Technique and innovations in color photography Ernst Haas

ernst haas, la suerte de capa, pamplona, spain, 1956

though haas continued use black-and-white film of career, color film , visual experimentalism became integral photography. employed techniques shallow depth of field, selective focus, , blurred motion create evocative, metaphorical works. became interested in, put it, transforming object what want be. beyond physical place, person, or object depicted, haas hoped reflect joy of looking , of human experience.

haas supported adventurous personal work commercially viable photojournalism, advertising, , motion picture stills photography. while on such assignments, make own photographs, translating passion poetry, music, painting, , adventure color imagery. reputation on rise, haas traveled world, photographing u.s., europe, south africa, , southeast asia in expressionistic color.

in late 1940s, haas switched medium format rolleiflex smaller 35mm leica rangefinder camera, used consistently rest of career. once began working in color, used kodachrome, known rich, saturated colors. print color work, haas used dye transfer process whenever possible. expensive, complex process used @ time advertising, dye transfer allowed great control on color hue , saturation.

as technology of color photography evolved , improved during period, audience interest in color imagery increased. many of magazines published haas’ work, such life, improved quality of color reproduction, , increasingly sought include work in medium. despite progress, many photographers, curators, , historians reluctant consider color photography art, given technology’s commercial origins.