Twenty-four photographs from the Lewis Hine archive have been auctioned in New York. The rare prints were from the collection of the late New York photographer Isador Sy Seidman.
American sociologist Hine was one of the most important documentary photographers of the 20th Century. Because the notion of photojournalism and documentary did not exist at the time, Hine called his projects “photo stories”, using images and words to fight for the causes he believed in.
The prints span Hine’s career and many are from his most well-known projects, centering on the poor and disadvantaged from the Carolinas, New York and Pittsburgh.
After documenting life in impoverished communities in Mexico, the United States, and her home country, Spain, Anna Bosch needed a break from misery.
She found it in Beirut, Lebanon.
That may sound odd, given that the city has been wracked by decades of civil war and conflict with Israel that has claimed thousands of lives and uprooted over a million more. Indeed, in Spain, Ms. Bosch said, “If you ask anyone what they know about Lebanon, they will say war, conflict and trouble.”
She sought out a less obvious story: How do Beirut’s elite live in a country that’s constantly on the brink of collapse?
Jonathan Higbee is a Street Photographer from New York City. In his words “Modern street photography is so exciting right now because it’s really forged its own path compared to its beginnings, and especially to its cousins, documentary, and reportage. This has fostered such a potent genre filled with artist license, conceptualism, experimentation and rule-breaking that still manages to produce photographs that reveal truths about everyday human culture and coexistence.”
Thanks Jonathan, for accepting our invite. Please read on…
6A Black and White Comparison: What Does Retouching Tell Us About Photojournalism?
This week, TIME magazine published James Nachtwey’s photo essay on the opioid crisis. Over his decades-long career, Nachtwey has carved out a reputation as a stoic and relentless documentarian of conflict and pain. His latest effort took over a year to produce, and it has all the hallmarks of great photojournalism, providing a level of intimacy and rawness that can only be captured with persistence and skill.
But one of the more noticeable aspects for me was the style of retouching. There was nothing outstanding about it, and by that, I don’t mean that the retouching wasn’t good – it just didn’t overwhelm. The retouching was subservient to the content of the photos.
