Photography - it's a world in your hands

International Earth Day and Time-lapse Photography

We seem to giving a lot of coverage to the Google Doodles these days but when is the next time that photographers and the art of photography will get command such attention? Sooner or later they are bound to switch their attention elsewhere. Google has chosen to mark International Earth Day with a time-lapse photography sequence and imaginatively done it is too.

Time-lapse photography is a technique which allows still photographers to capture change and motion without having to resort to video. Indeed it allows for the observation of phenomenon over a much larger timeframe than would be possible with video. In the following example, we see the flower of a geranium opening over a period of about two hours. Consecutive frames are 7 minutes apart. Of course, with enough time, dedication and patience it would be quite possible to record a sequence of events that may take days, months of even years.

Photograph © Andrew Dunn, 31 July 2006.
Website: http://www.andrewdunnphoto.com/

Robert Doisneau - pioneer of photojournalism

Yet another photographer has been honoured with a Google Doodle. This time it is the turn of French Photographer Robert Doisneau (1912-1994), regarded as a pioneer of photojournalism for the images he captured of Paris streets in the 1930s using a Leica camera.

Robert Doisneau photographed by Bracha L. Ettinger in his studio in Montrouge, 1992
Bracha L. Ettinger [CC-BY-SA-2.5], from Wikimedia Commons

His most famous captured image is the one entitled Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville - image on the far right of the Google Doodle posted above. Despite his reputation as a shy person, he had something of a passion for street photography:

"The marvels of daily life are so exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street."

In this image a contemporary photographer attempts to capture the warmth and feeling of Doisneau's celebrated work.

By Martin Wiesheu (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Reference Material:

• Robert Doisneau on Wikipedia
• Official Website

    

Travel Photography - don't forget your camera

Photographer, Kien Lam spent a year travelling the world, visiting 17 countries taking more than 6000 photos over the course of his journey. But not only did he return to tell the tale, he has managed to condense it into a five minute, time-lapse video presentation. This is called, appropriately enough, Time is Nothing.

Time is Nothing // Around The World Time Lapse from Kien Lam on Vimeo.