Berger, Parr, Eggleston, Penn and Rankin

John Berger

John Berger was born in 1926 in Hackney, London. He started his career as a painter. While teaching drawing, Berger became an art critic. His strong opinions on modern art made him a very controversial figure early on in his career.

In 1958, Berger published his first novel A Painter of our Time and in 1972 the BBC broadcast his television series Ways of Seeing. It consisted of 4 separate 30 minute films, in which Berger raises questions about hidden ideologies in visual images.

Martin Parr

Martin Parr, born in 1952 in Epsom, is a British photographer that takes a critical look at aspects of modern life, in particular provincial and suburban life in England. He takes photographs of the everyday life of people in England.

In 1992, to create his book Signs of the Times: A Portrait of the Nation's Tastes, Parr went into the homes of ordinary people, shooting the mundane aspects of their lives. Combined with quotes from his subjects, these images brought the viewers uncomfortably close to the subjects.

William Eggleston

William Eggleston is an American photographer, born on July 27, 1939 in Memphis, Tennessee. Much like Martin Parr, Eggleston takes photographs of the mundane. However, Eggleston is often more extreme.

In 1973, Eggleston taught at Harvard. During this time, he discovered 'dye-transfer' printing. Dye-transfer printing was advertised as the ultimate print. Eggleston immediately learnt everything there was about dye-transfer printing and found the colour saturation and the quality of the ink overwhelming. This way of printing resulted in one of Eggleston's most famous prints entitled The Red Ceiling, which is shown above.

I quite like Eggleston's work. He has an amazing way of taking you on an adventure with your mind. The images and their composition make you think about the images and not take them on face value. A lot of his images also have an amazing way of conveying the subject's emotions. For example this image I have inserted above of the man with the revolver. It makes you wonder why this man is posing the way he is. What is he doing with that revolver? What is going on in this man's mind? I hope to take some inspiration from his work and use it in my future work. It really offers a look into the lives of normal people, doing their everyday things. Brilliant.

Irving Penn

Born June 16, 1917 in Plainfield, New Jersey, Irving Penn was an American photographer who was most known for his high end fashion photography, portraits and still lives. Penn was among the first photographers to pose subjects against a simple grey or white backdrop and used this simplicity more effectively than other photographers. Penn often used discarded items in his still lives, including dead flowers. He took photographing everyday items to another level.

Using the simplistic grey backdrop, Penn has photographed a huge amount of celebrities. Al Pacino, Nicole Kidman, Picasso, Woody Allen, Truman Capote and many more. Personally, I love his style. The black & white images are stunning.

Rankin

John Rankin Waddell, working name Rankin, born 1966, is an English portrait and fashion photographer.

Rankin is quite similar to Penn in certain aspects. Like Penn, Rankin also takes photographs of discarded items such as dead flowers and old cans. However, he too is known for his fashion photography. While studying at the London College of Printing, Rankin formed a working relationship with Jefferson Hack. Once graduated, the two started a magazine called Dazed & Confused. In 1999, Hack and Rankin founded Dazed Film & TV. In 2000, Rankin launched his own quarterly fashion magazine RANK. His many subjects have included Britney Spears, Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue, The Spice Girls, Madonna, David Bowie and many, many more.

Some of these photographers aren't really to my taste. However, the styles of Penn and Rankin, combined with the stories and emotions shown in the photographs of Eggleston are definitely something I'm hoping to include into my own future work. Portraits are an area of photography I am very interested in, so they're photographers that will inspire me for sure in my quest of the perfect image.



Image Sources:
http://newlinearperspectives.wordpress.com/fiction/animal-talk-hearing-john-berger/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Martin-Parr_rennes2010.jpg
http://www.fandor.com/blog/spontaneous-revelations-in-william-eggleston-photographer
http://artblart.com/tag/william-egglestons-guide/
http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f71/irving-penn-photographer-21771-5.html
http://thesocietyofthespectacle.com/2009/01/the-authenticity-of-irving-penn/
http://argusvlinder.weblog.nl/cultuur/national-portrait-gallery-irving-penn/
http://theweakestleg.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/rankin-portraits.html