Paul Strand Pre-Assignment

Paul Strand is a photographer that was born in 1890 in New York. He began to take photography courses at the age of 17. In 1915, he completely turned his photography career around when he discovered "straight photography". Straight photography is taking pictures without modifying them, representing the scene as purely as possible.
If we're going to be taking pictures in the style of Paul Strand, we'd probably be taking pictures of scenes rather than subjects. His pictures seem to be focusing on things like landscapes or street views. He doesn't seem to have close up portraits or pictures of single subjects. It also seems that his pictures focus a lot on either light or shadow -- sometimes both. His images can show a balance of both or a strong light or dark shadows.
When I take photographs in his style, I think I may focus on things of nature or the field that I have cheerleading practice at! I look forward to doing this assignment because his images seem very interesting and beautiful. Here are a few of my favorites:

This picture was called "Wild Iris". I really like how Strand captured the light on the leaves and how they stand out from everything behind them. I also like it because wild irises are some of my favorite flowers! :)

I think this picture is my favorite. I really like how Strand balanced the light and shadows. This is something we see everyday in life and we don't appreciate how beautiful it really is.

I like how, in this picture, Strand showed the shadow of the bridge (or tower. I'm not really sure!) on the ground. I like how it's kind of an arial view as well. Again, such a normal thing to see everyday that we never really pay attention to!

I can't wait to do this assignment!