Mathew Brady

The Civil War was the first American war thoroughly caught on film. Mathew Brady and his crew of photographers captured many images of this divisive war, ranging from portraits to battle scenes. These photographs--over 1,000--are in Selected Civil War Photographs 1861-1865 in American Memory.

 During the Civil War, Brady and his associates traveled throughout the eastern part of the country, capturing the effects of the War through photographs of people, towns, and battlefields. Additionally, Brady kept studios in Washington, DC and New York City, where many influential politicians and war heroes sat for portraits. 

Diane Arbus

A pivotal figure in contemporary documentary photography, Diane Arbus produced a substantial body of work before her suicide in 1971. Her unrelentingly direct photographs of people who live on the edge of societal acceptance, as well as those photographs depicting supposedly "normal" people in a way that sharply outlines the cracks in their public masks, were controversial at the time of their creation and remain so today.

Between 1955 and 1957 Arbus studied under Lisette Model. Model encouraged Arbus to concentrate on personal pictures and to further develop what Model recognized as a uniquely incisive documentary eye. Soon after Arbus began her studies with Lisette Model, she began to devote herself fully to documenting transvestites, twins, midgets, people on the streets and in their homes, and asylum inmates. Arbus's pictures are almost invariably confrontational: the subjects look directly at the camera and are sharply rendered, lit by direct flash or other frontal lighting. Her subjects appear to be perfectly willing, if not eager, to reveal themselves and their flaws to her lens.

She said of her pictures, "What I'm trying to describe is that it's impossible to get out of your skin into somebody else's.... That somebody else's tragedy is not the same as your own." And of her subjects who were physically unusual, she said, "Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. [These people] were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats."

Bilingham Documentary photography

The British artist Richard Billingham photographed his family–his alcoholic father, large mother, and unruly brother–in their council flat in the West Midlands, England, between 1990 and 1996, producing the photo book Ray’s a Laugh (1996). It departs from the typical images of wedding/new baby/graduation/birthday family photographs, revealing the artist’s rough childhood surroundings and life in a council flat. The photo book was an immediate success.

Billingham’s family series is often seen as a representation of poverty, even a “human catastrophe.” When the Labour Party won the 1997 election in the United Kingdom, one of its key goals was to end child poverty in a generation and to create a new welfare settlement that would meet the needs of twenty-first century Britain. The young artist’s photographs of his childhood surroundings, a council flat, seemed to encapsulate the need for the political change. Gilda Williams in Art Monthly suggests that Billingham’s interiors are a metaphor for the politics that aim to unmask the accident of poverty. For Mark Durden in Parachute: “Billingham’s representation of his working-class family’s poverty and violence … [stages] personal degradation and suffering.”

Portraits of the Homeless by Lee Jeffries

Portraits of the Homeless by Lee Jeffries

In 2008, accountant and amateur photographer Lee Jeffries was in London to run a marathon. On the day before the race, Jeffries thought he would wander the city to take pictures. Near Leicester Square, he trained his 5D camera with a long, 70-200 lens on a young, homeless woman who was huddled in a sleeping bag among Chinese food containers. “She spotted me and started shouting, drawing the attention of passersby,” Jeffries says. “I could have just walked away in an embarrassed state, or I could have gone over and apologized to her.” He chose the latter, crossed the street and sat with the woman. The eighteen-year-old, whose complexion indicated she was addicted to drugs, told Jeffries her story: her parents had died, leaving her without a home, and she now lived on the streets of London.

This experience had a profound effect on Jeffries, sharpening the focus on the subject matter of his street photography—the homeless—and defining his approach to taking pictures. He didn’t want to exploit these people or steal photographs of them like so many other photographers who had seen the homeless as an easy target. In an effort to make intimate portraits, Jeffries would try to connect with each person on an individual basis first. “I need to see some kind of emotion in my subjects,” Jeffries says. “I specifically look at people’s eyes—when I see it, I recognize it and feel it—and I repeat the process over and over again.” Jeffries tries to keep the contact as informal as possible. He rarely takes notes, feeling it immediately raises suspicion, and prefers to take pictures while he is talking with his subjects to capture the “real emotion” in them. “I’m stepping into their world,” he says. “Everyone else walks by like the homeless are invisible. I’m stepping through the fear, in the hope that people will realize these people are just like me and you.”

Self-taught and self-funded, Jeffries has used vacation time to travel to Skid Row in Los Angeles three times, as well as Las Vegas, New York, London, Paris and Rome, to continue his project. The way that Jeffries processes his images and the heavy use of shadow and light within his pictures is a direct reference to the religious overtones he felt while photographing the beggars and homeless in Rome. The underexposure in camera and process to dodge back light where he wants it—although done in a digital environment—relate more to the traditions of analog printing. The effect of the subjects on the photographer is equally heavy: “When I’m talking to these people, I can’t then leave that emotion, so when I get back to my computer so emotionally involved, sometimes I will start to cry when processing the image,” Jeffries says.

The photographer’s passion has become his life mission. He uses his photography to draw attention to and raise funds for the homeless, posting the images to Flickr and entering the work into competitions. Over the past three years Jeffries has placed third, second and second in an annual Amateur Photographer magazine award contest, and has won separate monthly contests which come with a camera as a reward. Each of the half dozen cameras he’s won has been donated to raise funds for charities, including homeless and disability organizations. The proceeds from Jeffries’s Blurb book, which features homeless portraits, go to the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles and the photographer allows any charity to use his images free of charge. Jeffries also runs the London and New York marathons to raise money for Shelter, a U.K. housing charity. He’s committed himself at a more personal level too, buying lunch for a man who had lost his fingers and toes to frostbite or taking a woman with a staph infection to the hospital when she was sick. Jeffries estimates he has given thousands of dollars to these individuals, but what he has given them in terms of a sense of dignity and outpouring of concern is immeasurable.

Jeffries’s powerful portraits are getting noticed. He recently won Digital Camera magazine’s Photographer of the Year award. There has been an explosion of interest in the last two to three months as the images have been shared across the web, spreading virally via Flickr, Facebook and Twitter, and more recently, appearing on blogs and in mainstream media including the Independent and Guardian. Lee Jeffries is a photographer based in Manchester, England.

Great Depression 1912-13

Borut Peterlin- Wet Plate Collodion project on current recession

Borut Peterlin's new project is , Great Depression 1912-13! Its a project that he wanted to incorporate wet plate collodion technique into his work. He wanted to make a concept where wetplate process would be a foundation of the concept, not a picture effect in the sense. 

Project Great Depression 1912-13 is a documentary photography project where in wet plate technique he's documenting state of a bankrupt companies with an emphasize on things that people left behind after they have been working there for decades.

The title Great Depression 1912-13? was his aim to make a picture series that would look old, ancient, as a document of an event that happened long, long time ago. Borut wanted  viewers to get the feeling that the sort of events happened hundred years ago and since then society has learned the lesson and this sort of things can not happen to us, to a modern man in 21st Century.The old bellow camera and wet plate technique is perfect to embed in pictures emotional detachment from the event.

David Ferrie Recession images

DAVID FERRIE PHOTOGRAPHY

I’m a photographer based in Bray, Co.Wicklow. The photographs I take are of people, places and things that catch my eye.

I started taking photographs over 25 years ago, while in school and used my Father’s Minolta SR-1 film camera. Nowadays I mostly shoot digital, but I still have and occasionally use my first camera, which I have “on loan” from my Father.

From 1st January 2011 to 31st December 2011 I undertook a project 365, this means I took a photograph every day of the year and shared it here on my blog and also on my pix.ie account which is http://pix.ie/dave66

Even the Children are discussing the worries in recession!

Young people are bearing the brunt of the recession, according to the charity Save the Children.

They say one in eight of the poorest children in the UK go without at least one hot meal a day. More are missing out on essentials like new shoes or a warm coat for the winter.

The charity also found that lots of kids worry about their parents' finances.

Do you ever worry about your parents having enough money?

Have your family had to make changes to things they buy? Do you think the recession has made things more difficult for families around the UK?

Comments

"I think the recession is affecting my life a lot. I'm now worrying about the amount of money my parents have."

Sakura, Luton, England

"I'm a bit worried because my dad has just lost his job and is struggling to find a new one, but we'll still have enough to live on (just about)."

Amanda, Wiltshire, England

"I worry about money a bit as we have nice things and enough to eat, but I have started high school and it has been very expensive to get my things - my uniform alone cost nearly £400."

Talula, London, England

"I think it is upsetting that some children go without meals or are living in poverty. The government should do something about it."

Rose, England

"I worry a lot about my parents money although we do have enough to eat."

Tilly, Bedfordshire, England

"I think food prices, gas prices and other prices should be put down and parents should get more money as families are struggling to get the right amount of food and necessities they need."

Evie, Newbury, England

"I always end up worrying about bills and my parents jobs. I always save up and try to help my mum and dad."

Hubbab, London, England

"My parents just get by and pay their bills on time but we don't have much money for regular treats, like holidays every year but we are very lucky. My mum rarely treats herself, but she always makes sure me and my sibling have what we want. My mum's dream is to buy a house, but we don't have any money."

Anonymous, London

"It does affect my family because we're a big family and have two pets, so getting food and clothes for everyone leaves us with nothing for holidays."

Dominic, England

"I sometimes worry about my parents having enough money but I know that when they need money they can just sign up for more shifts and not buy me anything I don't need."

Zara, Surrey, England

"I worry all the time about them. I am to scared to ask my parents for things for school, as I don't want to put them under pressure."

Sarah, Wrexham, Wales

"My family is moving house and we do not have enough money to afford a house that is big enough or not damp because of the summer of rain."

Harry, Dorset, England

"I do worry about my parents money problems. I try and stop them from buying silly things or stuff they won't use."

Owen, York, England

"I think that more money should be given to our parents because food prices are high. When they don't have enough money they struggle to pay for electricity, gas, food and clothes when we need it."

Kirsty, West Midlands, England

"My mum has not got much in cash so I'm worried that we might have nothing to eat. We have cats and I'm worried we won't be able to feed them."

Alexandra, London, England

"My mum and dad have just split up and we are struggling for money because my mum does not work."

Luke, Wales

"My mum hardly has enough money to buy food anymore. The only food we usually have is bread, butter and sometimes some other kinds of food. She doesn't even have enough money to buy clothes or shoes anymore, so we have to buy them from charity shops."

Topiritta, Scotland

"I worry that when I go on holidays my dad doesn't eat because he can't afford to."

Summer, Kent, England

"We should have more money because I have about one hot plate of food a week."

Holly, Kent, England

"I'm worried for my mum and dad because they work very hard and I think that they will struggle to pay the bills and I would not get my holidays every year."

Kyle, Glasgow, Scotland

Others photographing recession

Lee Welton's winning image. Photograph: Lee Welton/FlickrEion Begley's submission to the Recession competition. Photograph: Eion Begley/FlickrCaroline Fabbro's submission titled 'Billy'. Photograph: Caroline Fabbro/Flickr

Lee's image from the TUC march. Colin Philpott, the Director of the National Media Museum in Bradford said "It really grabs the viewers attention and the photographer has captured a decisive moment in the afternoon."

Eion Begley's shot 'MFI', captures the downtrodden mood of the recession. The scale of the defunct company sign juxtaposed against the small dirty blue car creates a gloomy image.

 This is a good shot however i feel that the subject matter feels a little too much like homelessness. Although it's a very serious part of the recession, the picture is perhaps a bit confusing because it says 'homelessness' so clearly. However i think Shooting in the underpass against the light works really well because it disguises the identity of the subject.

School closure Sion Hill middle school 2007 still remains untouched!

Sion Hill Closed on Friday 13th July 2007. This is because some genius decided that a two tier system will be better than the long established and successful three tier system. Apparently the authorities will be using the site as a teacher training facility.

How Long Left For Our High Streets?

It really is becoming a dire situation for our nations beloved high streets. 2012 was a bad year, but 2013 has started off in probably the worst way possible. Jessops has closed it’s doors for good, with HMV teetering on the edge of total and final closure as well. But believe it or not, these are not the only large retail businesses that have gone to the wall already this year!

www.reatilresearch.org is a website that covers all things retail, but they also have a dedicated section which lists all the medium to large retail businesses that have gone bust. These lists go back to 2007. As you would expect, the last couple of years has been the most damaging for our high streets, so the lists are pretty long. You can go here to check them all out: http://www.retailresearch.org/whosegonebust.php

When I looked at the lists, it really made for a shocking reading. Below is just the 2012 list of retail businesses that went bust:

• Green & Blue Wines
• Wine Shak
• Nidd Vale Motors
• Manor Furniture
• Whiteleys Garden Centre in Mirfield
• Walmsley’s
• Famous Footwear
• The Web Group
• Comet
• J Harris & Sons
• United Carpets
• Romida Sports
• Optical Express
• Stratford Wine Agencies
• Mostyn’s
• JJB Sports
• Hein Gericke UK
• Fultons Fine Furnishings
• Ethel Austin
• Bathroom Emporium
• Julian Graves
• Allders of Croydon
• Cecil Jacobs
• Peters Bakery
• Masai GB
• Rhythm and Booze
• Wallace Clement Interiors
• Joscelyne
• Clinton Cards
• Micro Anvika
• Allied Floors
• D&d Wines International
• Carsite
• Instyle Furniture and the R&M Deluxe Upholstery/Holdings
• Acquascutum
• John Frackleton and Son
• Houston Fashions
• Webb Brothers
• Ellie Louise
• DBC Foodservice
• Game Group
• Firetrap
• Azendi
• Fenn Wright Manson
• Shoe Envy
• Madhouse (or Deluxe Retail Limited)
• Rowlands Clothing of Trowbridge (Wiltshire)
• Twickenham Film Studies
• Shoon Limited
• Abbeycrest
• Ugo
• United Retail
• Pumpkin Patch
• Peacocks
• La Senza
• Past Times
• Blacks Leisure

That is a long list. The companies above have all entered administration, most have closed it’s doors for good, some have been partially bought out and there is the ODD success story in that, but there aren’t many.  

Here’s who have gone bust so far in these few short months in 2013:

• Jessops, the only national UK camera retailer, was the first major retailer to go into administration in 2013. It had grown from around 50 stores in 1994, acquired Camera Crew and City Camera Exchange, and had more than 200 stores by 2002. It sold its central premises in 2008, avoided administration in 2009 by carrying out a debt for equity swap (involving HSBC taking 47% of its equity and a £34mn debt write-off). Still trading as a going concern, there are 193 stores and 2,000 staff, although it is unlikely that many will survive.
• In France, Virgin Megastores (1000 staff and 25 stores) is to close under pressure from online competition. Our legal advisors point out that it is owned by an investment company not Sir Richard Branson.
• Italy: FNAC and Blockbuster have announced they will close their Italian operations.
• Ethel Austin/Life&Style: the administrators have stated that they may take action against ‘certain parties’ as a result of the failure of Life&Style in 2011.
• K Village, a shopping outlet opened in Kendall in June 2010, went into administration in January. It failed to attract sufficient tenants.

A lot of the companies above you may not know other than the more famous brand names and stores. That doesn’t matter really. What matters is the amount of jobs that have been lost. While the Government claims to have created 1 million jobs, if you were to offset that against the total number of jobs lost in the same amount of time in the UK, you’re almost treading water.

As you can appreciate, debate about our high streets has been high over the last week or so. And it has been pointed out that it is a combination of factors that has led to the demise of our main shopping destinations. Firstly, rent is crippling the companies occupying retail space. It’s risen, risen, and risen again. To the point that for some, it just simply cannot be paid and they have to close. Secondly, our high streets have become highly pedestrianised. This is fine, but it has severely restricted the amount of traffic that can physically drive there, restricting the number of people that can get there. Even if cars can get there, the parking spaces consist of hugely expensive multi-storey car parks that costs a fortune – again putting the consumer off from going and making the prospect of online shopping farm more attractive.

Third reason is probably the most common one. Many of us will go visit a high street store, say PC World for example. We’ll go look at at potential product we want to buy, put it in our hands, ask the advice of the staff there, then go home, find it online cheaper and have it delivered – robbing the store of a vital sale. It’s not against the rules to do that, but it is the nature in which we all shop now. We all know we can get goods online much cheaper than in stores with overheads that need covering. It’s just very convenient that there are still stores out there selling physical good we can inspect before going online and saving quite a chunk of money on the same product. That’s the way our spending habits have evolved and the high street chains have been guilty of either ignoring that fact or just been poorly led by the wrong people in charge.

There is much sympathy pouring out for the demise of HMV, but I don’t think we can she too many tears given the fact that we’re the ones buying music online on mass and not going into the stores ourselves and buying the CD’s…even if they are over-priced!

So, how long left do our high street stores have left? My personal opinion is that there is maybe two or three years left before the high street as we know it disappears from sight altogether. Of course these streets won’t be allowed to become the desolate wastelands left for the chavs to tear up. But in terms of powerful multi-store businesses populating these spaces, I don’t think there is much sand left in the timer for any of them right now.

Camera club: Recession photography

Alicia Canter travels to Margate in Kent to offer some tips on documenting the downturn with your camera – and chats to locals including Tamburlaine the joke-shop owner.

The Recession in the UK!

Britain could be on course for its third recession in four years after the economy shrank 0.3% in the last three months of 2012.

The figures were worse than expected and could put pressure on the government to consider a "plan B" that would stimulate demand.

A fall in manufacturing output dragged down the economy, countering a small rise in construction between October and December, according to the Office for National Statistics. The economy achieved zero growth for the year as a whole.

Sterling dived on the news, reflecting fears the UK will lose its AAA credit rating and status as a haven economy, though the stock market shrugged off the news, remaining at a four-year high.

George Osborne said he would not "run away" from the problems facing the UK economy: "We have a reminder today that Britain faces a very difficult economic situation. A reminder that last year was particularly difficult, that we face problems at home because of the debts built up over many years and problems abroad with the eurozone, where we export most of our products, in recession."