Week 3: Camera Use: Artist Tina Modotti & Bernd and Hilla Becher

Tina Modotti (August 16 (or 17) 1896 – January 5, 1942) was an Italian photographer, model, actress, and revolutionary political activist for the Komintern.

Tina Modotti in the film The Tiger's Coat (1920)

TINA MODOTTI

Photographer and Revolutionary

1st of July to 7th of November 2010

In the exhibition “TINA MODOTTI – Photographer and Revolutionary”, KUNST HAUS WIEN presents a comprehensive retrospective of a legendary photographer who has still not received the attention she deserves. Tina Modotti, who was born in 1896 in Udine, Italy and died in 1942 in Mexico, was one of the most fascinating women of the 20th century. She became famous as a result of the photographs she created in Mexico in the 1920s and her involvement in the revolutionary movements of her time.

Artnews.org: Tina Modotti at Kunsthaus Wien Vienna

www.artnews.org580 × 450

Tina Modotti, Staircase, Mexico City, um 1924, © Galerie Bilderwelt, Berlin

Reference: http://www.artnews.org

01 July 2010 - 07 November 2011

The staircase is in focus foreground, mid and background. This is a high angle photo and wide DOF. Leading lines (staircase & banister), tight crop forming triangles a good composition. 

Masters of Photography: Tina Modotti

www.masters-of-photography.com612 × 480

Tina Modotti Woman with olla

Reference: http://www.masters-of-photography.com

The foreground and mid ground are in focus, background out of focus. Narrow DOF the photo is taken straight angle. The focus is on the heavy jar of  water. The jar is on the rule of thirds positive space.

Bernd and Hilla Becher

2. 

   Bernd Becher

   Conceptual Artist
3. Bernhard "Bernd" Becher, and Hilla Becher, née Wobeser, were German conceptual artists and photographers working as a collaborative duo.Wikipedia
5. Born: August 20, 1931, Siegen, Germany
6. Died: June 22, 2007, Rostock, Germany
7. Spouse: Hilla Becher (m. 1961–2007)
8. Education: Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
9. Books: Cooling Towers, Framework Houses of the Siegen Industrial Region
10. Awards: Erasmus Prize, Hasselblad Award

    
    

    The 'Gas Tanks' negative space is constant and the cropping of each 'Gas Tank'. A wide DOF, high angle to photograph the tanks. When you glance at the photo the tanks all look the same. Each tank has it own details and markings interesting concept.

    

    
    
11. Reference: http://c4gallery.com
    
    
    Both trained artists, the couple were clearly keenly aware of the purely graphic essence of the photographs they made within a given ‘type’ - as the aforementioned effect  clearly benefits from the ensuing tension between the graphic and architectural/cultural identities. This is perhaps best illustrated in the work, ‘Gas Tanks’, below. Great pains are made to ensure graphic standards are followed in the rendering of the tanks - their sizes and relationship to surrounding negative space is clearly a constant they attempt to maintain with great effort and precision. And indeed, it works.