Today in class we were asked to research another photographer. This week I am looking at Nick Nixon and his book "Pictures of People". In this book, Nixon sought to photograph the deepest human values and nature through average, everyday people. He photographed families, portrait-style, candids, or simple portraits. He has even experimented with landscape and architecture photographs, which show careful attention to perspective and leading lines.
Something interesting I find with Nixon's portraits are that none of his subjects are the cliched "picture perfect" pretty. Elderly people show their wrinkles, childrens' faces are splattered with dirt, and people's faces are snapped in an awkward and funny expression. But this is what makes Nixon's photos beautiful. His gritty, dirty, not-perfect snapshots show a very raw look into reality. The most moving of his photo series is his "People with AIDS" series, which shows portraits of a man slowly reclining in health.
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