Research

The Street
Joel Meyerowitz

The urban street is a location where photographers often take photographs of people/architecture within a busy, built up area. With street photography, there is a few things you need to consider and be wary of, such as your camera being stolen or the possibility of a fight if you are taking a sly photograph and somebody spots you and isn't happy about it. For this series, Meyerowitz would not really need to be as wary as he was photographing the wreckage of the 9/11 attack. I really like these photographs, the composition is great and it is showing how horrific the attack was. Meyerowitz is an award winning street photographer, his work has been shown in over 350 exhibitions around the world. His first book 'Cape Light' is a classic book for colour photography and has sold more than 150,000 copies in 30 years. In the early 1970's, Meyerowitz taught the first color photography course at the Cooper Union. He was the only photographer allowed unrestricted access into the aftermath of The 9/11 Attack. Many of the photographs he took have been used to create a book named 'Aftermath: World Trade Centre Archive'. 

The Street
Robert Frank 

Like Meyerowitz, Robert Frank's work is mainly street and these photographs focus on his photo book 'The Americans'. A lot of his photographs are candid and they show the history of America, which I really like, this type of photography is risky as he is taking photographs of people without their knowledge. Shooting in the streets is a good idea and I think his series of photographs showcases the realities of life in America really well. Frank is an American photographer and documentary film-maker. From 1949 onwards, Frank began taking photographs which reflected his search for artistic freedom and travelled to many different locations in South America and Europe shooting series. In 1954, he began a road trip across America, resulting in him making a book 'The Americans'. Many of the photos from that series are included in his exhibitions. The exhibition features over 150 photographs, as well as three of Frank's films. 




The Subway/Transportation Locations
Bruce Davidson

Bruce Davidson shot on the subway and forms of public transport. These photographs would've had to have been taken quickly and he may have need a flash as the lighting wouldn't be great. I like these photographs and I like the concept of shooting on public transport as you will meet many different people. Davidson is an American photographer. He is a member of Magnum Photos Agency and has been since 1958. Many of his photographs, mostly the ones taken in New York have been widely exhibited and published. When Davidson was 10 years old his mother built a darkroom in their basement and from then on, he began taking photographs. Not long after this he approached a local photographer who taught him the basics of photography, including lighting and printing skills. 




Coastal/Seaside Locations
Luke Stephenson

Stephenson photographs completely different things compared to Bruce Davidson but the series I am looking at is called 99x99s which is based on 99's in England. Stephenson is an English photographer born in Darlington, his work focuses on all things British and can be quite humorous in some ways. He has had his work published in many different magazines/newspapers including; The New York Times, The Guardian, Dazed & Confused and many more. Stephenson has published two books so far, one about a series of Show Birds, this was published in 2012 and his most recent one, about 99 ice creams, for which he travelled around England in Summer to photograph all the different 99s he could.  






Simon Roberts
Roberts is an English photographer and his work has been exhibited and published internationally. He has received several awards for his work. In 2007, he received the Royal Photographic Society's Vic Odden Award, also the Ian Parry Scholarship for young photographers in 1998. In 2010 his book 'We English' which also featured as an exhibition, won third prize in the World Press Photo Contest in the Daily Life - Stories. Roberts has published many different books and has had many exhibitions, in all different countries around the world.






Martin Parr

Parr is an English documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is most known for his work that takes an intimate look at modern day life, especially the social classes of England and the wealthy side of the Western world. Parr has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1994 and has around 40 solobooks published and has been involved in over 80 exhibitions worldwide. 





Domestic/Home Locations
Nigel Shafran

Shafran has had his work exhibited at Tate and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Shafran was a fashion photographer in the 1980s before he turned to fine art photography, he has had a few different exhibitions in different countries including; France, England and Japan but has also had many more group exhibitions. 





Richard Billingham
Billingham is an English photographer best known for his photo book 'Ray's a Laugh' which is a documentary style series of photographs about his alcoholic father, Ray and his obese mother, Liz. Ray's a Laugh is a glimpse into the poverty and deprivation in which Billingham grew up in, it was also shot on the cheapest film Billingham could find, hence the bad quality and focus. However, this adds to the authenticity. 



The Natural Landscape
Jem Southam

Southam is one of the UK's leading photographers, known for his series of colour landscape photographs which he began taking in the 1970's and still does till this day. His trademark is the fact that he observes the changes at a single location over months or years. Southam has had his work published in various books, including; The Shape of Time: Rockfalls, Rivermouths and Ponds.