Elliot Erwitt

USSR. Russia. Moscow. Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon.1959

    Erwitt is said to be one of the masters of true, "in the moment" photography. And I think this picture is a damn good example of that. This picture comes from the height of the Cold War, where Richard Nixon is emphatically pointing a finger into the chest of Nikita Khrushchev. This is a pretty important image in the context of international diplomatic history, and shows just how tense the struggle between the US and the USSR was at some points. 

     It is interesting that Khrushchev, who was on the more open minded edge of the Soviets and pushed to allow freedom of expressions in the arts in Russia, should be captured in such a medium by such a renowned artist as Erwitt. 

Sally Mann

1972-1973

I'm always a sucker for beautiful, impressive landscapes, but I'm not sure how I feel about them being in black and white. For me, what is consistently beautiful in a landscape is the colors. But this picture has caused me to think more about what it takes to make a landscape so beautiful. Is it the colors? Or is there something more impressive about it? 

This is definitely an impressive landscape, yet it lacks colors. What makes it so impressive to me? It's got something to do with the lighting. Perhaps, what can be most impressive in landscape isn't the colors at all, but rather something even more fundamental to all photography--ferocious lighting. 

Arnold Newman

John F

     When it comes to portraiture and environmental photography, Newman definitely sets the standard high. So much of who a person is has a lot to do with their environment. A person's desires, tastes, ideas, goals, and even strengths and weaknesses can be heavily influenced by the world directly around them. And Newman consistently gets this right when he does his portrait work. He almost seems to put the subject in a secondary position, with their environment being he main focus. 

     This image above, simply titled "John F" is truly a great one. It's a great one because it has a way of capturing a great man (John F. Kennedy) in a way that shows the greatness that was not JFK's but that influenced him and surrounded him. This portrait shows the greatness of architectural and governmental might that is U.S. Politics in many ways, how how these great ideas of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness influenced JFK into the president that he was.

Ernst Haas

New England, 1960 

     I get homesick very easily. Not being native to New York City, I am both attracted to it's urban setting and energy, yet uncomfortable by it's intense "concrete jungle" and constant speed. I am from a fairly rural area in upstate New York, way North along the Mohawk River. I love the countryside, I love old winding roads through the woods, and simple people who love where they live and care for no other place. Obviously, New England is different from upstate New York, but this picture has a way of capturing a little bit of home for me. When I saw it, I was moved to homesickness, yet comforted by it's hue and composition. 

Haas has done something great for me in this image. He has brought a little bit of home back to my heart, and it has done me a great comfort. 

Michael Kenna

Altar and Prie-Dieu, Hautvillers, Champagne-Ardenne, France. 2001

Church architecture has always been one of my favorites. As a young man, I enjoy seeking out beautiful churches, going inside them and then forgetting to pray because I'm too busy marveling at the beauty of their interiors. When I see a beautiful church from the outside, I can't help but marvel at it's figure, the hight of it's bell towers, the symmetry of it's masonry, the density of it's color, and the structure of it's design. It is fitting that the places set aside for the worship and veneration of an all perfect, all beautiful God, work so hard to imitate that essence of the divine. You know a beautiful church when simply entering into it's interior is enough to calm your heart of the biggest and baddest storms that are raging within. But this blog isn't about churches or Catholicism, rather it's about photography. So, I found some Michael Kenna photo's that particularly capture--in a very simple black and white way--the interesting beauty of churches around the world.

 With that said, I can look at the works of Michael Kenna and see a beauty in capturing architecture in strictly black and white. It adds a duality as well as a refined, crisp, cool, peaceful, and eerie attitude towards the shots. As I grow in my enjoyment of taking shots of church architecture, I look forward to using more black and white.

Sacred Heart, Chimayo, New Mexico, USA. 1993

Cloisters, Study 1, Mont St. Michel, France. 2000

Ave Maria Shrine, Venice, Italy. 2008

Six Saints, Notre Dame, Paris, France. 2012

Mike and Stan, my inspiration.

     As an amateur photographer, when I think about those who or what inspires me, I can't help but think beyond just their work into the character that infuses their work. I think mainly of two people: my friend Stan, and a photographer local to my area named Mike Colangelo.

     Stan comes to mind first because he is the one who allowed my to play around with his camera last year, growing my interests into something more than just casual thought. By playing around with his camera, I found through my own taste for photography as well as others interests that I wanted to but a camera of my own and adopt this great, new hobby. Once I had a camera, it was with Stan that I would go out for walks with and get a sense of "the basics," things like lighting and subject focus and shutter-speed. We would work together on photography projects or event in our area. As fellow seminarians studding together last year at Cathedral Seminary House of Formation, it was Stan and I who tag-teramed various seminary events in order to capture images for the sake of our own Facebooks and the seminary yearbook. We would take regular trips to B&H to marvel at the latest and greatest gear, wishing we had more money to afford it all. But then, when I would get caught up in "gear glory," he would remind me that great photography isn't so much about having the best gear, but having the skill and passion needed to truly embrace photography and take the best pictures.

     As a writer, I enjoy writing most about a place that means a whole lot to me, my hometown of Rome, New York. Rome is a small city in the Mohawk Valley in the center of New York State. Rome is my home, its streets were my playground growing up, and its people are my family. Mike Colangelo is known as one of the best local photographers because he puts his talent and skill into bringing out the best beauty--both culturally and physically--of Rome in hist pictures. As I became more interested in photography, Mike showed me that it's possible to express my love for Rome through the images of her beauty that I take. Mike also uses his pictures for more prosperous reasons. People have lost faith in their city, and Mike uses his pictures to restore that faith in the beauty of the place we call home. He uses his art to support local businesses and charity, as well as his local "fame" to work with politicians and event organizers to better advertise, plan, and manage events to make our city better. I've never actually met Mike, but his pictures have really taught me the power of photography in influencing and encouraging a community and inspiring it's people.