This document provides biographical information on three photographers - Chris Killip, Diane Arbus, and Mary Ellen Mark. It discusses their backgrounds, styles of photography, and provides analysis of individual photos taken by each photographer. Key points include: Chris Killip photographed communities in Northern England impacted by deindustrialization. Diane Arbus photographed marginalized groups and used direct flash lighting. Mary Ellen Mark addressed social issues through portrait photography and worked primarily in black and white.
1. Chris Killip
Chris Killip was born 11 July 1946 in Douglas, Isle of Man and in 1964 moved to
London where he worked as an assistant to the advertising photographer Adrian
Flowers. In 1969 he stopped his commercial work to concentrate on the photography
that he wanted to do. In 1969 he moved back to the Isle of Man, photographing it
extensively.
In 1974 he was commissioned to photograph Bury St Edmunds and Huddersfield, and
in 1975 he won a two-year fellowship from Northern Arts to photograph the
northeast of England; Creative Camera devoted its entire May 1977 issue to this work.
In 1988 Killip was commissioned by Pirelli U.K. which thought that he might
photograph its tire factory in Burton; agreement on this was reached in April the next
year, whereupon Killip started work.
From 1992 until 2004, Killip photographed pilgrimages and other scenes in rural
Ireland; the result was published in 2009 by Thames & Hudson as Here Comes
Everybody.
Killip is the recipient of numerous awards, including the second Henri Cartier-Bresson
Award (for In Flagrante). He has exhibited all over the world, written extensively,
appeared on radio and television, and has curated many exhibitions
2.
3. This photo was taken in 1980, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It is called Father and Son.
The picture was published in a book called In Flagrante, the book was a series of
photographs showing the communities in Northern England that were devastated by the
deindustrialisation common to policies carried out by Thatcher and her predecessors
starting in the mid-1970s.
4. When Chris Killip photographs people he is trying to show the hardships that they have
been through or are going through. He photographs in mainly black and white, which is
effective in what he is trying to show because it causes no distractions and people really
look at the subject of the image.
The subjects that Killip have photographed are not usually posed majorly, they seem to
be doing different activities or look as though Killip has taken the photo as a passer by
rather than making them pose for a picture, this makes the images seem more real and
make a viewer want to know more about the subjects of the images as they aren’t smiling
or posing at the camera, you can tell more about a person when they aren’t posed or
putting on an act for the camera.
Killip uses lighting well as the faces of his subjects are always more visible than the rest of
them, making is clear that he wants you to see the expressions of their faces.
5. Diane Arbus
Diane Arbus was born on March 14, 1923 in New
York City. She was an American photographer,
famous for her black and white portraits of
deviant and marginal people (dwarfs, giants,
transgender people, nudists, circus performers).
She married Allan Arbus at the age of eighteen,
the two were both interested in photography
and in 1946 they started up a commercial
photography business called "Diane & Allan
Arbus," with Diane as art director and Allan as
the photographer. They contributed to
Glamour, Seventeen, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar,
and other magazines even though "they both
hated the fashion world."
In 1956 Arbus quit the commercial photography
business. Although she had previously studied
photography with Berenice Abbott, her studies
with Lisette Model in 1956 led to Arbus's most
well-known methods and style.
6.
7. This photograph, took in 1967 is of two twin girls. They are both dressed the same
against a plain background, meaning they are the only subject in the image. The girls
are both looking directly into the camera, this is effective because it makes the viewer
really look at them, they start to see that although at first glance they are identical, if
you look a little more closely you start to notice differences.
With a lot of Arbus’ photography the subjects are looking directly into the camera and
are lit by direct flash or other frontal lighting.
8. I think the way that Diane Arbus photographs people looking directly in to the camera is
very effective because it makes the viewer want to know more about the subject, you can
see more about the person by looking at their facial expressions than when looking at
where they are, what they're doing or what they're wearing. I also think that her use of
black and white is effective for the same reason, you aren’t distracted by anything in the
background as all the colours are blended in and don’t stand out, instead you are just
looking at the person in the image which was Arbus’ intention.
I’m not sure that I like all of Arbus’ work, although I do think she had a very good way of
getting people to look at the people she photographed in a different light then they usually
would if they passed them on the streets.
9. Mary-Ellen Mark
Mary Ellen Mark was born March 20, 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
She is an American photographer known for her photojournalism, portraiture, and
advertising photography.
She first began photographing with a Box Brownie camera at age nine. she has
a BFA degree in painting and art history from the University of Pennsylvania in 1962,
and a Masters Degree in photojournalism from that university's Annenberg School for
Communication in 1964.
Her photography has addressed such social issues as homelessness, loneliness, drug
addiction, and prostitution. She works primarily in black and white.
Mark became a unit photographer on movie sets, shooting production stills for films
including Arthur Penn's Alice's Restaurant (1969), Mike Nichols' Catch-
22 (1970), Carnal Knowledge (1971) and Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse
Now (1979) among her earliest.
Her photography has addressed such social issues as homelessness, loneliness,
drug addiction, and prostitution.
10. Mary Ellen Mark is a portrait photographer, she mainly works in
black and white, using classic Kodak Tri-X film.
11. This photograph was taken in December, 1987 when Mary Ellen Mark spent a week
following a homeless family for a photography project to be feature in LIFE accompanying an
article wrote by Anne Fadiman.
The photo is of the oldest child in the family, Chrissy, aged 8. In this photograph you can see
that Chrissy is clearly upset by something, she is the main focal point of the image, behind
her is a window, not much can be seen outside of it.
The picture is in black and white, I think that this makes anyone who is looking at this
photograph look more closely at the features of the girls face, they are not distracted by
anything else.
12. I like this photograph by Mary Ellen Mark because of how it shocks the viewer, it is of a
young girl named Amanda and her cousin Amy. Amanda is the girl stood up in the
paddling pool, she is only nine years old yet she is smoking and mimicking actions of
someone much older than herself.
This image is in black and white, I think this is effective because a viewer isn’t distracted
by anything in the background as it is all quite plain and dull, whereas the two girls and
the pool are much lighter, drawing your eyes to them.
I think that images like this make a viewer want to find out more about the subjects and
who they are. Something that I would like to happen with my photography.