Camera Use Week 3 Vantage Point and Fore/Mid/Back Ground Research

Vantage Point and Fore/Mid/Back Ground

Artist Research: 
1. William Klein

William Klein (born April 19, 1928) is an American-born French photographer and filmmaker noted for his ironic approach to both media and his extensive use of unusual photographic techniques in the context of photo journalism and fashion photography. He was ranked 25th on Professional Photographer's list of 100 most influential photographers. 
Information: Wikipedia.org
I have found through extensive research in class that Klein's photographs always have a lot of energy to them. 
Also, I find that there is always quite a bit of subject matter to focus on in his work. This makes for very interesting photographs that are not at all minimal but instead, serves as thinking pieces.

Some of his work is below:

In the above photograph - you can see the man in the foreground is slightly out of focus. This is because he isn't the main subject of the photograph. The men behind him (smoking, looking at the camera, policeman and wearing glasses) are truly in focus and reside in the mid-ground. The rest of the people and the buildings are all in the background, more out of focus than the rest of the images contents. I like how this image is laid out because Klein has literally captured these people in a moment of their lives that they are unaware is being captured. 

In this photograph of Klein's, quite a lot of subjects are in focus and in order to have done this, Klein must have used a rather large f-stop setting at a guess - about 11.0. The man on the bike sits in the foreground, being the main subject of the photograph. In the mid ground we have the main crossing the road, the man and woman on the bike behind the first man and the car behind them. In the background is the other people on the streets, the building and the tunnel.

As you can see, his work is very busy and there is a lot of matter to focus on. I feel as though the choice in black and white was not only necessary but, ironically, really brings the image to life. The simplicity of the colouring really brings out the detail in the composition and subject matter of the photograph. There is also clear evidence of matter in the fore, mid and background of the above images, really helping to create that "busy" feeling. This also makes Klein an exemplary photographer when researching Vantage Point and Fore/Mid/Back Ground centred photographs.