In the 1940’s working as a graphic designer she was ‘discovered’ for her visual talent by Photographer Richard Avedon and encouraged towards a career in photography.

Her sophisticated style evolved and was bold, moody and elegantly expressed in fashion photography in Harper’s Bazzaar from the late 1940s to the early 1960s’. Her romantic images revolutionized fashion photography and her talent was highly sought after. Vanity Fair magazine singled her out as one of photography’s “grand masters”. ‘Full of mystery, sensuality, and expressionistic glamour, Bassman’s dramatic black and white photographs capture secret moments and dream memories’.

Bassman told The New York Times in a 1997 interview that she wanted to “take the hardness out of the photography” in order to make it less literal, which she accomplished using darkroom techniques such as bleaching, dodging and burning, and selective focus.

Over the ensuing 25 years, Bassman shot a wide variety of consumer ads–“everything that could be photographed,” she told The New York Times–but especially glamorous models for lingerie advertising. She frequently shot fashion spreads for Harper’s Bazaar as well.

In the 1970s, Bassman was discourage with the changing fashion industry and high-maintenance models, “I got sick of them,” she told The Times in 2009. “They were becoming superstars. They were not my kind of models. They were dictating rather than taking direction.” Disappointed with the profession she abruptly closed her studio, abandoned photography – destroyed her commercial negatives and dumped the editorial ones in binliners in a nook of her home. Instead, for private satisfaction, she photographed semi-abstracts.

For years her famous dramatic images stayed dormant. And then in the early 1990’s a friend of hers discovered her long lost negatives and encouraged her to pursue photography again. With the passage of years she was ready to redefine her photography work.

At 87 years old her interest in darkroom techniques transferred into a fascination for Photoshop and she embraced the digital and began creating interesting effects and variations of images she had captured years ago. Her reinterpretations, as she called them, found a new generation of admirers.

These reinterpretations were so admired that she returned to photograph the Paris collections for the New York Times magazine in 1996, and worked for Vogue until 2004. She had exhibitions across Europe and in the US. Books of her “painting with light” were published in 1997 (Lillian Bassman), 2009 (Lillian Bassman: Women) and this year (Lillian Bassman: Lingerie).

Lillian Bassman who passed away last year in February at age 94, is truly an inspirational artist. In an era where women were not recognized in the arts and design, she was. And as an 87-year old woman she embraced digital, learned technical skills and revitalized her work in a new way.

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Testimonies of a War – A Photographic Project

It is a photographic project where for seven years, I have dedicated myself to exploring the coast of the Strait of Gibraltar to capture images of bunkers and military fortifications from both the Spanish Civil War and World War II.

I have visited about 40 bunkers during all this time, which is an insignificant number compared to the more than 650 bunkers in the Strait of Gibraltar. Out of all the photographs taken, about 75 photos have been selected to compose this photographic project.

Visually, in these images, I impressively capture the essence of these war constructions: suffering and horror. To achieve this, he has used black and white images with strong contrasts that encapsulate time and convey a great sense of drama to the scene.

On the other hand, I also seek to convey the beauty of these immense concrete structures, often located in incredible landscapes. To accomplish this, I have employed meticulously crafted compositions that avoid modern constructions while using low viewpoints or wide-angle lenses to magnify their grandeur.
You can view the complete photographic work on bunkers, as well as other projects, at this website.

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If you are an artist, creative entrepreneur or Blogger, then you can appreciate creative imagery to spark your imagination!  Finding free imagery to use as a source of inspiration for your work or on your Blog posts can be a challenge. It can also be confusing to understand image use from public domain sources.

What is Public Domain?
The term “public domain” refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist. Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it. Sounds confusing? It can be. Read exactly what it means here

Before cruising the Internet for a source of inspiration for an image to use, be sure that the image is in fact, ‘free’. We’ve done some of the work here in finding sources of imagery that are ‘free’ to use. Though, the responsibility is still up to you, always be sure if you have any doubts, as to the usage rights, to contact the owner of the source.

Here Are a Few of the Best Sources for Imagery

New York Public Library

Public Domain Collections: Free to Share & Reuse
More than 180,000 of the items are in the public domain. Hours of inspiration can be found in this vast online resource.

Openverse

Explore more than 600 Million Creative Works
You can spend hours getting lost in this extensive library of free stock photos, images, and audio.

Unsplash

Subscribe and get 10 new photos every 10 days. You don’t know what it will be, but it’s sure worth the surprise.
Unsplash – “Free Do Whatever You Want.”

Death to the Stock Photo

Beautiful lifestyle photography free for the taking. One of the best online. Subscribe here for a pack sent to your inbox monthly along with a writing prompt.

Pexels

Daily 5 new high-quality photos – Pexels

Pikiwizard

Quickly browse free stock photos and view trending, favorites and latest. A good combination of lifestyle, food, nature and themes. Pikiwizard

Pixabay

High quality images you can use anywhere. Pixabay

Free Nature Shots

Free Nature Shots – Great finds in here if you are looking for landscapes, flowers, trees and sky.

Picjumbo

Picjumbo an impressive collection of lifestyle shots.

Cupcake

Cupcake Free Images – You will find some inspiration here! “Although, you’re more than welcome to let me know if you use images for a website, illustration or whatever, it’s inspiring to see the results.”

Stocksnap

Great for concepts and something different. Stocksnap.Explore here

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Todd Webb born in Detroit (1905–2000) was an American photographer notable for documenting everyday life and architecture in cities such as New York, Paris as well as from the American west. His photographs capture the essence of a moment in time.

However before Todd Webb became a notable photographer, he went through a series of jobs and hard times. I find it fascinating how he went through this journey and diverse careers that were totally unrelated to creative photography before he discovered his true passion.

He worked as a bank teller, and was a successful stockbroker during the 1920s but lost his earnings during the Crash before the Depression. During the Depression beginning in 1929, he moved to California and worked as a prospector and earned a meager living. During these years he also worked as a fire ranger for the United States Forestry Service. After 1934, Webb returned to Detroit and worked for the automobile manufacturer Chrysler in their export division. In 1937, he visited a friend in Panama in search of gold, but had little success.

But in Panama, he brought along a camera donated by his former employer, Chrysler.
And so they say…the rest is history.

In 1940 he completed a ten–day workshop with Ansel Adams as his teacher, However he did not follow in Adams path in his work. In 1945 he began his career as a professional photographer.

In 1949 he married independent Lucille Webb who was in her early 40’s (she passed away in 2008 at 101 years old). After 24 hours of knowing her, he asked her to marry him! His journal entry reflects that knowledge… “Things are happening to me, things I hadn’t planned or dreamed of. There is even the possibility I may not be a bachelor forever.”

They lived in Paris for a few years and moved back to New York in 1953. Todd was working as a commercial photographer. During this time Webb received two Guggenheim fellowships in 1954 and 1955, walking across America with his camera.

In 1960, Webb was lured to Santa Fe by his old friend, Georgia O’Keeffe, and settled there for 10 years. He documented Georgia O’Keeffe’s life for the book “Georgia O’Keeffe: The Artist’s Landscape,” and produced some of the most celebrated images.

From the Southwest to the Northeast, in the 1970’s Webb settled in Auburn Maine and died in 2000 at the the age of 94.

Todd Webb’s photographs have been displayed in 25 major museum collections including the MOMA in New York, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. A portion of his photographic archive––1,400 of his photographs––are at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

“Creative photography does not have anything to do with location, projects or causes as such–yet it can involve any of them,” he said. “It is a need to express something within the photographer. A creative photograph is one seen through the photographer. The reason for making the photograph is often unexplainable.”

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Is it her brave spirit, her boldness, her talent? The way she was totally herself through good time and sad times?

Is she a symbol for free expression and a wild creative nature for women during a time that women were repressed?

The effects of Frida and her work live on in artistic expression. She’s irresistible. For artists and photographers there is just something we want to capture. And capture… this is completely what Photographer Alice Asnaghi did with the following photo shoot with her friend.

Frida Kahlo was a fantastic woman and one of my favourite artist.
My friend is a perfect sosia and the old dresses we found in the wardrobe were just perfect to realize this photo project, which is a tribute to her. – Alice Asnaghi

Check out the following photo shoot which is a beautiful creative and inspiring Tribute to Frida.

I think Frida would be smiling.

The post Frida Kahlo’s Life & Work – She Compels Us appeared first on Art and Design Inspiration.

Among his inventive scenarios, small human figures—often the artist himself—appear trapped within glass jars or the size of a camera lens; in other works, Baznani more or less dissects his body, as for example, in one, he cleanly removes his brain from his cranium, or in another, twists off his hand, much as if it were a light bulb. Imparted throughout such works are strong senses of humor and wonder, and as such, Baznani’s art offers a Surrealistic take on life experience in the digital age.

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