Bill Brandt

Bill Brandt

Context
Bill Brandt (2 May 1904 – 20 December 1983),was a British photographer and photojournalist. He became well known for his distorted nude images. Brandt lived through the war and to celebrate the end of the war he produced distorted nude images. The reason for his nude images was because he wanted to show poetry through his images, he had been to Paris where he learnt how to express poetry through his photographs. Brandt's photography also shows a sense of surrealism because when he takes pictures he takes them in a way that it takes us a long time to realise what it is.

Photography

In this image we can see conjoined fingers and stones. This image links to shape because Bill Brandt uses shape in his work but not normal shapes that we would think of, he uses shape in the form of the human body. This links to the context of the photographer because he likes taking pictures of body parts, I think that he does this to celebrate the body and human life. I like this image because although it is black and white the tones of the image make us feel happy rather than dull. The fact that this is taken on a beach where Brandt likes to take his images shows us that it is in a happy place. I can use ideas from this photo in my work because I like the way that he has taken human body parts and used them to create shape.

In this image we can see the behind of a female body. This relates to shape because we can see the shape of the female body well as the angle of the camera isn't wide and it fairly zoomed in. This links to the context of the photographer because he likes to take images of the human body. The fact that he has taken a picture of the female body could show that he is taking these image for sexual reasons or for an actual meaning. Personally, I don't think that he is taking these images for a sexual preference because he wants to celebrate the body and the fact that he is using the female body could show that he is a feminist. I can use his ideas in my work by taking images of something that people would have to think about.

In this image we can see someones knees and elbow. This relates to shape because we can make out shapes from the body parts. This also links to the context of the artist because he likes taking pictures of the human body.  This image also shows a sense of surrealism because the way he has taken this image we have to look deeper into the image to realise what we are looking at. I like this image because we although it seems dull and depressing we get a relaxing feeling through the image because it looks calm and peaceful. I can use his ideas in my work by using tone and shape together to bring a better effect to the image.

Progression

To progress this artist further I will use some of his ideas in my work so I can create better photos.