UNIT 3 LIGHT AND SHADOW PHOTOGRAPHERS UAL PHOTOGRAPHY LEVEL 2 - OPTIONAL TASK

 

Brief - To research two photographers renowned for their use of Light and Shadow.



FAN HO

Born in Shanghai in 1931, Fan Ho began photographing at the age of fourteen, and just like Cartier Bresson, he started with a Box Brownie camera. Later on, he mostly used a Rollieflex twin-lens Reflex camera that he received as a gift from his father. His photos are mostly centred around the genres of street photography and urban life, such as slums, markets, and streets. He and his family emigrated to Hong Kong in 1949 so he had a chance to capture the transformation of the city into a major metropolitan centre during the nineteen fifties and sixties.


Construction      Hong Kong  1957

One of Fan Ho's most famous photos, ‘Approaching Shadow’ (below) was taken in 1954. He asked his cousin to pose for him by the wall at Queen’s College in Causeway Bay. This is typical of his photography. He was not scared of directing his subjects, so they ultimately enhanced the composition he envisioned. His cousin, as placed in the picture is a stark contrast to the man-made environment, and the whole picture is split with a diagonal shadow. I personally love Fan Ho's use of geometry in general.


Approaching Shadows   1954


Fan Ho said of 'Approaching Shadows', 

“The shadow symbolizes her destiny, as her youth will fade away”.

That particular photographic print sold for almost fifty thousand US Dollars.


Fan Ho started to photograph Hong Kong at the age of eighteen, and his incredible skill of using so many photographic techniques simultaneously, was already evident, or maybe at that time his ‘feel’ for photography was evident, since he was predominantly self-taught.
Fan Ho preferred to take  black and white photographs because, he said, 


“Black and white offered some distance between the scene, and real life”.


Unlike Cartier-Bresson and many street photographers, Fan Ho actively enjoyed cropping. He said, “It feels like making a movie” and he also very much enjoyed the editing process  as a whole. When he was young, he used the family’s bathtub to develop his images in.

Trio        1956

‘Photography needs to be haunting and worth remembering’     Fan Ho


I like Fan Ho for his use of the stark contrast between light and shadow. And, for the fact he loved a good crop, as do I. I believe that being able to edit and crop a photograph is part of the photographer's skill in creating a cohesive finished image. It was ground breaking for a Chinese man in the nineteen thirties to decide to focus on photography rather than another profession. So, I admire that about Fan Ho, as well, he was a maverick. He documented the emerging and developing human civilisation of Hong Kong, so is additionally an important documentary  photographer of historical change. Fan Ho won over two hundred awards for his photography.
 

 

Viviane Sassen

Viviane Sassen was born in 1972, she is a Dutch artist-photographer, living in Amsterdam. She  spent three years in Africa in her youth. This made a huge impact on her life and artistic expression, which is clearly evident in her work. She is a fashion photographer and also an artist in the Fine Art world. She has commented that 'Photography allows me to explore the two sides of my personality'. 

The fashion work allows her to explore her extroverted side working within a large team while her artwork explores her introverted side – she works alone in this medium. She is known for her use of geometric shapes, often  the abstractions of bodies. She uses bright colour and uses hard light including the use of wonderful shadows.


She has been widely published and exhibited. She was included in the 2011 New Photography exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art New York.  She has created campaigns for Miu Miu, Hermes, Stella McCartney, and Louis Vuitton, among others. She has won the Dutch Prix de Rome Award in 2007. 

 


In and Out     Magazine 2010

Shadow Spider     2011


Ayel    2010


I really enjoy Vivienne Sassen’s use of bright colours and surreal imagery. You do not automatically ever think  'Colour' when you think of light and shadow photographs, so I love the originality of her work in that sense. That she then also chooses to photograph underrepresented black models and showcases and celebrates Africa, a country that has been continually 'taken from' and underrepresented, I admire too. Some of my favourite genres of photography are Fashion, Editorial and Abstract Art, and I think Sassen straddles all three genres brilliantly.

I find her photographs very powerful, moving and surreal. Being a feminist, I love the fact she is a successful woman in several male-dominated arts industries.




CREDITS

The Independent Photographer

Wikipedia

Artsy

Lens Culture

https://www.viviansassen.com


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