Ida Kar was born in 1908 and photographed mainly in London where she mainly took black and white images of artists and writers.
Some of her work was of the artists and writers in their working environments. It is interesting as it is their own creative spaces, so they probably felt more comfortable. It had more depth and context as well as for Kar it was her ‘her personal experience of bohemian circles in Paris and London’. This is quite similar to my project as for me it is as it allowing me to understand where I am going in my life. Having these deeper meanings can add more emotion to the images. In Kar’s case, I think it makes the photographs more real and natural. As she is representing her experience.
From looking at her images, what makes them effective is the use of light. She used natural light and it creates interesting shadows on the subject. I think she chooses the location on where the best light is which appears to be often by a window. The image below for example is really intriguing. His face is in the dark which I would think would not normally be affective but it makes it more interesting. The light falls partly on him, enough to clearly see what he is wearing. Then the lights fall onto the objects around him. This is his art stuff, an important part of what Kar is documenting. This use of light means the viewers attention is not completely drawn to the subject but instead can focus more on the surroundings. This is something that I need to make sure of in my work. The surroundings is where the comparisons between images will begin to take place and so i have to check that the light isn’t just highlighting the person.
Lucy Davis 