Santa's Little grumpy Helper

Taken In: Cleveland, Ohio
Taken On: Christmas Day, 2010

Quote: "Lets be naughty and save Santa the trip" ~ Gary Allen

I love this photo so much because even though he's one of santas "helpers" per say, he can still be naughty or grumpy. I especially love his facial expression as its not straight up disgusted but he looks like he is contemplating whether to do something bad or just plain ol' squinting.

Photographers Profile: Robert Doisneau

Robert Doisneau is a great photographer. As he was more popular in the early to mid 1900s his work has inspired many as he captured the many every day tasks of Parisian people. As he did this he captured not only what people did every day but also their many emotions, facial expressions, and my personal favorite their fashions. The many emotions portrayed in his work range from passion to silliness. The many facial expressions that his subjects portray are too funny to even explain, I highly suggest looking up Robert Doisneau and his many pictures to see what I mean. The fashions back then though, are something to linger on more than most. As in this era they were in the depression and some of the worst wars, every man, women, and child dressed their best. Women would walk out in nice dresses, gloves and a lovely hat (same with girls although not as dressy). Men and boys would walk out in sometimes a double breasted suit, nice slacks, dress shoes, and a nice hat.

While Robert Doisneau is my personal favorite photographer from France, I have to say that his photos were emotional, funny, and overall lovely. While we don't necessarily hear much about him as he has died (sadly) he still brings back the lovely although hard times of early France and the essence of everyday life. My hat goes off to him for bringing joy and history all in one place.

Paris! When It Sparkles.

Taken In: Paris, France
Taken On: March 26, 2011

Quote: "Paris is always a good idea" ~ the movie Sabrina

This was taken on one of the best trips I have ever been on! Not only is paris a very happening city it also has a lot of culture. Their culture is so amazingly beautiful much like all the architecture in the city and the South of France. While both areas are lovely I love Paris. At this time of night starting at 9:00 sharp, the Eiffel Tower starts to sparkle, which is the best part (to me) of Paris at night.

Iron and Ice

Taken On: February 22, 2011
Taken In: Cleveland, Ohio


Quote: "water is the driving force of all nature." ~ Leonardo Da Vinci 


This photo is one of my favorites because I took it the day after there was heavy rain and snow at the same time. While they both are water based it created something so beautiful and serene at the same time, which looks especially good in black and white I must say. The quote I think works perfectly with the photo because it shows how snow and rain are both water based and how at the same time both the quote and the photo are both so simple.

Kiss By The Hotel De La Ville 1950

This photo was taken by famed photographer Robert Doisneau. Who took many pictures of 1950-1980 France. While I could go on and on about Robert Doisneau I will just make a photographer profile on him later. But long story short he is one of the most amazing photographers I have ever seen with all of his people portraits and life of every day France. I find all of his work fascinating really. But back to the picture, this photo is very much like the picture in the Smithsonian which is of two people kissing after the end of WWII. While it is very similar it is for different reasons.This particular kiss, while this was taken in front of a hotel you could really think that it is this couples goodbye kiss as the man has a very big traveling bag along with him. But it could very much be the opposite of that as it could be a welcome home kiss. While I am no professional of body language I could say that this was the goodbye kiss as you can see by the stance of his body and the passion between the two of them. I could very well be wrong though. But this photo is very unique in its own ways as for one its in France but I will let you figure out what you think is unique as everyone has their own opinions. Sadly the famed Robert Doisneau is no longer with us, I hope that many people in the coming and coming years can be inspired by his works of art for France's everyday life.

Photographers Profile: Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz is best known for her work in fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and for her work with famous celebrities such as Demi Moore, and Miley Cyrus (both celebs had infamous photo shoots that were critiqued inappropriate). 

Some of her most famous celebrity photo shoots were with, John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1980 as a portrait which was the last picture taken of John Lennon since he was shot and killed five hours later. Another one of her famous photo shoots was the shoot titles "More Demi Moore" which showed a pregnant Demi Moore naked holding her belly and breasts in the cover of Vanity Fair, while this photo got very high media attention most people found it very offensive and therefore the photo was deemed successful and unsuccessful at the same time. One of her most recently criticized endeavors as a photographer was her 2009 photo shoot of Miley Cyrus semi nude covered up with a sheet, this photo must be one of her highly criticized photos to date. While no doubt she had a bigger picture set up in her head then what the media saw the bottom line was there was a thirteen year old girl covered up in a blanket. Not very many people that I have met and heard of would take kindly to that kind of photography. Even through with her ups and downs as a photographer she still seems to take the big picture that she has in her head and make it into a reality. While we might not always like what we see the view is in the eye of the beholder.

The Afghan Girl: Before and After

Since the original photo of the Afghan Girl (the one on the left) was taken it has since become one of the worlds most recocnized photos. It still has that thrilling and mysterious sense to it. To me the most thrilling sense is the fact that her eyes are so endearing to look at that you just can't look away. The most mysterious part of it though is the fact that you feel like she's staring you down with her eyes that are so beautiful yet so eerie at the same time.While in the more recent photo of the Afghan Girl (the one on the right) she has aged and grown up over the course of fifteen years since the first photo itself was taken. She still has the same beautifully eerie eyes that she had in the first picture. Although the first picture was taken almost 26 years ago her eyes are still captivating millions and leaving many to the imagination.