William Eggleston

William Eggleston (born 1939) is an American photographer. He is credited for increasing recognition of colour photography as a legitimate artistic medium.

This photo below is one of his most famous pieces of work, it appears that flash was used to take this photo as you can see the reflection of the flash above the light bulb. The light bulb has been positioned to be almost in the centre to make it clear that it is the subject. There is high contrast in this image between the white light bulb/wires and the colourful red background. The photo is quite saturated as colour is one of the main focuses of the photo. A shallow depth of field appears to be used as the bottom right of the image is out of focus whilst the centre is in focus. A quick shutter speed along with a low ISO appears to be used as the image is sharp and doesn’t have a lot of noise.

Colour is a major element of this photograph as it floods it all around except for the subject. There is a mixture of light tones in the wires and dark tones in the photo. There is a 3D effect in the photo as the light club is obviously closer than the corner of the room. It is quite a minimalist photo as there aren’t many different components – the only ones that stick out are the light bulb and the plain red background.

Eggleston was a pioneer in the use of colour in photography and in this image he is expressing his skills and showing how colour can bring an image to life and have an effect on the viewer.

Eggleston is trying to show that when a lot of colour is used, there doesn’t have to be a lot happening in the photo as the colour makes up for it and gives the viewer something appealing to look at.

Fred Herzog

Fred Herzog (born 1930) is a photographer known primarily for his photographs of life in Canada. He grew up in Germany but was evacuated in the second world war. His work focuses primarily on working class people and their connections to the city around them.

In the below photo, natural lighting appears to have been used as it is in a street. The photo has been set up so it is minimalistic – one third is the plain red door and the other two thirds are curtains with an arm poking out. There is not a massive range of tone in the image and the only real contrast is between the shadows and the curtains. A deep depth of field appears to have been used as the whole image is in focus. A quick shutter speed (possibly 1/60) appears to have been used along with a medium ISO as it is a sharp image with a small amount of noise.

The photo has been planned so that there is minimal colour – the only colourful item is the red door, this provides contrast of colour in the photo. There is a change of tone as it goes from light in the curtain to dark in the shadows. It is a very flat photo with no subjects appearing in the foreground. The eye is lead to the mysterious arm coming from behind the curtain.

The image is from his collection of images taken of the working class in the city of Vancouver. It shows the conditions and type of life that they live on a daily basis.

I think that by doing this Herzog is trying to express the differences in peoples lives. Someone living in the upper class in England may live in completely different conditions to the working class in Vancouver and this is Herzog’s way of making the world aware of everyones different situations.