Chris Burkard

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing? 

Chris Burkard is a self-taught photographer, film maker, adventurer and social media influencer that has travelled to the furthest reaches of the planet to capture images and stories that ask people to question their relationship with nature while promoting and advocating for the preservation of wild environments everywhere (Burkard Studios 2017).

Burkard started shooting photos in 2004 at the age of 19 and continues operating in the field today. During that time Burkard has won several awards for his work and was listed in the Forbes top 10 social influences in 2017 (People Pill n.d).

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?) 

There is no specific title for this image however it was taken in the West Fjords region of north-western Iceland as part of a trip for SURFER Mag (Burkard Studios 2017).

https://www.instagram.com/p/B80K2SSl3qW/

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

This photograph was produced in 2016 in conjunction with a film Burkard was producing called “Under an Arctic Sky”.

How was the photo or video authored?

The shot uses the rule of three in its construction. In the foreground it shows waves breaking on the shore with a man surfing and the middle ground shows the edge of an icy mountain formation. The far ground displays the Aurora Borealis however due to its powerful presence within the shot it holds space in both the middle and far ground. Aside from the natural elements displayed Burkard used a flood light to artificially light up the backside of the wave in order to elevate the shot (Haddad 2017).

Burkard captured this image with a Sony Mirrorless A7SII due to its low light sensitivity mounted on a Peak Designs Travel Tripod and has stated that he shot between ISO 3200 – 40,000 for this particular shoot. It was saved as a digital copy on an SD card within the camera.

There is no recorded information stating what particular lens was used for this image however these are the particular lens’ that Burkard uses for night shooting with this model of camera, “Sigma 20mm f1.4 w/ Adapter and a 35mm f1.4” (Burkard Studios 2017).

How was the photo or video published and distributed? 

 In 2006 Burkard begun interning for various surf magazines during which he learned the workings of the editorial publication process and began to have his own work published (Chhabra 2017).

This particular work has appeared in various different forms and on a number of platforms. It was produced in 2016 in conjunction with the film “Under an Arctic Sky” and can be seen as part of the final sequence. It can be seen in digital form on Burkard’s studio portfolio as well as in various articles about him and it has appeared in Burkard’s Instagram feed on three separate occasions as well as other social media sites of his such as Twitter. It features as a print as part of a collection in the photo book “Under an Arctic Sky” and can be purchased as a print through his website though he does not produce the reproduction prints himself, he has various staff working for him that conduct that on his behalf. These physical reproductions are printed from digital copies using laser printing methods. Finally it can be seen on display in his gallery at Pismo Beach, California.

References:

Burkard, C 2020, chrisburkard – Instagram,viewed 22^nd April 2020, https://www.instagram.com/chrisburkard/

Burkard Studios 2017, About – Chris Burkard, viewed 22^nd April 2020, https://www.chrisburkard.com/Pages/About

Burkard Studios 2017, Adventure Stills – Chris Burkard, viewed 22^nd April 2020, https://www.chrisburkard.com/Stills/Adventure/i-KfBrZ6S/A

Burkard Studios 2017, Frequently Asked Questions – Chris Burkard, viewed 22^nd April 2020, https://www.chrisburkard.com/About/FAQ

Chhabra, E 2017, How Chris Burkard Built A Creative Company Based On His Photography, Forbes, viewed 22^nd April 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/eshachhabra/2017/06/23/how-chris-burkard-built-a-creative-company-based-on-his-photography/#49b50c2a35d0

Haddad, S 2017, Chris Burkard’s Best Photographs / My Life In Pictures, Mpora, viewed 22^nd April 2020, https://mpora.com/travel-photography/chris-burkards-best-photographs-life-pictures/

People Pill n.d, Chris Burkard – American Photographer, viewed 22^nd April 2020, https://peoplepill.com/people/chris-burkard/

Nam June Paik

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

Nam June Paik, was an avant-garde musician and video artist born in South Korean in 1932 and is known as the father of video art (StateoftheArtsNJ 2019). He studied music composition and art history in Japan and Germany in the 1950’s. In the late 50’s and early 60’s Paik was predominantly a composer and performance artist but in 1963 he became the inventor of a new art form, an engagement of television and video as an instrument (Guggenheim n.d.). He adapted audio synthesisers to co-invent the world’s first video synthesiser (Weinberg 2014). Using black and white cameras they devised a colour encoder that afforded artists the ability to create images and pictures electronically.

Paik moved to the U.S. in 1964 and was instrumental in igniting a new artistic movement amongst an emerging generation looking for new and interesting ways of expression and distribution (Guggenheim n.d.). His installations continued to be ground breaking and subversive throughout the decades and despite having a stroke in 1996 worked up until shortly before his death in 2006.

Nam June Paik was a visionary well ahead of his time, he accurately predicted several advancements in technology such as the Internet, a global media network and even smart phones with video conferencing capabilities and saw technology as a devise to connect the world and share art regardless of cultural differences (Tate Modern 2019).

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?)  

The title of video piece I have chosen to do my analysis on is “TV Buddha”

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

This particular installation was produced in Sydney 1976 however TV Buddha has had various incarnations throughout the decades and displayed in numerous galleries.

How was the photo or video authored?

This piece was constructed with an old wooden Maitreya, (Buddha of the future) facing a round late 1960’s model rear projection television. There is a tripod mounted camera behind the television pointed at the Buddha on display (Art Gallery NSW n.d). This creates a closed loop where the Buddha is perpetually looking at a past tense image of himself blurring the distinction between object and subject. Furthermore, it creates a juxtaposition between the historical and the modern (The Art Story n.d).

How was the photo or video published and distributed?

The exhibit was initially created and displayed in Sydney 1976 and was the featured in the following exhibitions:

• From Christo and Jeanne-Claude to Jeff Koons: John Kaldor art projects and collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia, 12 Dec 1995–17 Mar 1996
• Journey to now: John Kaldor art projects and collection, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 18 Apr 2003–06 Jul 2003
• Nam June Paik, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 10 Jan 2004–08 Feb 2004
• 40 years: Kaldor Public Art Projects, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 02 Oct 2009–14 Feb 2010
• Conversations through the Asian collections, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Oct 2014–13 Mar 2016

Refernces:

Art Gallery NSW n.d, TV Buddha: Nam June Paik, viewed 14^th April 2020, https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/342.2011.a-f/

Guggenheim Museum n.d, Artists, Nam June Paik, Guggenheim Collection Online, viewed 14^th April 2020, https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/nam-june-paik

StateoftheArtsNJ 2019, Nam June Paik’s PBS (1963-2000), YouTube, 1^st October, StateoftheArtsNJ, viewed 14^th April 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueHNZbQRsMs

Tate Modern 2019, 5 Times Artist Nam June Paik Predicted the Future, YouTube, 20^th December, Tate Modern, London, viewed 14^th April 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMUJB5aFvdo

The Art Story n.d, Nam June Paik: Artworks, viewed 14^th April 2020, https://www.theartstory.org/artist/paik-nam-june/artworks/

Weinberg, H 2014, Nam June Paik & TV Lab: License to Create (Preview), Vimeo, Howard Weinberg, viewed 14^th April 2020, https://vimeo.com/116094187

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

Henri Cartier-Bresson was born in 1908 in Paris, France. He initially studied as a painter before taking up photography in 1931. The following year he bought his first camera, a Leica 35mm for which he is well known to have used throughout his career and begins to travel the world. That same year he was first published in Voilá and Photographies (The Foundation n.d).

Throughout his long career going into the early 1970’s Cartier-Bresson’s travels of the world afforded him an opportunity to witness and capture some of the most significant events of the 20^th century, such as the Berlin Wall, the rise of the people’s republic of China, and In India he photographed Gandhi just before he was assassinated. He was even taken prisoner by the Germans during World War 2 where he was part of the “Film and Photography” unit of the Third Army (The Foundation n.d).

Henri Cartier-Bresson is considered as the master of the “decisive moment”, capturing a moment in time that reveals a deep and compelling truth, which is considered to have shaped modern photography as we see it today (Estrin 2016).

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?)

The title of the photo I have chosen to do an analysis on is “SOVIET UNION. Leningrad. 9 May 1973” which commemorated the victory over the Nazis and is part of his Soviet Union collection spanning from 1954 – 1973.

SOVIET UNION. Leningrad. 9 May 1973. Commemorating the victory over the Nazis.

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

 This photograph was produced on the 9^th of May in 1973.

How was the photo or video authored? 

The 9^th of May has been celebrated since 1945 as Victory Day in the Soviet Union and commemorates the surrender of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II (History n.d.). This image captures a moment in time where Military personnel are on parade conducting a ceremony to commemorate the events, and a civilian girl breaks the formation with flowers in her hand, a prime example of the “decisive moment” (Estrin 2016).

Although there is no specific information on the device used to capture this image, Cartier-Bresson was known for only using a Leica rangefinder with a 50mm lens for almost all of his work.

Something to note about Henri Cartier-Bresson and his process is that he had no interest in the development stage of photography and would send all his meticulously numbered rolls of film to magazines and photo agencies to conduct that stage of the processes for him (Cotter 2010).

How was the photo or video published?

This photo was published as a black and white print using the gelatin silver process as part of the Soviet Union collection. It has been displayed in exhibitions and has been able to be obtained through auctions. More recently digital reproductions can be purchased through Magnum Photos, a company which Cartier-Bresson was a founding member of.

How was the photo or video distributed?

This image was published in “à Propos de l’ U.R.S.S.” a collection of Cartier-Bresson’s photographs showing everyday life in the USSR. It can also be viewed on various photographic websites and be purchased as a silver print through Mutual Art and as a digital copy through Magnum Photos.

References:

Cartier-Bresson, H 1973, à propos de l’ U.R.S.S., 1st edn, Chene; Prima Edizione, Paris, Fr.

Cotter, H 2010, ‘A Photographer Whose Beat Was the World’, The Times, 8^th April, viewed 7^th April, https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/arts/design/09cartier.html

Estrin, J 2016, ‘Henri Cartier-Bresson, Whose “Decisive Moment” Shaped Modern Photography’, The Times, 3^rd August, viewed 7^th April 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/obituaries/archives/henri-cartier-bresson-photography

History n.d, This Day in History, viewed 7^th April 2020, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe

Magnum Photos Pro 2014, Henri Cartier-Bresson, viewed 7^th April 2020, https://pro.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL53ZMYN

Mutual Art 2012, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Commémoration de la victoire sur les nazis, Leningrad, URSS, 1973, viewed 7^th April 2020, https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Commemoration-de-la-victoire-sur-les-naz/99A211C57B00261E

The Foundation n.d, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Biography, viewed 7^th April 2020, https://www.henricartierbresson.org/en/hcb/biography/