Paul Strand is an American photographer who helped define photography as an art form in the 1900s. This photograph is known as "Wire Whee" (1933).

This photograph focuses on the framing and detail of the car. The make/model of the car isn't really distinguishable, in part due to its age, but mostly to the intentional cropping. The picture shows half of the headlight, a fraction of the body, and half of the wheel. The image is very dark. The wheel has little detail outside of the silhouettes of the spokes. The ridges on the wire encasing leading to headlights show a bumpy texture, while the body looks really smooth. There's a bit fo a reflection in the headlights, but it's a very warped look at what appears to be the buildings near the cars. Little windows are visible

I liked this photograph for the way it's framed and the contrast. The blacks are really black. i can't see the tire. I can't tell how thick, how recessed, or how textured it is. It's just a shadow with spokes. And the more I look at it, the more confusing it gets. The placement of the headlight makes me think the wheel is on the right. But the more I try and distinguish it, the more it begins to look like its on the left. Weird.

Annemarie Heinrich is a German-born photographer who immigrated to Argentina. i also discovered her at the MALBA exhibit I mentioned in an earlier post. She originally studied dance, music, and scenography, which is noticeable in her artwork. A lot of what she made shows the influence from the art, theatre, and entertainment world.

This photograph is called "Self portrait with children" (1947). In it, we see Heinrich in the center-left of the image, with her camera positioned in the center. The camera is looking at a reflective, mirror-like ball or sphere, which is what gives us the reflection of the room. The aspect ratio of the picture is more square and only about as big as the sphere

Two children are visible. One is on the top-left edge looking down and the other is to the right of the camera, but more recessed in the room itself. The picture is interesting because of the vantage-point we get from the camera pointed downward at a reflection, presenting the room in this warped, fish-eyed way. There is a lot of natural light in the room, with some spots noticeably blown out by it, like the bottom-left corner.

I liked this picture because of the body language in the people. Heinrich is looking away from the ball, which shows us her side profile. The boy that is looking down, he's not a reflection. Because of the way his face isn't warping, especially considering he's at the edge of the ball, which would disrot him more, we can tell he's between the camera and the ball. And the other child in the back is in this contorted position, looking at the camera with a sense of intrigue. It's all very interesting.

Geoff Winningham is an American photographer that lives and teaches in Houston, Texas.

I chose this image because it's black and white and it gives the glimpse at an idyllic summer in Austin, Texas.

The composition of the picture is interesting. Winningham opted to include two subjects, a woman and a sailboat, in the frame. Each in opposite corners. The woman is shielded by tree foliage, while the boat is in open waters. The leaves separate the two subjects, but they also change the dynamic. Instead of there being just water and waves between the two, the leaves, which keeps the picture more interesting. Not to mention it gives the woman a sense of secrecy or exclusivity, even though we know that the leaves only do that from this higher angle.

I liked this picture because of the mood it has. It makes me think of summer. The sailboat in the top right and the woman about to skinny dip in the bottom left depict what Austin is like. Or was like. The whole "keep austin weird" and people enjoying the various bodies of water in and near the city. I also liked how he didn't give the water that much prominence. It would've been easy to get mostly water between the two subjects, but instead there is a lot more of the tree

I first heard of Horacio Cappola when I was abroad in Buenos Aires last Spring. There was an exhibit at the MALBA on Buenos Aires photography that included many artists. (I may blog about others from this exhibit later). Cappola was Argentine photographer who is known for his photogrpahs of Buenos Aires in the 1930s. He is credited with introducing avante-garde phtography to Argentina.

This photograph is called "Calle Corrientes" which is a prominent street in Buenos Aires. The picture is shot from a high altitude. So the camera is kind of looking down at the street. The photo has buildings in the lower and middle horizontal thirds, while the top third is mostly sky with some clouds and a portion of a building jutting into it.

The road appears to almost divide the picture in two vertical halves, but ends just a bit above the center of the picture. It's an interesting effect. The road is the brightest part of the picture, since Cappola had to use a longer shutter time for enough light to hit the film. As a result, some of the lights closest to the obelisk in the center have that streak effect. Closer to where he was positioned the road appears much calmer, with parked cars visible but no discernible movements.

With regards to contrast, the photograph has really deep blacks and bright whites. It's especially noticable in the windows of the buildings in the foreground. the obelisk is the whitest point.

I like this photo. I think in part because I liked the city and the train I took in the mornings ran under Corrientes. I'm a fan of the glow that the street gives off. With dark buildings flanking it. I think the balance of city to sky is good. Makes it clear that the city, especially the street, is the focus of the image.