Final Project
Elegiac Love
Final Project Proposal
Project Title: Elegiac
Project Description:
For my final project I decided to explore the idea of aloneness as it applies to students. I pulled my inspiration from great portrait photographers such as Rehahn and David Lazar. Both their works channel strong emotions and ideas through bright portraits and so I hope to be able to convey the same emotional depth.
Task 3: The Camera
In this study of the camera I explored several components. Depth of field, shutter speed, exposure, various perspectives and white balance.
Narrow Depth of Field:
Wide Depth of Field:
Fast Shutter Speed:
Slow Shutter Speed:
Exposure:
Varied Perspectives:
White Balance:
Ernest Withers
Early Life
Ernest C. Withers was born in Memphis, Tennessee in August 1922. He started taking photos in high school when his sister gifted him a camera that she was given by another classmate. However, it wasn’t until World War II that Withers had a formal artistic education at the Army School of Photography.
After the war, Withers returned to Memphis and became one of the state’s first African-American police officers before going into business for himself and starting the Withers Photography Studio with his family. He was an incredibly prolific photographer; anywhere between 1 and 5 million images are attributed to his career.
Life In Memphis
Withers and his camera became an omnipresent staple of post-World War II African-American life in Memphis. His work extends from everyday slices of life to in-depth documentation of the segregated South, Negro League baseball, the explosive music scene, and—now notoriously—the Civil Rights movement. According to his daughter, Withers had three cameras with him at all times: the first roll of film went to the white press, the second to the black press, and the last one for was his personal archives.
It wasn’t until the Freedom of Information Act in 2013 that Withers was implicated as an FBI informant. This accusation discredited him and his work in the eyes of many who once elevated him as an ally of the Civil Rights movement. However, his work remains arguably the most complete documentation of this time period by any individual.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11Y5xY6gnXPztW9e7Hv76jglFn-Qh7A_Q