face but has no light on the rest of her face. As much as the picture is a good picture, and is very creepy and has an eerie feel, it is not properly lit. I did not make Sam pose for this picture at all, I didn't tell her when I was taking it so she wouldn't try to have a scary face and react with the environment.

Name Photography

Brooke Williams

For my photography project we had to make pictures of letters from the environment and make a collage. I chose to do my name because I thought it would be nice to post so people will know who I am. I decided to make my pictures black and white because i wanted them all to match each other better. I also chose to adjust the lighting of the pictures so that they have a cooler effect. This project was very challenging because we didnt want pictures that were posed, they needed to be natural and finding certain letters in teh environment is tough. Overall i think my picture turned out well an I am very happy with the final copy.