Seek Inspiration

“We do not take pictures with our cameras, but with our hearts and minds.”
-Arnold Newman





I had the privilege of viewing the stunning black and white photographs of Arnold Newman, one of the great masters of the 20th and 21st century whose work has defined great portraiture.  The exhibit, Arnold Newman: Masterclass is free and open to the public until May 12 at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas campus in Austin. 


There were over 200 iconic photographs taken by a man who focused largely on capturing the essence of artists, cultural celebrities, movie stars, and political figure.  He insisted on shooting his subjects in their own personal surroundings.  Some of my favorites included Grandma Moses, Georgia O'Keefe, Marilyn Monroe, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali, to name just a few.  Photography was not allowed, and I honor that. But to see some of his images, you can go to http://www.arnoldnewmanarchive.com.

He also had a lot of self portraits. I was so inspired, I took one of myself while still on the premises. 
I am not very strong when it comes to portraiture  - my talents lie more in candidly capturing my subjects. But I couls see how Newman has influenced some of my favorite portrait photographers today, Joe McNally, Matthew Sturtevant, and my good friend, Patti Hale. I really did enjoy seeing how he chose to meticulously capture each of his subjects and tell a story about them just by using his composition.
We are so blessed to have so many free resources available to us. There is never any excuse not to be inspired by something around us. 


Happy shooting, friends. I know I have been enjoying doing so with the 365 project I took on this year. I have been posting a Photo a day for the past 92 days. Sometimes extremely challenging, often lots of fun, I encourage you to check it out by "friending" me (Chris Davis Cina) on Facebook.

 

Comments

  1. M K DeMayoApril 3, 2013 at 2:59 PM

    absolutely breathtaking and your words of inspiration are beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 3, 2013 at 5:14 PM

    loved your self-portrait (who better to practice on taking shots than yourself, right?!); and I admire you taking on a 365 day project - keep at it, I am no doubt one of many that looks forward to your daily photos.
    W'M

    ReplyDelete

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