Product Overview
This fascinating documentary series explores the greatest contemporary photographers of our time. From the great tradition of reportage to the most innovative conceptual photo-artists, the series charts the history of docu-photography and the value of this compelling medium. Through insightful photographers’ commentary, viewers are invited to share and revel in the creative process.
DISC 1 - The Great Tradition of Reportage:
William Klein reinvented the photographic document by experimenting with blurry, out of focus shots.
Henri Cartier Bresson is considered the father of photojournalism and a master of candid photography.
Raymond Depardon’s aim to maintain subjectivity in his work revolutionised photo-journalism.
Joseph Koudelka’s Legendary career began with his historic photos of the Soviet invasion of Prague.
Robert Doisneau is noted for his frank and often humorous depictions of Parisian street life.
Edouard Boubat’s photographs sought to celebrate life in the face of the horrors of WWII.
Elliott Erwitt is considered the ‘master of the indecent moment’ due to his candid shots of absurd situations.
Marc Riboud left his native France to travel extensively through Asia, reporting on the graces of daily life.
Helmut Newton was a German-Australian fashion photographer noted for his nude studies of women.
Donald McCullin’s outstanding works examine war, urban strife and the underside of society.
DISC 2 - Renewal of Contemporary Photography:
Sophie Calle depicts human vulnerability, evoking the French literary movement of the 1960’s.
Thomas Ruff’s portraits reflect the strict police observation methods in Germany during the 1970’s.
Mario Giacomelli’s black and white images reflect his concern for the less fortunate of his native Italy.
Nan Goldin’s intimate works deal with love, gender, domesticity and sexuality.
Lewis Baltz’s works focus on the counter-aesthetic of photography, searching for beauty in desolation and destruction.
Sarah Moon is an impressionist photographer and uses dream-like feminine images.
Duane Michal’s innovative work uses photo sequences and text to examine emotion and philosophy.
Jean-Marc Bustamante incorporates ornamental design and architectural space in his works.
Nobuyoshi Araki has caused much controversy with his sensual, erotic works from his native Japan.
Hiroshi Sugimoto uses long-exposure in his photographs to create a time capsule for a series of events in time.
Andreas Gursky is known for his enormous architecture and landscape color photographs, often taken from high above.
Jeff Wall is best known for his large photo-transparencies which explore philosophical problems of representation.
DISC 3 - Conceptual Photography:
John Baldessari often attempts to point out irony in contemporary art theory and practices or reduce it to absurdity.
Hilla and Bernd Becher a married and talented photographer team best known for images of industrial buildings.
Christian Boltanski’s stunning images are haunted by death, memory and loss.
Alan Fleischer works reveal the artist as an incredible creator of images treading the line between dreams and reality.
John Hilliard’s work highlights the characteristics of the photographic language.
Roni Horn explores identity and crafts complex relationships between the viewer and her work.
Martin Parr’s photographic projects take a critical look at modern society, specifically consumerism and tourism.
George Rousse’s anamorphic images involve desolate spaces on which the artist paints a geometric shape.
Thomas Struth’s work covers detailed cityscapes, jungles and family portraits to depict people within the modern-day environment.
Wolfgang Tillmans invented a presentational practice in which the size of the photos changes according to the space.