Tag Archives: Henri Cartier-Bresson

Setting The Scene – The Goodfellas

Posted on August 22, 2015 by stevemiddlehurst

The next investigation focuses on miss-en-scène, the process of creating the stage upon which the story will be told. As the starting point we are given a long take from Goodfellas (1), a three minute sequence of Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta, … Continue reading →

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Vivian Maier: The Photographer

Posted on August 4, 2015 by stevemiddlehurst

A few months ago in  Vivian Maier: Commercial Treasure or Artist? I looked at how Vivian Maier’s work became public; subsequently I looked a little more closely in Vivian Maier: Self-Portraits at one selection of her published work; more recently I reviewed the … Continue reading →

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Other Perspectives – Geoff Dyer

Posted on July 24, 2015 by stevemiddlehurst

Unlike John Szarkowski, the curator (here) and Stephen Shore the photographer  and teacher (here) Geoff Dyer ‘s relationship with photography is as an outsider, he declares he doesn’t own a camera, professes no special expertise as art historian or critic … Continue reading →

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The Language of Photography

Posted on July 4, 2015 by stevemiddlehurst

Introduction In 1977, thirteen years before the dawn of the digital age of photography (i), Sue Davies, the founder of the Photographers’ Gallery (2), presented Reading Photographs, an exhibition of urban photographs with the intent of “helping people to a better … Continue reading →

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Zen and The Art of Photography

Posted on June 30, 2015 by stevemiddlehurst

In his introduction to Reading Photographs (1) Ainslie Ellis calls for the audience to bring their whole creative attention to a photograph as “then, and only then, something remarkable can happen”. He argues that in a world of mass beliefs, which … Continue reading →

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Black and White Processing

Posted on June 7, 2015 by stevemiddlehurst

Two ideas came together to help me decide to process the shadow self portraits project in black and white. Tradition Pliny the elder, who died at Pompeii during the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 documented how both painting and sculpture were discovered. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Assignment 3 - Self Portraits, Research and Reflection | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The History of the Shadow Self Portrait

Posted on May 29, 2015 by stevemiddlehurst

Whilst looking for inspirational photographers who have used shadow self portraits I came across an interesting statement on the Lens Culture blog (1) regarding the work of Giacomo Brunelli in which the author suggests that the use of the shadow in self portraits is nearly … Continue reading →

Posted in Assignment 3 - Self Portraits, Books & Exhibitions, Research and Reflection | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Vivian Maier: Self-Portraits

Posted on April 26, 2015 by stevemiddlehurst

Background Having briefly looked at the bizarre story of how Vivian Maier’s work became public (here) I want to look specifically at the published collection of her self portraits as part of my research into assignment 3. There are three important factors … Continue reading →

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Vivian Maier: Commercial Treasure or Artist?

Posted on April 26, 2015 by stevemiddlehurst

Background “Vivian Maier, proud native of France and Chicago resident for the last 50 years died peacefully on Monday. Second mother to John, Lane and Matthew. A free and kindred spirit who magically touched the lives of all who knew her. Always ready … Continue reading →

Posted in 1 - Autobiographical Self-Portraiture, Inspirational Photographers, Research and Reflection | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments