Photograph 1

  In the 1850s Gustave Le Gray was one of the most important figures. He was born in Paris as an only child. He played a vital role in the beginnings of photography. Le Gray was an incredibly accomplished man and he was very well known. Le Gray said “It is my deepest wish that photography, instead of falling within the domain of industry, of commerce, will be included among the arts. That is its sole, true place, and it is in that direction that I shall always endeavor to guide it. ” I think that what he said was beautiful, and it leads me to think that if not for men like him photography may never have become a form of art. Above is a photo by Gustave Le Gray. I really enjoy his work and have found that I also have a soft spot for black and white images. I find them so beautiful and refreshing. They force you to look at a landscape in a new way. We are surrounded by color every day in everything we do, and it is a big part of our lives. When you look at a landscape I feel the color

               Richard Avedon said, "The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph, it is no longer a fact but an opinion. There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth." I agree with him because photographs capture a moment in time and they always capture it accurately however what is portrayed in that image may not be the truth. When it comes to photographs they are incapable of telling the truth. In portraits people are always smiling because they want to look happy for their picture even if they’re not happy. Everyone tries to be the best version of themselves in front of the camera. It's like an instinct people have. The moment a camera is pointed at you, you are no longer you, you immediately change who you are to fit the camera. Even if you think you are being truthful in an image, an image only captures one moment. Our lives unfold in a million different moments, either big or small

  I had no real reason or inspiration for my image. I had a really nice summer with my family and we went out a lot, so I wanted to kind of try and include all the different times we went out into one image. When it comes to my work I really only like doing shoots of my family, of nature, or abstract art. In the past when I did surrealist work my work tended to be a lot more abstract and I wanted to try and make something that was more realistic. I wanted to try something new and I also wanted to try something a little harder. When working on this I had to make sure that the exposures matched well, that the water and shadows lined up, and that everything was well blended so it didn’t look fake. I think I could have blended my siblings in better but I didn’t want to make them look blurry or transparent. The boy is my brother Josh, the blond girl is my sister Gabby, and the other girl is my sister Jacklynn, they are all younger than me. I surprisingly had a lot of fun photographing them.

  Magnum photographer Thomas Hoepker said, "I strongly believe in documentary photography, in taking pictures of real life. When I looked at the pictures from our photographers, there were some that were wonderful or clever compositions, but they emphasized the artistry in photography rather than telling the story. We didn’t put those pictures in this book. I don’t think they belong in this book because they do not serve its purpose, which is to bear witness. In a moment like this you must be very humble. When something like this happens, nothing you do can adequately respond to the monstrosity of the event." I both agree and disagree with this quote. I agree because you should not be focusing more on the artistic side of a tragic event such as 9/11 than the actual event. If all you care about is the artistic side you diminish the importance of the event. And in a way you are telling others that you didn’t really care. I also believe that you should not try and make somethi