Inspirations: O. Winston Link – Film Photographer
Inspirational Photographer: O. Winston Link
Website:http://www.linkmuseum.org/
Location: USA
Genre: Locomotive
O’ Winston Link (December 16, 1914 – January 30, 2001) was a commercial photographer who on the side had a passion for photographing steam trains.
(Photograph by O. Winston Link)
During his prime period of the 50’s, he experimented with creative lighting to create some amazing studio styled lighting on these steam trains and the result was magnificent. He somehow put these vehicles in the spotlight and recreated them into highly artistic pieces of machinery. The quality found in these photos is overwhelming even in today’s standards and I personally find them highly inspirational.
As this was roughly 60 years ago, Link needed many assistants to achieve his desired lighting and with film cameras the pressure was always on to achieve the perfect frame. Because unlike digital cameras there are a limited amount of photos (large format film photographers usually carry enough film for about ten photographs) that can be taken, which makes the planning and execution so much more important.
(Photograph by O. Winston Link)
This level of planning and leadership demonstrated by O. Winston Link is something I find highly inspiring for working as a photography assistant or being the photographer. Unlike today where we have histograms, memory cards and .raw files the photographers of old really had to know their skills like a science.
Besides that, the work he has created is just amazing, the level of detail captured is something you essentially never get to see and the surprising thing is that these photos are over half a century old. People who think that digital is better in every way compared to film should view his work, and compare it because in my opinion these photographs still have not been beaten.
You can only view high resolution images of his work hosted on flickr photo-streams. Please follow the link to check them out, they are truly amazing.
Click Here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/4573733184/
References:
First Image:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/OW_Link%2C_Hotshot_Eastbound.jpg
Second Photo:
http://www.rgusrail.com/vaowlm.html
Flickr Photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/4573733184/
Book:
Garver, Tom, O. Winston Link: the Man and the Museum, O. Winston Link Museum, Virginia, 2004.
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