Essay on two photographers

In this essay I am looking at two photographers for my location photography unit. Both photographers had to be taken from ones I had looked at threw out this unit. The first photographer I am going to write about is Bernice Abbott, her photography is based in a documentary style as she takes photographs that show life in the 1930's during the Great Depression. I like how her photographs reflect the time she lived in, they show architecture mostly in the Art Deco style popular during that decade. Her photographs are in black and white and I think this adds to the feeling that the Great Depression is quite a dark and bleak time in history, I know that at that time black and white photography was the main choice as colour was expensive. Her style of photography is more complex than other photographers as she seemed to use many different styles but I'd say it would be documentary photography.  One thing I take from her work is that it is Important to take pictures of not just nice things but also things that are real, things such as poverty because these things people often don't want to see. I also find it interesting to think what she was thinking when she took these photographs, what went through her mind during that moment. In contrast I am a fan of her architecture photography which she takes her pictures, from different views and shots. Over all I do like her photography as she is documenting an important part of our history.

Ansel Adams is the second photographer I am looking at in this essay. I really like his photography it is very much different to my last as it is landscape photography he takes. His photographs are amazing scenes in nature which are taken during the 1950s or 1960s he still uses black and white photography and this makes his work dramatic and really draws attention to the landscape. His photographs often feature mountains, clouds, rivers or lakes in the United States; they don't seem to have an age as they are in nature and could easily be taken now, because they are timeless as black and white is still widely used. When Adams took his pictures he would have had to plan what he was going to take to get his picture at the right moment and angle which to me seems very complicated and not just taken quickly.

Both these photographers have one thing in common but they are completely different in style and subject. They both black and white photography perhaps for different reasons due to the subject matter of their photographs, for example Adams seems to use black and white photography to bring out the drama of the landscape and draw the eye to the contrasts. Abbot however uses this to show life during the Great Depression and also black and white photography was likely to main the main choice then as coloured photography had yet to take off. Subject matter is the largest difference between these photographers.