...Okay, now—without Googling—see if you can tell me just on the basis of style and content who these three photographers are:
Just get your answers set in your mind, or jot them down. These are quite obscure, so don't feel bad if you can't guess.
I'll post the answers later, so you won't be left guessing.
Mike
(P.S. If you want to guess in a comment, be my guest, but I won't post the comment.)
Original contents copyright 2013 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
No featured comments yet—please check back soon!
I love these games.
in order:
Dennis Rodman
Calvin Klein
Herman Munster
Posted by: David | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 11:15 AM
Thankyou. I must confess that I have never been very good at quizes, and I cheated on this one. However, you have given me a fascinating journey through the photos and history represented here.
Thanks again
Posted by: Jonathan Meyers | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 11:19 AM
#1 is Fukojima Nakamori. #2 is Wesley Brooke-Hamster. #3 is Parker Marshall
Posted by: Richard Tugwell | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 11:24 AM
The top one might be an Ansel Adams photograph in Manzanar. I don't know about the other 2.
-John
Posted by: John Custodio | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 11:39 AM
Margaret Bourke-White,
Edward Steichen,
Walker Evans
Posted by: Ed Kirkpatrick | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 11:43 AM
I'm going
Ansel Adams
Arnold Newman
Walker Evans
zero 4 three?
Posted by: Paul | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 11:51 AM
Ok Mike
I'll give a shot at the first two......
1) Ansel Adams
2) Edward Weston
not sure on the last one
Posted by: Tom Pappas | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 12:48 PM
Top - Ansel Adams
Middle - Edward Steichen
Bottom Clarence John Laughlin
Posted by: Joe Lipka | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 01:09 PM
I have wild guesses for the first photo: Ansel Adams;
the third: Walker Evans;
but the third doesn't ring any bells for me... it looks like it could have been made anytime between, say, 1930 and 2013. :-)
Posted by: Jamie Pillers | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 01:17 PM
Nope.
Posted by: Manuel | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 01:34 PM
Robert Adams
Diane Arbus
Cindy Sherman
Nah
I cant recall having ever seen any of the pictures before but I suspect the first one is Ansel Adams because I know he photographed Japanese Americans held internment camps during WWll (Shameful)
Not sure about the the other two yet but I guess it's against there normal style or subject.
I'll have my tea and try and figure it out!
Posted by: Sean | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 01:38 PM
I'm going to guess that top to bottom the photos are by Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Frances Benjamin Johnson. Do I win the prize?
Posted by: Richard Wasserman | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 02:02 PM
I nailed the first one only. Obscure indeed :-)
Posted by: Karel | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 02:30 PM
The first one has to be Ansel Adam's work from his visit to the forced relocation camps for Japanese Americans during WWII. I'm just guessing that the second is a late Stieglitz or a Weston, doing a practical portrait for money or friendship, and I wonder if the last is another Adams (a record shot?) or an outtake from The Americans.
Posted by: Will Frostmill | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 02:41 PM
I LOVE Ansel Adams' Manzanar "relocation center" photos, I really get a sense of what he was feeling in them that I don't get from his famous work. I'm not familiar with that one in particular but it's got to be Adams.
The second one sort of looks like August Sander but the lighting looks like Weston or Penn- and the shirt collar and haircut sure don't look Weimar. Too modern and American for Sander (and in a studio to boot), Too relaxed and tonally smooth for Penn (and doesn't look like any of his signature backgrounds either) Weston?
Someone working for Roy Stryker. That S curve composition doesn't look like something Walker Evans would do, not really Russell Lee either. John Vachon isn't famous enough, maybe an outlier by Lang or Gorden Parks?
Posted by: hugh crawford | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 04:20 PM
I have a guess who the _subject_ of no. 2 is, and I think the subject is a famous photographer. Trying to google a photo OF the person I have in mind is proving difficult. Many BY him come up...
And I might be completely wrong!
Fun quiz!
Posted by: mike r. | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 04:36 PM
I'll take a guess that the top one is Ansel Adams, only because I know he photographed Japanese-Americans in an internment camp in WW2. The other two? Can't even guess.
Posted by: D. Hufford. | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 04:44 PM
The first one reminds me of Helen Levitt, the second looks like a portrait of Ralph Gibson, and the third frankly is difficult to nail, this reminds me of some neo classical houses from the American south, Gordon Parks perhaps?
Posted by: Marek Fogiel | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 05:11 PM
I know the first one, but more from its controversial content (I have the book) than style--the photographer is much more famous for other sorts of pictures.
Posted by: Greg | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 06:18 PM
AA
Minor White
William Eggelston
Fairly strong guess on the first one. The others are Hail Mary shots.
Posted by: Mike Plews | Saturday, 02 March 2013 at 07:48 PM
No 1, probably Ansel Adams, I dimly remember him doing a series on the Japanese internment camps. No 2 could be anybody, probably a famous photographer doing a commission.If I knew who the subject was I suppose I would know the photographer too. no3 I would guess is Edward Weston, made when on a tour of ante-bellum mansions led by C.J. Laughlin.
[I was hoping people would guess Laughlin; only a couple did. By the way, Mark, did I ever tell you I worked with Clarence Laughlin's son at a garden center in D.C.? He showed me some of his father's books. --Mike]
Posted by: Mark L. Power | Sunday, 03 March 2013 at 01:08 AM
One out of three.
No. 1: Ansel Adams because I knew he had done a series on the WWII Japanese internment camps. Thought it could have been Gene Smith from his time in Japan, but decided to go with Adams.
No. 2: Drew a blank. Should have thought of Weston as it looks a bit dated and he certainly did a lot of portraits.
No. 3: At least I got the era right. Thought it might be Walker Evans as he often photographed that sort of building, but his architectural shots often filled the frame and weren't as environmental.
Posted by: B.J. Segel | Sunday, 03 March 2013 at 02:04 AM