I was impressed by Robert Capa's quote, 'if your pictures aren't good enough, you are not close enough'. Photojournalism is all about getting closer to the cruel reality and bringing it live to the viewers. Capa's photos of the Normandy landings are great simply because no one else was able to shoot from the same place as he did on D-Day. This is to say that recording the reality itself matters more than the subjective expression of the photographer in photojournalism. I also feel photojournalism should never be restricted by the well-fabricated background stories. 

Robert Capa

Normandy Invasion on D-Day, Soldier Advancing through Surf

I later realized the editing on New York Times didn't really happen. I like the idea of using newspaper 'editing' as a creative way to reveal the bias in current media. 

Duane Michals is an American photographer known for his innovative use of photo sequences and incorporation of texts. Album: The Portraits of Duane Michals records the faces of the people Duane Michals encountered from 1958 to 1988. The portraits, as described by his written texts, are just sharing moments of the subjects, not revealing anything profound. I appreciate Michals' preference of shooting in people's own environments over studios. I am also inspired by his illusion-like images created through double exposure.

Album: The Portraits of Duane Michals

Alex Webb is a full member of Magnum Photos famous for his use of vibrant colors and complex, sometimes chaotic, compositions. He began his career as a professional photojournalist in 1974, the same year as he graduated from Harvard University and joined Magnum two years later. He started off shooting small town life in black and white in the southern US, Caribbean, and Mexico.

Alex Webb

Illegal worker cleaning swimming pool. West Texas, USA. 1975.

Inspired by his engagement in Latin American and Caribbean cultures, Webb transitioned to color film photography in 1979. He then extensively travelled across the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa and other far corners of the earth. 

Alex Webb has published 17 photography book, among which The Suffering of light, Webb's first comprehensive monograph, gathers many of his iconic photos featuring intense color and lighting over the past 30 years.

Alex Webb

Mexicans arrested while trying to cross the border to United States. San Ysidro, California, USA. 1979.

Alex Webb

Jumping. Boquillas (Border), Mexico. 1979.

Alex Webb

Street scene. Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. 1996.

Waves, Webb's latest photobook, records the isolated life of Alex Webb and his partner Rebecca Norris Webb during the pandemic at Cape Cod, where he had spent many of his childhood summers. During this period of time, Webb' subject switched from vibrant city life to soft landscape and the subtle flow of tide, wind, and water. He used mild colors instead of highly saturated ones, rendering the mind-calming escape from modern life.

Alex Webb

Mayo Beach, 2020

Alex Webb

Cahoon Hollow I, 2020

Rebecca Norris Webb

Clouds, 2020

Rebecca Norris Webb

I was so impressed by Sebastião's decision to be a professional photographer after being trained as an economist for so long. I often come across stories where successful photographers get engaged with photography, film-making or other form of art at very early stages of their lives, which is totally understandable since early exposure to art allows more time for one's perspectives and ascethics to get sophisticated. Sebastiao seems to be an exception. He was already working as an economist for the International Coffee Organization when he realized his passion in photography. It takes courage to follow your heart, especially when you are chasing something seemingly unrealistic.

In The Salt of the Earth, Sebastião's documentary photography struck me with the cruelty of the world. Documentary photos of war, like those Sebastiao shot in Rwanda and Kuwait, tells the world about the sufferings and, more importantly, reveals the evil nature of human beings. I went to the Life Magazine exhibition at MFA last weekend and was shocked by a photo from World War II where two kids were running alongside piles of dead bodies. Looking back on these historic images of constantly happening holocausts, I just can't stop feeling that people, like all other creatures, are born to kill each other in looting for resources. 

Sebastião Salgado

Greater Burhan Oil Field, Kuwait, 1991

Sebastião Salgado

I like Bruce Davidson's idea of starting without preconceiving. We all expect to see certain scenes before actually going to a place. However, as our anticipations grow more specific, they eventually become restrictions that make us ignorant of novel subjects and perspectives. Bruce Davidson's project Subway takes me beyond my negative impressions on New York subway due to some unpleasant experiences. He sees New York subway as a chaotic and hybrid social equalizer, in contrast to the ordered and segregated world above the ground. People from different races and social status all get trapped together as the train enters the dark tunnels. That's when the endless possibilities come in. In Subway, the subjects are so random that one could never preconceive before the actual encounter.

Bruce Davidson

Subway Platform, New York City, 1980

Bruce Davidson

Subway, New York City, 1980

Bruce Davidson

Subway, New York City, 1980

I also enjoyed his earlier work Circus. It records the inner moments of dwarfs behind their physical mask and reminds me that they also have feelings.

Bruce Davidson

Jimmy Armstrong, 'The Dwarf', Palisades, 1958

Joel Meyerowitz

Camel Coats, New York City, 1975

This snapshot of New York street life in the 1970s creates a sense of movement through the smoke and the shadows. It also has a nice balance of colors. Just as Joel Meyerowitz said in Everybody Street, photography is about going out there and watch people doing things. Even the simplest scene has dynamic moments in it.

Jill Freedman

Gun Play, Street Cops, 1979

Jill Freedman

Surf'n Turf, New York City, 1979

In Everybody Street, I was impressed by Jill Freedman's strategy of actively talking to her subjects and her courage of working with NYPD at crime scene.

Gun Play, Street Cops, one of her photos of children, vividly depicts the gun play between two kids. The police officer in the back makes the story more dramatic. The other Jill's photo I posted here, Surf'n Turf, also amuses me by contrasting a homeless man with paintings of houses.

Boogie

It's all good

David Octavius Hill with Robert Adamson

Edinburgh from Calton Hill

1843

David Octavius Hill with Robert Adamson

The Scott Monument, Edinburgh

c.1843

David Octavius Hill with Robert Adamson

D.O. Hill and other in Greyfriars Churchyard

1844

August Sander

The Sage

1913

August Sander

Young Girl in Circus Caravan

1926

August Sander

The Painter Heinrich Hörle Drawing the Boxer Hein Domgören

1927-31

Karl Blossfeldt

Adiantum pedatum

1898-1926

Karl Blossfeldt

Saxifraga wilkommiana

1898-1928

I enjoyed reading about the evolution of the relationship between photography and art. Photography first appeared as a technical invention and was considered as a blasphemy to classical art. Later, photography, providing a reference of reality, aid painters and eventually became an inseparable part of art and shaped the aesthetics of other artistic works. 

Eye Tracking

Henri Cartier-Bresson

A figure in the shadows at the top of the stairs, Cyclades, Greece, 1961

William Klein

Sandra + Mirrors, Times Square, New York, Vogue, 1962

Garry Winogrand

New York, (two women hailing cab, one is pregnant; and two children playing pattycakes), 1968

Imagined Photographs

Photo 1:

When we were walking through Charles River Esplanade, we saw a man sitting on a bench with a painted guitar and a rusty bicycle on his side. He was staring at Charles River, so we decided to take a photo from the back. To fill the frame, we would place the man in the center and distribute the background vertically into three parts: grass, river, buildings on the Cambridge side and sky.

Photo 2: