Lee Friedlander

Have you ever heard of someone who has been over 60 years into photography?If you haven't heard of anyone then this article is for you.I am talking about Lee Friedlander. You might be astonished that even at the age of 80 this man continues to click even today.

Born in Washington and learnt photography at the Art Center College of Design,California,he moved to the NYC in 1956 and began to photograph jazz musicians.He spent a lot of time photographing them.After all,that was the reason he came to NYC.Below is one the photo clicked by him....

      (c) Lee Friedlander -Charles Mingus, 1959

If you are into Jazz and would like to see photos of Jazz artists at one place there is a good news for you.You just need to go to Yale University Art Gallery and be ready to admire the greatest collection of Jazz artists self-portraits by Lee-all under one roof!

Lee did not photograph only Jazz artists he did pretty impressive works too.Now let me tell you something interesting.Lee is also well known for playing with shadows in his photographs.While you and me will try to avoid your shadow in the photos clicked by you,Lee creatively used this property of light to include himself in the photograph.Doesn't it sound interesting?See it yourself...

Great isn't it?So next time you are clicking a photograph,why not try it out?Its pretty impressive and creative strategy and its a great way of copyrighting your photographs too..:)

If you found his photography interesting,then you must have a look at his books.They are really a great way of learning photography as his books contain almost everything you need to know.Yeah,you read it right-everything-including the art of clicking self-portraits(or what is known as selfies today).

Joel Sternfeld-Another pioneer of Color Photography

Joel Sternfeld-from our very own New York City,feels nice,and why not,after all he is the one who helped establish color photography.Still continuing his awesome journey of color photography,his photos seem to make the world a better place to live because those can make even the saddest guy in the world happy owing to the life his photos depict.

Bagging 6 awards and  publishing 12 books (source:Wikipedia) is not everybody's cup of tea.One has to be master of his art to achieve such heights.His permanent collections in Museum of Modern Art in NYC and Getty Center in Los Angeles reflect the same.His greatness makes even other photographers follow his techniques and approaches.

Sternfeld's work is mainly concerned with large-format color photographs.Precisely people follow him for his techniques in street photography.If you google his name probably the first picture your eyes will see is this one-

His pictures essentially capture the essence of America-almost every bit if you see all his collections.He succeeds that by applying his observation of color to the everyday events and people he comes across as he travels.Every photographer craves to establish his style and has doubts about photography.It's not a big deal to become a great photographer like Sternfeld-you just need to travel,explore yourself and click!Always remember “the journey is its own reward.”

Raghubir Singh-My inspiration for photography

Raghubir Singh,who might have not heard his name he was the pioneer of color photography,anybody who has not heard his name is a noob to the great art of photography.Born in India in the same state where I was born,the royal state of Rajasthan ,I consider him as my idol.Even though he is not alive today,he still lives in my heart for the great pieces of works which always remain my source of inspiration.

Raghubir Singh is widely known for his tremendous amount of work that he did to pioneer color photography.He believed that the only way to depict contemporary India was through color photographs not through black and white ones which were prominent during his time.I like the vivid use of colors that can be seen in every photograph by him.It inspires me too to click photographs with plethora of colors.Below is one of his famous photographs "Pavement Mirror,West Bengal,1991"

The photograph depicts the colors of India,at the same time inspires one to work in chaos of India and still make sense and put it in order.To put the same photograph in black and white would be injustice,if you see-

One cannot see the amount of detail and the vividness the photographer wanted the viewer to see and therefore it is an injustice.You can put this this way- more the colors,more the details.In an interview with Time Magazine, Raghubir Singh said “To see India monochromatically, is to miss it altogether.”This statement inspires me to click pictures with maximum vividity of colors because wherever you take a picture in the world the same rule applies and to click pictures with less colors you miss the details.So next time you take a picture capture more colors and see the magic of colors yourself!