8 ms·
Jack Sharp works of amateur photographer circa 1950-1970
- q-base 6y agoWow! They are really really good! Thanks a lot for sharing. I had never heard of him before.
- dharma1 6y agoGreat photos and a nice story. I have the same Pentax camera, can be bought for pennies now. Sometimes it's bundled with Pentax 50mm 1.4 Super Takumar - a great lens
- CaptArmchair 6y agoYeah, I have two Pentax Spotmatic camera's. One of them came as part of the original kit. Taking pictures with them is quite the experience. Since their really old camera's, the light meter in both have died, sadly. So, it's a bit of a hassle doing everything manual and I don't use them that much. But the pictures I've gotten from them are totally worth the time and effort.
- rangibaby 6y agoThe exposure meters in old film SLRs are quite basic anyway, if you can remember the sunny 16 rule you’re 90% of the way there already. For the other 10%, use a light meter app on your phone
- dharma1 6y agoyes, it's hassle but looking back at photos taken with them always surprises me. Something about it.. Feel like more real memories than digital (especially phone) photos
- piffey 6y agoDitch the meter! Your brain is a better computer! http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm
- cpach 6y agoWonderful pictures. No prints available...? That would be awesome.
- erk__ 6y agoIf you open a picture there is a shopping cart in the top right where you can buy prints
- jacobush 6y agoAnd it's super cheap!
- carlob 6y agoFrom what I could gather they are digitally printed, honest question: knowing this do you still consider it cheap?
- jacobush 6y agoYes, because it's still a striking piece of art. Also I would not expect anything but a digital print in this day and age, if it's not advertised to be a traditional print. If one is lucky (my preference) it's still a digital print but on wet paper, i.e. Fuji Crystal Archive or Kodak Endura, but the photographic paper is exposed with LED or laser. A black and white traditional darkroom print is labour intensive and usually goes for much more money.
- paganel 6y agoExcellent photos, especially this one [1] of what appears to be posters against granting women the right to vote in the Swiss canton of Geneva. I had known that Switzerland had been pretty late in accepting women to vote, but seeing their "reasonings" from back in that time written down so clearly put things in a new perspective (if it matters I'm not Swiss, but I generally like Switzerland and I considered at some point the possibility of moving there for good). [1] https://www.jacksharp.co.uk/12603572-88977-photo-4 https://www.jacksharp.co.uk/12603572-88977-photo-4
- 082349872349872 6y ago"Oui" won at the urns in Geneva in 1960: http://institutions.ville-geneve.ch/fr/bge/actualites/actualites/agenda/archives-bastions/le-suffrage-feminin-a-geneve-raconte-en-affiches/ http://institutions.ville-geneve.ch/fr/bge/actualites/actual... My canton wouldn't follow for about another decade, but the flip side of slow adoption is that implementation hasn't been subject to foot-dragging[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23885838 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23885838 US-based HN'ers may wish to compare also Article 8 of our constitution: https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/19995395/index.html#a8 https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/19995395/... with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Rights_Amendment#/media/File:US_Equal_Rights_Amendment_Map.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Rights_Amendment#/media/... [1] found the original soundtrack to that overdub: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc6NehFdQ5g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc6NehFdQ5g (still haven't found a Trump/Azar duet, however)
- bb101 6y agoThe arguments are mind-bogglingly outdated now. -- "Men and women are equal, but they have different missions". "Don't bog our women down in party fights, they have more noble tasks to complete." -- They really were different times, and only 60 years ago.
- 082349872349872 6y agoabout as outdated as the uniform: https://www.jacksharp.co.uk/12603583-88977-photo-5 https://www.jacksharp.co.uk/12603583-88977-photo-5 Assuming the Securitas of the time didn't dress like that, this'd be more up to date: https://cdn.unitycms.io/image/ocroped/1200,1200,1000,1000,0,0/kakuClmuY6Y/8fLm2GzWqCSAiVWjbcLU3s.jpg https://cdn.unitycms.io/image/ocroped/1200,1200,1000,1000,0,... Massey-Harris is now Massey-Ferguson, but still makes tractors and manure spreaders. It's a single person job now: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Manure_spreader_Record_2.jpg/1599px-Manure_spreader_Record_2.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Ma... The steps across from the Alhambra are gone: https://www.google.com/maps/@46.2028417,6.1463583,3a,90y,180h,92.05t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipP6KywApEoTvPAKVg3Gi0xfG77hqpDZsFRiuzRj!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipP6KywApEoTvPAKVg3Gi0xfG77hqpDZsFRiuzRj%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya31.047546-ro-0-fo100!7i6720!8i3360 https://www.google.com/maps/@46.2028417,6.1463583,3a,90y,180... but Chillon (like Lavaux?) hasn't changed much :-) https://www.google.com/maps/@46.412932,6.9292024,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sAF1QipO-RegasGmp9_u-iVRHAdDBnfEixfFtcnWlK9pD!2e10!3e12!7i6912!8i3456 https://www.google.com/maps/@46.412932,6.9292024,3a,75y,180h...
- contingencies 6y agoDynamic range of analog is still unbeaten without multi-exposure fudgery...
- vladsanchez 6y agoI LOVE Film! <3
- Demiurge 6y agoSure it does. Sony A7II has dynamic range of 14.7 EV. > A release by Kodak showcased that most film has around 13 stops of dynamic range. Today’s modern digital cameras all average around 14 stops of dynamic range, with high-end units such as the Nikon D810 reaching almost 15 stops. Film continuous to deliver incredible dynamic range, but today’s digital technology can easy match it. Source: https://petapixel.com/2015/05/26/film-vs-digital-a-comparison-of-the-advantages-and-disadvantages/ https://petapixel.com/2015/05/26/film-vs-digital-a-compariso...
- contingencies 6y agoWasn't aware it has improved that much. I have ~10 EV era gear which is top of the line from single digit years ago.
- Demiurge 6y agoMy Canon 70D is also not great ~10. I can see it when I look at my friends low light Sony pictures taken in same settings, it's noticeable.
- Jaruzel 6y agoFocusing on the word 'amateur' here. For a while I fancied myself as an amateur photographer. First on film, and then digital. After 1000s of shots, and tons of money on kit and film etc. plus hours of learning techniques, I realised that I would never be able to take photos that were worth showing anyone. My photos look amateur. Jack Sharp's do not. At the end of the day, I firmly believe you either have a photographic eye, or you don't.
- pvorb 6y agoI think the only difference in being professional vs amateur is that a professional takes money for the job. It doesn't matter much how good the end result is. Of course making money means that somebody has to pay for it and everything else follows. But as soon as you find somebody who is willing to spend money for your work, you become a professional.
- augusto-moura 6y agoThere are both definitions in the dictionary, being really good at something, and being paid for it. I think the parent comment refers to the former
- anta40 6y agoMerriam-Webster defines "amateurs" as: "a person who regularly or occasionally engages in an activity as a pastime rather than as a profession" So it's not about skill. But whether you do it only for fun, or for a living. "At the end of the day, I firmly believe you either have a photographic eye, or you don't." Perhaps, but virtually learning anything in the world involves 2 things: hard work & commitment.
- k2enemy 6y agoWhat you don't see here are the tens of thousands of shots that didn't work out so well. Look through an unedited roll from someone like Garry Winogrand and you'll feel much better.
- brudgers 6y ago
- barrenko 6y agoLike Vivien Maier, not that bad but not that good either. What separates older "masters" is precisely their obsessive self-curation.
- piffey 6y agoThis! I used to run a photography critique group and had to constantly harp on this. Photography is really the art of exclusion -- not only what you exclude from the frame but also what you cut from your final selection of images. Robert Frank took tens of thousands of frames for the 60 or so photographs in The Americans. The eye is certainly a large part of it, perhaps he saw more and therefore just took more photographs, but in the end his ability to cut down to a sequence of powerful photographs is what mattered and makes him a master.
- 2bitencryption 6y agoAs an amateur street photographer, this feels good to hear. For a long time I couldn't comprehend how some of the masters took their most famous shots, how they anticipated the so-called decisive moment, framed everything perfectly in a nanosecond, and then got the perfect exposure. In addition, it felt like all my best shots were 100% luck, only discovered after reviewing them the next day. It seems like luck (or, maybe, "getting skilled at being lucky") is fundamental to the art. that's not to say the greats relied only on luck. even my luckiest, one-in-a-million, greatest shot is nothing compared to what Frank left on the cutting room floor of The Americans.
- 6y ago
- sizzzzlerz 6y agoWhat a wonderful collection. There is something about B&W photos that gives me more of a sense of realism than color. Obviously, the subject plays a major part but its the developing and printing that brings them to life. Sharp had a real talent and he threw it all away to become an engineer ;).