Eugene Smith "Tomoko Uemura in The Bath" Review (draft)

 Eugene Smith "Tomoko Uemura in The Bath" Review

Was a Documentarial photographer who was around during the Great Depression in the mid 20th Century.  Growing up during this historical period meant that his work was going to be further influenced by negative events, one of these being the great leak of Mercury that went into the ocean and caused uninhabital effects on those who surrounded the areas of the ocean.

The photograph to the left was taken in 1971 of a woman called Tomoko uemura who had extreme Mercury poisoning. Mercury poisoning can cause paralysis and death and I believe that Smith captured Tomoko's paralysis perfectly. Visual examples of my belief is the ray of light coming from the right which is illuminating her ribcage and eccentuating her fragile (paralysed) form.

The way the light has captured her face is also another visual demonstration of not only the paralysis and inibility to regain strength but also a demonstration of the pain and suffering that she is undergoing by living her life at that circumstance. Also, in comparison to the woman that is bathing her, you can see the tense and detailed outline in her neck of the strain that Tomoko is undergoing just to lie out straight in comparison to the lady who's facial structure is relaxed amd calm.

The choice of a very dark contrast has created the atmosphere which is to seem dull and eerie in some respects. Which in relation to the time period and circumstances of Tomoko's poisoning is relevant because darkness represents sadness, sorrow and sometimes the unknown.

 Tomoko's fragile and limp body could also be metaphorically exchanged in order to represent the shadowing and dark times of the mid 20th Century that Smith had been so influenced by.

Corinne Day - Who is she?

Corinne Day - Who is she?

Last week I could not have told you a famous photographer, let alone name one that I actually liked. Until recently I made a trip to my university library and began looking at resources, I had an idea of what aspects of photography I liked and what aspects I did not dare or want to cover.

I am originally an artist, practicing in fine art with the inspirations of Salvador Dali, Escher and Francis Bacon, so to be thrown into this whirlwind of unidentified territory that I had only briefly stepped in a couple of years ago was extremely confusing to me.

I knew from previous studies of artists that if I was to like a specific photographer, it would have to be one that uses shocking images that would take the viewer slightly out of their comfort zone, just like surrealism did to me. I then grew an idea as to what type of photographers to set out for; the ones that capture raw and exciting images, those who focus on not just the 'beauty' of the world, but also the true nature of some of life's 'behind the scene' cultures. I then found Corinne Day.

When I began flicking through the book 'Corinne Day -Diary' I had no idea what to expect. The pictures looked as if they would have been uploaded onto a very explicit unknown blog, or a troubled teenagers Facebook. I was so intrigued that I read the entire book and began doing my own individual studies following these images. The beauty of this book is the ugliness of the hidden truth, there are references to drugs, sex, abuse and hand in hand with those aspects of life will also include addiction. Corinne focused on her friends' lives (especially her best friend Tara) from the years 1992 until 1999 where the 'diary' finishes.


                                     (Photographs from the book - Corinne Day - Diary)

The book seemed to be something that had mistakably found itself into the library, or I thought that maybe she was an underground photographer that no one had really heard of. As an outsider to the world of photographers, I literally had no idea who Corinne Day was. After a little more extensive research I was quite shocked to realise that she was the infamous photographer who had worked with the young British Supermodel Kate Moss in 1993 on Camber Sands Beach in England. I carried on my search and realised that this woman was a very famous worldwide photographer that had worked for Vogue and had held exhibitions all over the world.

(Young Kate Moss Photographed by Corinne Day 1993)

Sadly Corinne died in 2010 from a Brain tumour that she had struggled with all throughout her career which had actually been visually documented in 'diary' that I read, which had pictures of her treatment. All of these images are so raw, so vulnerable and although the actions inside the pictures are extremely out of the picturesque genre, these have been the photographs that have inspired me. Corinne Day has become some what of a photographer for me to idolise in the sense of talent and the way she perceives her messages and her friends' personal lives in her photographs.

(Supermodel Kate Moss & Corinne Day)

"Oak Tree in the Winter" By William Henry Fox Talbot review

                     "Oak Tree in the Winter" Photographed by William Henry Fox Talbot 

The first undeniable and noticeable aspect of "Oak Tree in the Winter" By William Talbot was the seemingly large Oak tree that is placed in the forefront of the photo. Having been lectured for an hour on the methods that William uses I summoned the opinion that when Talbot took a photograph, he was trying to capture the environment in its exact form with no edits or props. I realized then that he is the exact opposite to the photographer Henry Peach Robinson who photographs images to create a picturesque (picture perfect) moment and will usually base his photographs on scenery that has already been captured centuries before hand. Such an example of a picturesque artist is Thomas Gainsborough who's commissioned paintings would idealize the aspect of wealth and strength by a representation of Oak trees and free land for higher class families.

After studying the photo of the Oak Tree in the Winter further, I began to notice that the way he has positioned his camera is seemed to be deliberate as there are smaller trees in the background that are not as in focus as the big oak which in a sense is similar to Robinson's purpose; focusing of environmental objects. However, most of the foreground that Robinson photographs is flat or at the same level that he is on, whereas the way that Talbot has captured this tree is as if it is overpowering him, he has tilted his camera up to make it appear like the oak is dominant.

I began to look into the reference and meaning behind Oak tree's especially in the 19th Century given that that was the time of the photograph. Oak tree's appear to have this strong, powerful and almost knowledgable aura about them. Given that they live to be 200 years old, having been around for so long their structures are almost the eyes of the countryside, they outlive everything that has been planted there before it.

After further research I discovered the Oak tree is also hugely symbolic for mythology and folklore and is also the national tree of Britain which in the 19th Century would have made sense for William to capture this image due to the domination of the British Empire.

I could stress that the tree in a way is a metaphorical representation of the British Empire dominating the world at that period in time and the 'smaller' trees in the background are the other countries that are part of the British Empire;following behind. The tree appears knowledgable and powerful hence why that particular Oak tree is pictured to be tall and strenuous over all the other trees representing it's dominance, its strength and of course the way it has been portrayed to purposely be the main focus.

References
http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythfolk/oak.html