Photos of Beauty vs Ugliness ..

[scooby80]

Hi, I've just started a photography course and am doing a project on beauty versus ugliness in the countryside. As part of this I need to write a short essay about famous photographers that have looked at this genre. Can anyone recommend a photographer I can research?

[adina]

There's a thread in the nature forum with lots of spiders in it. That's pretty ugly, you could start there.


Welcome to the site!

adina

[mjs1973]

Welcome to the Forum. The first photographer that came to my mind when I read this post was Dorothea Lang and her FSA photographs. I don't know if they fit the deffinition of beauty and ugly that you are looking for, but she made some stunningly beautiful images of a very ugly time in US history. This link will give you some more info.

Here is another link about Lang that you may find interesting.

[Frog]

I don't know a photographer that fits the bill but I find it very interesting that old falling apart structures, machinery, etc are more photogenic than new stuff.

[drg]

Do you get to define beauty and ugliness as part of the essay?

When you refer to the countryside, is this a reference to a rural setting or to something more generic?

A photographer who delved rather deeply into some themes of this nature that first comes to mind is W. Eugene Smith.

Hope this might be one direction for you to look!

[Ronnoco]

Didn't someone point out the obvious to your instructor...that
both beauty and ugliness are in the eye of the beholder.

Ronnoco