There is a subtle influence of composition on his works though, due to his interest in painting before he came a photographer. 1 We can observe his ability to capture the decisive moment, producing a ‘snapshot’ of what the eye saw in a fleeting instant, with a “cosmopolitan understanding” of the scene-2 using his mom Lexical cameras he produced images which, usually featuring only a few characters, encapsulated the personalities, emotions and circumstances of a scene. By focusing on the crowd or characters rather than the affair, Carelessness evoked mood and feeling in his images.
With this theme tot emotion running throughout all his work, we can observe that he grasped the inner relationships of human beings, motif which distinguished his work from that of others. 4 In the time of the great magazines before the dominance of television, photojournalism was featured on elaborate spreads and reached a wide audience. Carrier-Browser co- founded ‘Magnum’, a photography agency which allowed photojournalists to publish their work in major magazines whilst keeping rights to their work. As a photojournalist Carrier-Browser recorded life and events in times and places like China before and during its industrial revolution, India and Indonesia throughout their independence and the United States throughout its post-war economic rookeries. He utilized the ‘photo essay to tell the story behind his images, acclaimed for his images Of I unknown author, 2000, Henry Carrier-Browser [online], Photo Seminars. Available from: http://www. Photographers. Com/Fame/browser. HTML> [Accessed 26/3/201 1]. 2 Emanuel, P. C 2006 Inside the Photograph: Writings on Twentieth Century Photography, Aperture Foundation, New York, p 230. Unknown author, 2000, pop. Cit. Henry Carrier-Browser. 4 Galas, P. 2010, Henry Carrier-Browser: The Modern Century “Introduction” [online, audio], Museum of Modern Art. Available from: http://Momma. Org/explore/multimedia/audios/199> [Accessed 26/3/2011]. 5 unknown author, 2011, History of Magnum [online], Magnum Photos. Available from: http://agency. Magnusson. Com/about}history> (accessed 27/3/2011], Shindig’s funeral, Indian’s independence and China’s industrial revolution,6 He created images which documented and defined the West’s understanding and interpretation of these events.
Shanghai [Plate I] is an example officiator- Forenoon’s photojournalism taken just before the impending Communist Revolution. The Great Leap coward, China [Plate 2] is a photo essay by Carrier- Browser following a four month trip to China, in which he generates and details, through seemingly mundane photographs, the Story Of China’s industrialization. Carrier-Browser visited the Soviet Union twice, and the second in the early sass resulted in a bleak, glum body Of work, emulated in Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) [Plate 31. Shanghai [Plate 11 is a superb example of Carrier-Forenoon’s best photojournalist work.
With the imminent rule of Communism, Chinese people rushed to the bank to exchange their paper money. Which would soon be worthless, for gold. It is an interesting situation that is being conveyed, as other Asian nations at he time (India, Indonesia and Burma) were gaining independence, yet the Chinese Nationalists were about to be defeated by the Communists. 7 As with nearly all of his photos, Carrier-Browser captured this image with a mom Lexical. The standing figures create a distinctive foreground and background, as well as providing direction for the eye across the image from left to right, due to the way they are facing.
This delicate use of composition allows for order within the photograph despite its chaotic subject. This photograph is evocative of the situation, so much so that it is elevated to the level of a metaphor, for all crowds n all places,8 With this representation of a common scene throughout the world Carrier-Browser conveys the moment, the emotions and the circumstances of the scene. He has documented an event, not literally, but by the people’s reaction to it; this communicates to the viewer more feeling, more atmosphere and more of a reaction. 6 Galas, P. 2010, pop. It. “Introduction. ” 7 Galas, P. 2010, pop. Cit. “Shanghai, China. 1948. “8 Galas, P. 2010, pop. Cit. “Shanghai, China. 1948. ” A photo essay comprises of a collection of images and captions which together tell a Story. Carrier-Forenoon’s photo essay The Great Leap Forward, China, 1958 commenced the industrial revolution of China under the communist rule of Mao TTS-Dung. The photos were unallocated, simple depictions of people at work or in the street, accompanied by captions which were specified their actions and their place in the greater scheme of the revolution.
This image of an oil rigger cleaning his drill in the bare Gobi Desert [Plate 2] appears to be simply a portrayal of a man at work, which Carrier-Browser did very well; he not only captured their physical labor and exertion but also their engagement with machines. The story behind this image, and the others in the photo essay, gives t more implication in that the audience now understands the context of the subject, the symbolism tot the image and the greater scheme behind what this photograph delineates. This was what photojournalism of the time embodied; the wider picture. Again there is sensitive composition, mainly in the form of contrast between the stark, denuded landscape and the colossal machinery, emphasized by the machine’s dominance within the frame. On his second trip to the Soviet Union, Carrier-Browser presented a very different Russia from the one shown in work from his first trip. His first visit was significant s he was the first Western photographer permitted to enter the Soviet Union since Joseph Stalin had died a year earlier; ICC maybe he did not want to then produce bleak and melancholy images, which eventually came after his second visit in the early I gags.
Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) [Plate 3] is from the work Carrier-Browser made on his second trip. Compositionally, the photograph features a low horizon line, a technique Which allows the eye 9 Galas, P. 2010, pop. Cit. “China. 1958. “10 Galas, P. 2010, pop. Cit. “Leningrad, Soviet Union. 1973. ” To be drawn by the large white buildings to the space in between them, and onto the expansive sky. The power lines also provide a focal point in the top. Left corner, which then leads your eye across and down the image, Subtle composition, but it is integral to the image.
