Peter Adams: Photographers

Carolyn started her career as a nurse. Her book ‘Nursing for Life’ demonstrates how a great passion for a subject can only make a photographer’s images stronger. While working on this project, I have discovered that it is always best to ask a subject to give more than I can reasonably expect. The results are often surprising.

Carolyn started her career as a nurse. Her book ‘Nursing for Life’ demonstrates how a great passion for a subject can only make a photographer’s images stronger. While working on this project, I have discovered that it is always best to ask a subject to give more than I can reasonably expect. The results are often surprising.

Carolyn started her career as a nurse. Her book ‘Nursing for Life’ demonstrates how a great passion for a subject can only make a photographer’s images stronger. While working on this project, I have discovered that it is always best to ask a subject to give more than I can reasonably expect. The results are often surprising.

t was 1941 and Churchill was in Ottawa to trying to raise support for the war effort.  He gave his famous ‘Some chicken! Some neck!’ speech to the Canadian parliament, after which he was led into the Speakers Chamber - but no one had had the courage to tell him he was going to be photographed. When he found out, he pulled he trademark stroppiness along with his trademark cigar and refused to give it up. Karsh attended to his camera and at the last moment leant forward, and ever so respectfully said ‘Forgive me, Sire!’ and he snatched the cigar from his lips. By the time he had returned to his camera, Churchill was looking at the photographer belligerently, and the world famous picture was made.

George Krause was working as a professor of photography at Brooklyn College of Art, and this self portrait with an erection, was the result of an art school exercise. His third year students were bored and falling asleep. To get their attention,"I set them the task of making a nude self portrait. Ping!  They all woke up”, explained Krause. "Of course the noisey ones didn’t complete the exercise, but the quieter ones did some amazing work!” When their work was handed in, the students asked where his picture was. They had caught him out and he made this self-portrait in response – but, in a manner of speaking, George is still wearing a ‘fig leaf’ in the form of his mask.