Antonin Kratochvil

Antonin is a photographer who's work is taken during trips. In regards to his professional photographs, he appears to have very few photographs that were taken in what would be considered actual studio spaces. His photographs are taken very much in the moment to the point where it's not uncommon for a few of them to look blurry and out of focus. His photographs are largely taken in black and white, with color either being used for a dedicated series or very sparingly. Largely series have a melancholy or solemn tone to them, the most pleasant these photographs get is neutral.

Antonin is another photographer that seems to be more than content on showing the world how it is.  He works with what he sees often through snap judgments, content with even just the vague feeling of the subject. He seems to favor moody lights and heavy contrast with his photographs. His series will generally have human subjects at some point but they can vary in frequency, there will usually be at least one picture with a person. I'd say the environment is more of the main focus of a lot of his photographs and he considers humans to be a part of that environment.   

I'd say I like his photographs, though I'm surprised he's able to include such blurry ones amongst all the other crisp shots. The in the moment shots he takes really clicks with me and it shows really showcases the trip he was on and his goal. I'm impressed with some of the situations he was able to photograph and I'm wondering how he managed to get away with some them like the imprisonment ones. I guess it's possible that those were staged but it didn't really feel like it. Honestly, the pictures he does that feel like they were completely staged feel out of place compared to the rest.

  

Sebastiào Salgado

Salgado's photographs cover a large range of subjects but very few of his photographs cover subjects that would be considered "familiar" to people living in first world countries. And the recognizable sights he does have are modified in some way. In terms of how many subjects are present in his photos, there's almost always at least one, and if there's more than one they're generally in huge groups. Even photographs that at first appear devoid of life are oftentimes just zoomed out enough that the figures aren't immediately recognizable. He also tends to use the wide-angle lens for a number of shots.

When he photographs people, I feel like he tries to choose subjects that would cause viewers to feel uncomfortable on some level or at least alienated. He chooses subjects from such far off places, showing their cultures and their struggles. Not every photograph is meant to show a tragedy but there are a lot of pictures of disasters and poor living conditions. However, there are images of people going about their lives happier than the other pictures. When his pictures are focused on animals they often feel out of this reality, having a mystical sort of feel to it.

I like Salgado's work, it shows off parts of the world people either don't get to see or pointedly ignore.It's a negative part of life that needs to be addressed even if it's not pertinent to the viewer's life. They help foster feelings of empathy which are needed to really function in social settings like how our society is set up. His distance shots give an excellent sense of scale as to how many people are there even if we can't see any individuals in the crowds. His use of the wide-angle lens adds a lot to his photographs and I don't think they would have the same impact without it.