Photo Stories That Went Too Far – Photography is Nothing – Ep06
This week Zach & Courtney discuss photography projects that became obsessive, including Japanese photographer Masahisa Fukase’s Ravens, Catherine Leroy’s coverage of the Vietnam War, W. Eugene Smith documenting Pittsburg for two years, and Zach’s own project of photographing lost golf balls in the woods and the creek.
**NOTES**
– W. Eugene Smith’s Country Doctor story was photographed in Kremmling, Colorado.
– It’s true the W. Eugene Smith would copy his correspondence for posterity.
– The first woman photographer to win a Guggenheim grant was Dorothea Lange in 1941, but she turned it down to work for the government documenting Japanese Internment Camps.
– Helen Levitt won two consecutive Guggenheim grants in 1959 & 1968 for her color photography.
– Stephan Lorant’s book Pittsburgh: the Story of an American City was published in 1964 (Pittsburgh’s bicentennial was 1958).
“Photography is nothing–it’s life that interests me.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
In this episode
Books
Ravens by Masahisa Fukase
Dream Street – W. Eugene Smith’s Pittsburgh Project
Close-Up on War: The Story of Pioneering Photojournalist Catherine Leroy in Vietnam
As It Lies by Zach Dobson
Resources
British Journal of Photography’s review of Ravens by Masahisa Fukase.
Michael Hoppen Gallery – Ravens by Masahisa Fukase.
The story of Masahisa Fukase’s From Window project.
Catherine Leroy’s website.
Story behind W. Eugene Smith’s Pittsburgh project.
Carnegie Museum of Art – Extensive collection of W. Eugene Smith’s Pittsburgh photos
