The Magic Eye of Ernst Haas
In the world of photography we have seen many special artists and many of them brought something new and unique to this art. Ernst Haas is one of those people. A photographer whose work changed the way we perceive photography, possibly expanding the limits of the
"image" itself. Throughout his entire career he designed and managed to create (in my humble opinion) what I like to call "the limitless photography". Today we are looking at three photographers we do not talk too much about.
Class of 1921, born in Vienna, Ernst Haas was caught in the world of photography since a young age. He took inspiration from masters such as Cartier-Bresson and Capa, but it was starting from 1951 that he began his journey.
There is a common denominator linking geniuses like him to other great personalities who held a camera on their hands: the idea that photography is more than capturing reality, but also shaping it through their own eyes. A deeper and more complex discipline aimed to reveal some inner truth. From the bustling streets of New York City to the remote lands of Africa, Haas immortalized fleeting moments and iconic scenes with unmatched skill. Each photo tells a story, inviting viewers to explore new and fascinating worlds.
One of the most unique aspects of Ernst Haas works is his singular use of colors. His chromatic palettes and experimentation of color formulas often verged on images recalling
abstractism. Some examples? Look at water consistency here:
Reflection I, Venice, Italy 1955
Along with the masterful use of colors, the other major aspect of his art is motion. And again, through motion photography, abstractism takes his space too. There are a couple of horses captures which are some of my favourite ones from Haas. You might like to see one of them below:
Nevada - 1960
Look at that magical background with cold, yet warm blue-ish and purple colors mixing with the desert sand tones. Do you think this could be just a blurred picture? Well, you can actually feel the movement just staring at this, the horse running like it's been animated by a movie director. The image conveys a strong 3D feeling to it. Pure class. A whole story is written up here.
Ernst Haas died in 1986 but his legacy continues to live on through his timeless works. His photographs have inspired entire generations of photographers, urging them to explore new frontiers and embrace limitless creativity. He was a visionary, a poet of the image. And we owe him very much.
Takashi Yasui and The Urban [inner] peace
Contemporary photography is giving birth to talents who, with their unique vision and distinctive style, are conquering their space through the eyes of people. There is one name that shines particularly brightly among these talents: the young Takashi Yasui.
Born in Osaka, Japan, Takashi Yasui is a photographer whose work stands out for his ability to transform the banality of urban life into images imbued with poetry and meaning. His views of Kyoto, Tokyo, Yamaguchi and other Japan's evocative cities are filled with the meditative and solemn spirit of japanese people and culture.
His images are characterized by a deep artistic sensitivity and a composure that reflects his patient observation of the world around him. Yasui's style is distinguished by its equilibrium and elegance, emphatizing Japan's "kuuki o yomu 空気をèªã‚€" (translated as "reading the air") philosophy. His works appear to be suspended in moments of eternal beauty and contemplation.
"Everyday life in -" is a phrase you might often see as a description to Takashi's photographies and this is what leads to one of his distinctive points of work: the ability to find beauty in the small things and fleeting moments of everyday life. Through his images, he invites us to slow down and appreciate the beauty and poetry that surround us every day, even in the most ordinary situations.
Takashi Yasui's gained a large following on social media and have been exhibited in numerous galleries around the world. His work has been enthusiastically received by critics and photography enthusiasts. In an era dominated by hustle and superficiality, his captures reminds us about the importance of stopping to observe and appreciate the beauty and poetry that surround us every day.
Liam Wong - Dystopian art
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Liam Wong has roots in both Asia and Europe, profoundly influencing his artistic perspective. With a degree in graphic design and advertising, he began his career in the video game industry and working, among others, for Ubisoft. This dynamic and creative environment he grew up into shaped his eye for detail and atmosphere, paving the way for his subsequent artistic exploration.
Wong is known for his cyberpunk, sci-fi style of photography, with vibrant colors merging in dystopian postcards from Asia and Europe. He has also been featured from Forbes to be part of the "30 under 30 list".
Liam Wong's works have some distinctive characteristic: they are mostly created during night-time. Through his lens, skyscrapers transform into monoliths of light, streets look like digital art or paintings, and shadows take on a life of their own. Each photograph depicts a visual story and a symphony of lights and shadows. Deeply influenced by cyberpunk culture, many of his captures let viewers evoke memories of classics animated movies of these genre such as Ghost in the shell and Akira or japanese crime-drama movies. [Tokyo Drifter is one example]
Post-production for Wong is another essential aspect to help him shaping his own visionary universe. His images are a blend of reality and fantasy, an invitation to explore worlds that seem familiar yet alien and this is possible because of his great skills with editing. I would say
he is an "artisan" of photo-editing techniques.
If you want to go deep dive in his art, this very talented photographer has put out 2 books.
The first one is called TO:KY:OO and it is completely dedicated to Tokyo [of course] - a cyberpunk tale through sound and vision. The second one brings the title of "After dark" and
it explores more cities from Asia to Europe. I can do nothing better but show you just a few examples of what you are going to experience, here:
My name is Francesco Di Domenico, I am the author of this article and an amateur photographer. You can find my works below:
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/occhidakodama
Deviantart https://www.deviantart.com/occhidakodama
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