In my opinion, the original photograph is probably the strongest image out of the seven. Extreme editing is not always necessary and in this case, the least possible editing is probably best. However, out of the photographs edited in Picasa, I tend to prefer the very saturated one, because naturally the picture is not very saturated and adding saturation makes the leaf stand out. I also like the one where I added highlights and shadows because although the photograph is already quite contrasty, a little more contrast makes it interesting. On the other hand, there are some weaker images, such as the graduated tint, which in my opinion looks unreal and too edited for my preference. I also am not a big fan of the soft focus one. The photograph already had a great deal of blur, and adding some makes the image weaker and less interesting.
Walker Evans was a 20th century photographer from Missouri who’s main subject of photography was the world surrounding him. Evans mainly photographed every day life in his surroundings, whether in the city or in the countryside. The technical aspects he kept in consideration were mainly framing, lighting and leading lines, leading to very well-composed photographs. His photographs were very realistic, his most famous work representing the devastating effects of the Great Depression. His photographs were all taken in black and white, and were a mixture of vertical and horizontal. They were mainly composed of people, buildings or monuments. By observing their photographs, we can assume that his ideas behind them were very photojournalistic and that his goal was to depict reality and current events to the population. Evans said that his goal in photography was to make his photographs "literate, authoritative, transcendent". Walker Evans once said:
"Leaving aside the mysteries and the inequities of human talent, brains, taste, and reputations, the matter of art in photography may come down to this: it is the capture and projection of the delights of seeing; it is the defining of observation full and felt."
His goal was not to distort the world around him, but rather to present things as they are, in a realistic manner, while transmitting feeling and emotion to the viewer.
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a 20th century French photographer who is sometimes referred to as the father of modern photojournalism. He considered many compositional and technical aspects such as leading lines, framing and lighting. His photographs were all in black and white, and varied from horizontal to vertical framing. Like Evans, Cartier-Bresson photographed everyday life in the city, but he, unlike Evans, mainly focused on movement and action and also composed his photographs in a very careful manner. Henri Cartier-Bresson is the one who first presented the decisive moment, and carefully waited for his subjects to appear, for the perfect time to take the photograph.The ideas behind his pictures seem to have as a goal to present common things of everyday life and make them interesting. Cartier-Bresson once said:
"The simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression... . In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotif."
Henri Cartier-Bresson believed that any little everyday thing could create a great photograph. He believed that photographers don’t need to search very far to find a good subject, because the smallest thing can be transformed with a camera.
