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Ernst Haas

self portrait, 1950

b: 1921 Vienna / d: 1986 New York

Haas is mentioned in the EyV course material, Part 4, in the context of the assessment criterion, Creativity. The entry includes a quote, but not one that I consider useful.

The biography on the Haas estate web site states, “Ernst Haas (1921–1986) is acclaimed as one of the most celebrated and influential photographers of the 20th century and considered one of the pioneers of color photography.”
The estate holds “over 250,000 color transparencies; 100,000 black and white negative” and the web site displays a wide range of images.
Haas was clearly an accomplished photographer in numerous genres and the abstracts warrant particular scrutiny.

sources - Wikipedia

links - artist's estate web site

added - 4 Mar 19

Philippe Halsman

Philippe Halsman, self portrait

b: 1906 Riga, (now) Latvia / d: 1979 New York

At the age of 22, Halsman was imprisoned in Austria for the murder of his father. Following pressure from European intellectuals including Einstein, Freud and Thomas Mann, he was pardoned by the Austrian president after two years.

He moved to Austria and gained a reputation as a portrait photographer, producing sharp and closely cropped images. In WW2 he fled to the south of France and obtained a visa to migrate to the US. There he contined his portrait and advertising photography.

Halsman invented "jump photography" and published a spoof book about it, Philippe Halsman's Jump Book in 1959.

Wikipedia details a list of six rules from his 1961 book Halsman on the Creation of Photographic Ideas

the rule of the direct approach
the rule of the unusual technique
the rule of the added unusual feature
the rule of the missing feature
the rule of compounded features
the rule of the literal or ideographic method
In his first rule, Halsman explains that being straightforward and plain creates a strong photograph.
To make an ordinary and uninteresting subject interesting and unusual, his second rule lists a variety of photographic techniques, including unusual lighting, unusual angle, unusual composition, etc.
The rule of the added unusual feature is an effort by the photographer to capture the audiences attention by drawing their eye to something unexpected by introducing an unusual feature or prop into the photograph. For example, the photograph of a little boy holding a hand grenade by Diane Arbus contains what Halsman would call an added unusual feature.
Halsman's fourth rule of "the missing feature" stimulates the viewer by going against his or her expectations.
The fifth rule enlists the photographer to combine the other rules to add originality to his or her photo.
Finally, Halsman's literal or ideographic method is to illustrate a message in a photograph by depicting the subject as clearly as possible. wikipedia, from Halsman on the Creation of Photographic Ideas

sourcesWikpedia

links - artist's estate web site

Florence Henri

Self portrait, 1938 (detail)

b: 1893, New York / d: 1982 Laboissière-en-Thelle, France

Henri cropped up in EyV Exercise 5.2 when considering Ilse Bing's Self Portrait with Leica.

After an itinerant childhood and early adulthood, Henri tried careers as a pianist and a painter before discovering her true vocation as a photographer when, in her 30s, she studied under László Moholy-Nagy and befriended Lucia Moholy. Her photography was always experimental, even her occasional forays into commercial advertising assignments, using reflections, prisms, multiple exposures and photo montage. She gave up photography when she and the twentieth century were in their 60s.

Henri was clearly an innovative and fiercely independent worker whose photographs deserve much greater and wider recognition. There is an Aperture volume on Henri that must be worth a look, £40 new, £30 s/h — I'll look out for a copy and might try the V&A.

Rausch, M (ed.)(2015) Florence Henri: Mirror of the Avant-Gardes 1927-40. New York: Aperture Foundation

sources - Wikipedia

links - ICO, BJP, Atlas Gallery

added - 18Jul19

Steve Hiett

Steve Hiett, 1969
by Julie Driscoll

b: 1940 / d: 2019

On 4th September 2019 The Times carried an obituary for Steve Hiett, 1940-2019. I had never heard of him and I don't have a deep interest in fashion photography: that said, a lot of the greats were involved in that area, Avedon, Penn, Fonssagrives, to name a few.

Hiett trained in other arts and was a musician before he began photographing rock concerts, which later led to fashion assignments.

The Times said,

he produced some of the most eye-catching and startling photography of the age, intense and enigmatic, with a signature style of bold colouration, off-kilter framing and dazzling flash that graced the pages of fashion and style magazines including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, The Face and Marie Claire. The Times, 4 Sep 19

At the time of writing, there is a wide selection of his fashion images on his web site. They are undeniably distinctive.

sources - Wikipedia

links - artist's web site - Times obit.

added - 4Sep19

Lewis W. Hine

self portrait

b: 1874 Wisconsin / d: 1940 New York

Peter Stepan in 50 Photographers states,

Though one of the fathers of investigative photojournalism, Hine's significance in the field was not recognised until decades after his death. He is best known for his moving portraits of immigrants on Ellis Island, and shocking pictures of child workers in American spinning mills and coal mines.50 Photographers you chould know, p. 51

Hine photographed construction workers on the Empire State Building in 1930, but did not take the iconic image of workers taking a luch break sitting on a girder, although this has been attributed to him in some sources, including the otherwise creditable Peter Stepan's 50 Photographers you should know.

Wikipedia states,

The photograph depicts eleven men eating lunch, seated on a girder with their feet dangling 840 feet (260 meters)above the New York City streets. The photograph was taken on September 20, 1932, on the 69th floor of the RCA Building during the last months of construction. According to archivists, the photograph was in fact prearranged. Although the photograph shows real ironworkers, it is believed that the moment was staged by Rockefeller Center to promote its new skyscraper. Other photographs taken on the same day show some of the workers throwing a football and pretending to sleep on the girder. The photo appeared in the Sunday photo supplement of the New York Herald Tribune on October 2 …
Formerly attributed to "unknown", and often misattributed to Lewis Hine, it was credited to Charles C. Ebbets in 2003. Evidence confirming his authorship held in the Ebbets' Estate archives include original work orders showing invoices to Rockefeller Center for the time period surrounding the photo, letters of recommendation from his work at Rockefeller Center when the photo was taken, a copy of the original article from the NY Herald Tribune when the photo first appeared in 1932 in his own scrapbook of his work, photos from his office in NY taken in 1932 showing the image on a bulletin board display of his work, and a negative of him at work on the site that day. Alternative candidates mentioned as possibly having taken the photo include 2 other photographers, William Leftwich and Thomas Kelley, who were seen in Rockefeller Center images around that time, but no evidence has ever been produced that either one of them took the image. Ebbets was also documented to have been an independent contractor working with the Hamilton Wright Jr. ad agency at the time which is known to have been hired by Rockefeller Center in 1932 to help with PR for the project. Wikipedia

sources - Wikipedia

links - Tate

added 1Dec18

Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper

b: 1936 Dodge City, Kansas / d: 2010 Venice, Los Angeles

Although best known for his work in the cinema, Wikipedia adds that he, "had several artistic pursuits beyond film. He was a prolific photographer, painter, and sculptor." it continues,

Ostracized by the Hollywood film studios due to his reputation for being a "difficult" actor, Hopper eventually turned to photography in the 1960s with a Nikon camera bought for him by his first wife, Brooke Hayward. During this period he created the cover art for the Ike & Tina Turner single River Deep – Mountain High (released in 1966).He would become a prolific photographer, and noted writer Terry Southern profiled Hopper in Better Homes and Gardens magazine as an up-and-coming photographer "to watch" in the mid-1960s. Hopper's early photography is known for portraits from the 1960s, and he began shooting portraits for Vogue and other magazines. His photographs of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1963 March on Washington and 1965 civil-rights march in Selma, Alabama, were published. His intimate and unguarded images of celebrities like Andy Warhol and Jane Fonda were the subject of gallery shows and were collected in a book, "1712 North Crescent Heights". The book, whose title was his address in the Hollywood Hills in the 1960s, was edited by Marin Hopper. In 1960–67, before the making of Easy Rider, Hopper shot a selection of groundbreaking images that is seen as telling a remarkable history of art, artist, places and events of that time. Dennis Hopper: Photographs 1961–1967 was published in February 2011, by Taschen. wikipedia

sources - The Guardian, Wikipedia

links - artist's (estate) web site

Roni Horn

Roni Horn

b: 1955 New York

Horn is mentioned in the course material (EyV p. 15) in the context of examples for the Square Mile assignment.

Artnet describes Horn as,

a contemporary American artist whose practice encompasses a myriad of subjects and media, including text-based sculptures, rubber floor installations, and photographic exhibitions. Horn’s work explores both specific subject matter, such as the poems of Emily Dickinson, and the more nebulous subject of her own fascination and psychological connection with the geology of Iceland’s landscape. “You use metaphor to make yourself feel at home in world,” the artist has said. “You use metaphor to extinguish the unknown. The problem is the unknown is where I want to be.” Born on September 25, 1955 in New York, NY, she went on to study first at the Rhode Island School of Design and then the Yale School of Art, where she received her MFA in 1978. Horn’s career became established in the late 1980s after she had shown at both Paula Cooper Gallery and Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. Today, her works are in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Kunstmuseum Basel, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others. Horn lives and works between New York, NY and Reykjavik, Iceland. artnet.com

sources - Wikipedia

links - Artnet, Tate

Peter Hujar

Self-Portrait Jumping (1974),
(detail) Peter Hujar

b: 1934 New Jersey / d: 1987 New York

Hyperallergic reported on the Speed of Life exhibition in Paris, describing Hujar as, '[o]vershadowed by his contemporary Robert Mapplethorpe' and his work as, 'sensitive, dynamic accounts of the everyday erotic and unabashedly eccentric' and contrasts those with the harrowing portraits of Hujar (shortly after his death from AIDS-related illness) by his partner David Wojnarowicz.

Hujar is quoted as saying that he photographed “those who push themselves to any extreme” and who “cling to the freedom to be themselves”, though it may be noted that many of his subjects appear quite languid when he photographs them.

One of Hujar's best known images is Seated Nude, Bruce de Sainte Croix, 1976. This features a naked chap sitting on a chair handling his erect penis. I am not in favour of censorship of any sort, but I choose not to show this, just in case it offends a passer-by. There is usually a copy on the Artnet page.

sources - Wikipedia, Hyperallergic

links - artist's estate web site

added - 19Jan20

Tom Hunter

Tom Hunter

b: 1965 Dorset

Hunter is mentioned in the course material (EyV p. 15) as an example for the Square Mile assignment. And see C&N.
From Purdy Hicks,

Tom Hunter (born 1965, Dorset) explores themes depicting his local neighbourhood of east London, drawing on art historical references. He reconstructs stories, memories and myths to paint a psycho-geographical landscape.
His most recent series, Figures in a Landscape is a personal odyssey which transports the viewer through a world imbued with myths and legends. On this magical journey, from the hillsides of the West Country to the Marshes of Hackney, the viewer encounters ancient gods, goddesses and mythical monsters which inhabit the landscape and battle for supremacy between the other worlds and the here and now…:
Tom Hunter graduated from the London College of Printing in 1994. His degree show, ‘The Ghetto’, a series of photographs and a model of his squatted neighbourhood in East London, is now on permanent display in the Museum of London. Hunter took his MA at the Royal College of Art, where, in 1996, he was awarded the Photography prize by Fuji Film for his series ‘Travellers’. His work is held in numerous public collections including the National Gallery, London; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and The Hirshhorn Museum, Washington. He is Professor of Photography at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London where he lives and works. citation

sources - Wikipedia

links - artist's web site, Purdy Hicks

Kurt Hutton

Kurt Hutton

b: 1893 Strasbourg / d: 1960 Aldeburgh

Born Kurt Hübschmann, Wikipedia states he "[began] his career with the Dephot agency in Germany, he migrated to England in 1934 and worked for Weekly Illustrated.
He then became one of the founding staff of the groundbreaking pictorial weekly news magazine Picture Post. One of his most famous images used there showed working-class girls enjoying themselves in Funfair, Southend, Essex (1938).
He spent the last decade of his life living in Aldeburgh where he photographed for Benjamin Britten"

This entry is prompted by a review in the Aug18 edition of the RPS journal of a new book on his work, Kurt Hutton: The Quiet Pioneer. that has a great picture of Hutton, shown right. The book conentrates on Hutton's time at Picture post, in which his most famous photograph, Care Free was published.

sources RPS Journal Vol 158, Aug 18, p. 589, Wikipedia

links Wikipedia

Jean-Baptiste Huynh

Jean-Baptiste Huynh

b: 1966 Châteauroux, France

Huynh is cited in Part 4 of the course material in the context of artificial lighting, noting his soft lighting effects.

Huynh's web site notes that,

His pure and timeless photography is recognizable in widely varied themes and subjects: portraits, nudes, minerals and plants, as well as spiritual symbols and emblematic masterpieces.[The] themes of predilection include the human gaze, our self-image, the play of light, a sense of timelessness, and an attempt to capture infinity. jeanbaptistehuynh.com

While some might consider that a little pretentious, the photographs on his web site are masterful. They illustrate his fine lighting techniques and evoke the still lifes of Renger-Patzsch and the portraits of Avedon.

sources - Wikipedia

links - artist's web site

added - 31Jan19

Graciela Iturbide

Self portrait, 1974

b: 1942 Mexico

Though commonly described as a magic realist photographer: an easy label, given her origins and subject matter, this is rejected by Iturbide. Her subjects are not necessarily artificial constructs: they are often taken from real life but tend to be selected for unusual juxtapositions.

Iturbide had a privileged but troubled early life, then found fulfilment as a student of and later assistant to Manuel Álvarez Bravo. Some of her best-known work features Mexico's indigenous communities, notably in Juchitán.

sources - Wikipedia

links - artsy.net

added - 13Feb19

Thomas Jackson

blog portrait

b: 1971 Philadelphia

The Times for Saturday 13th October 2018, in the News in Pictures slot, showed Jackson's signature umbrella shot.

His gallery describes him thus,

Thomas Jackson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. After earning a B.A. in History from the College of Wooster, he spent much of his career in New York as an editor and book reviewer for magazines. It was his particular interest in photography books that led him to pick up a camera, first shooting Garry Winogrand-inspired street scenes, then landscapes, and finally the installation work he does today. Thomas Jackson’s photography has been shown at The Center for Book Arts in New York, the Governors Island Art Fair, the Gallery at Eponymy in Brooklyn and Industria Superstudios in New York. Thomas Jackson was named one of the Critical Mass Top 50 in 2012, and won the “installation/still-life” category of PDN’s The Curator award in 2013. He lives in San Francisco. jacksonfineart.com

Of the umbrella shot, it states,

Thomas Jackson … uses man-made objects to imitate the self-organizing behavior of large groups of birds, fish, or insects in his ongoing series “Emergent Behavior.” For this project, the San Fransisco-based artist clusters brightly colored umbrellas, plates, or streamers together with the help of imperceptible filament, which makes the objects appear as if they are floating through the landscape on their own.After each installation he makes sure to recycle and dispose of all items responsibly, with no damage occurring to the environment during installation or take down.
Recently he was invited to the Isle of Man to build several new works inspired by the island’s coastline, groves, and moors. jacksonfineart.com

It is opportune that I have just reached page 61 of the course material dealing with the Quality assessment criterion. It includes the phrase, "you only need one good idea to sustain a whole career in photography". This entry was prompted by my seeing Umbrellas in the Times this morning. It is arresting, bright, joyous and fun. If Jackson can earn a living photographing colourful stuff on string then good luck to him, but there must be a suspicion of the applicability of Jerry L. Thompson's criticism that photographing it in colour, printing it large and putting it on a gallery wall with a hefty price tag can put style before substance. †

† Umbrellas is available from Jackson Fine Art in limited editions of five in three sizes (in inches), 20x25 ($2,500), 30x38 ($4,000), 48x60 ($7,500). I have enquired on the prices - now added.

sources -

links - Jackson Fine Art, artist's web site

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sources - Wikipedia

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