![]() ![]() Prime examples of these are found in “Campden Hill, August 1953” and “Hampstead, London, 1952” -in the latter, the subject’s feet are so distorted that they hide the rest of her body. Placing the camera very close to his subjects, the wide angle enlarges the foreground to a great degree, making body parts look highly disproportionate. He initially intended to use this type of lens to photograph large and great ceilings, but later realized that it also distorts subjects up close, noting that he had “never planned that.” Although this was a new discovery for Brandt, it soon became almost his signature aesthetic, and is especially evident in his nudes. ![]() This preoccupation with retouching and attention to detail made Brandt a remarkably innovative artist at the time, engaging with the photographic print in uncommon ways.īrandt’s use of a wide-angle lens is another very striking feature of his innovative photographic practice. Looking very closely at the Marlborough prints, evidence of these surface manipulations can be seen. In order to create high-contrast prints with a great degree of detail, Brandt was known to manipulate his prints both before and after development, not only dodging and burning but also etching and shading them, with tools such as razor blades and graphite pencils. In 1961, the publication of Perspective of Nudes marked, in the words of curators Martina Droth and Paul Messier, “the point at which Brandt’s stature as an art world figure came onto assured footing.” It was after this that people came to recognize Brandt as an artist rather than a journalist. It was only after these stints in photojournalism that Brandt moved away from socio-political themes into more artistic work. Following this, he was employed throughout the 1940s by the British government to capture scenes of daily life in Britain during the war. ![]() His first photobook, The English at Home, was an anthropological study of British life, showing with a distanced perspective the customs and habits of citizens from all walks of life. On show through May 8th, the exhibition highlights Brandt’s integration of natural and human forms, as well as his technical mastery of the photographic medium, both in and out of the darkroom.īrandt began his career as a photojournalist, documenting the lives of everyday Britons and working for illustrated magazines. Today, nearly forty years after his death, Marlborough Gallery showcases Brandt’s multi-decade-long preoccupation with the feminine nude with Perspective of Nudes (revisited). Beginning as a photojournalist, Brandt produced a wide range of work throughout his career, including portraits, landscapes, and nudes, done entirely in black-and-white. Bill Brandt made a place for himself as one of the most prominent photographers in Britain over the course of the twentieth century. ![]()
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