Black and White Photography

Biographical Information

Robert Doisneau was born on April 14, 1912 in Gentilly, France. He went to Ecole Estienne in Paris to study lithography which is a way to print things. He provided forged war documents for the French resistance movement during World War II. Doisneau first sold his pictures at the Paris Flea Market in 1932. He ended up winning a lot of awards for his photography including the Kodak Prize in 1947 and the Grand Prix de la Photographie in 1983. Robert Doisneau became a photographer because he was taught about photography by an advertising photographer named Andr Vigneau. Then during the Great Depression he worked as an industrial photographer. He didn't really like industrial photography though because he was mostly inspired by the streets of Paris. He liked to capture small moments of the people on the streets that showed emotion or told a story. They could be funny or sad moments that you probably wouldn't notice if you were just walking down the crowded streets.

Ansel Adams was born on February 20, 1902 in San Fransisco, California. He might have had dyslexia which made school difficult for him so his father and aunt just taught him at home. He earned a diploma that basically meant that he had completed eighth grade. He taught himself to read music and play the piano so before he got into photography he wanted to be a piano player. He was a part of the Sierra club, which is a club that helps preserve the environment. He became a photographer because he discovered that he could make a living off of photography when he took photos for a trip that the club went on. He was inspired to take photos because of his love of nature. His photography career really took off when he met Alfred M. Bender. Alfred Bender was a good friend for Ansel Adams to make because he knew what to do to help Adams' career and helped him make important connections. Ansel Adams' message was to show the importance of nature and America's national parks.

Photo sources

“Robert Doisneau.” Robert Doisneau | Artnet |, www.artnet.com/artists/robert-doisneau/2.

Cerquetani, Stefano. “Street Photography in the World.” Street Photography in the World, www.streetphotographyintheworld.com/masters-of-street-photography-by-carlo-traina/masters-of-street-photography-robert-doisneau/.

“Robert Doisneau - More Than a Kiss.” Anatomy Films, Anatomy Films, 21 Dec. 2016, www.anatomyfilms.com/robert-doisneau-kiss/.

“Robert Doisneau.” 33 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy, www.artsy.net/artist/robert-doisneau.

Photo Sources

“Ansel Adams.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Apr. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams.

“Mount Williamson by Ansel Adams.” The Ansel Adams Gallery, shop.anseladams.com/Mount_Williamson_p/1901019.htm.

Babineaux, Carole. “Ansel Adams - Lessons - Tes Teach.” Tes Teach with Blendspace, www.tes.com/lessons/EaGkxlPgwLkJiw/ansel-adams.

“Ansel Easton Adams.” World Photographic Forum, 9 Mar. 2017, www.worldphotographicforum.com/2017/03/09/ansel-adams/.

Compare and Contrast

Part of what makes these two photographers' photos different is the composition. Robert Doisneau mostly takes photos of people on the streets of Paris and doesn't focus on the background or the landscape behind the subject. Sometime the things around the subject are blurry. The angle of his photos is usually just straight on or whatever angle he could get in order to capture what was happening in the picture. It is hard to tell what the lighting is like because the photos are in black and white but it always looks like it is sort of a cloudy day in the photos that I chose. Ansel Adams, on the other hand, takes photos of nature and beautiful landscapes. In his photos he is very careful to set the camera up at interesting angles to highlight how pretty the setting is. His photos look very still and serene which is very different form Robert Doisneau's photos of busy people on a crowded street. In some photos Ansel Adams has cool lighting like in the picture where you can see beams of light coming through the clouds. The subjects make the photos different because Doisneau takes pictures of people and Adams takes pictures of landscapes.

An obvious similarity between these two photographers is that their photos are in black and white. Another similarity is how they both set up the photos so that the viewer's eye is drawn to a certain part of it. Robert Doisneau does this by choosing the person on the streets who is stands out or is doing something interesting. He also sometimes makes the other people walking by look a little blurry. Ansel Adams does this by using photo techniques such as leading line or low horizon.

Critique

What I like about Robert Doisneau's work is how they sort of tell a story or have an action in them. The pictures make you wonder why that person is doing what they are doing. The composition is cool as well because even if there are other people in the photo, it is set up so that your eye is drawn to the one person that he was focused on. There are a few photos where it seems like the subject didn't want to get their picture taken and I don't really like those ones. A way that these photos connect to my own life is how they are similar to people watching which I do sometimes when I am bored.

What I like about Ansel Adams' work is how peaceful and still the landscapes look. It looks cool when there are beams of light coming down from the sky and lighting up the clouds. He also uses a lot of different angles in his photos. These photos connect to my own life because I live in Maine where there is a lot of nature and beautiful landscapes to take pictures of.

Sources

“Robert Doisneau, Art History & Styles of Art.” Art.com Wiki, blog.art.com/artwiki/~/robert-doisneau/.

Turnage, William. “Ansel Adams, Photographer - A Biography.” Ansel Adams Gallery, 27 July 2016, anseladams.com/ansel-adams-bio/.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Robert Doisneau.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 7 Apr. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Doisneau.