Nudes, Nazis & New York slums (masters-of-photography.com)

Member Name: kingseany

Product:	masters-of-photography.com
Date:	28/08/05 (1304 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some good content and resources

Disadvantages: A lot of ads

Being the photography guide on Dooyoo, I thought I'd explore the various products, services and websites available. I came across the masters-of-photography.com website, and took a look.

At this point, I had no idea what the site was about, although the title obviously hinted that it was related to photography in some way. The opening page of this site was messy to be honest, and I still wasn't sure what it was all about. Perhaps the top adverts and the right hand "Ads by google" didn't help it's case, but just cluttered the badly laid out opening page.

Down the left hand side was a list of names, which I recognised to be well known photographers, such as Ansel Adams. They are listed in alphabetical order, and there are perhaps around 60 names - a good selection. You can click onto any name, which then brings up a page allowing you to select from either articles, photographs or resources.

Selecting articles, brings up a sub-page containing, a list of articles taken from various sources relating to that photographer. Sources include "The Encyclopedia of Photography", "American Photography", "A History of Street Photography" and numerous other publications. Some of these articles contain links to actual images, some to other external sites. Many of the articles are long, so you can spend considerable time just reading about each photographers life, style, influences and so on, as well as look at some great images.

The second option, "photographs" will very obviously take you to a gallery showing you a handful of the photographers work, albeit at a small size. Credits and copyright notices are given throughout the site, to protect the photographers work. Whilst looking through the photos, you'll notice that the "ad by google" update with (mostly) related links, so looking at the profile of a particular photographer may point you in the direction of the Fraenkel Gallery who is currently representing them.

The third option is "Resources". This is merely a list of external places to read and view more of the photographers work or history. This includes websites and books (which will almost certainly take you to Amazon).

The site is very much ad driven, and as well as the google ads, you'll notice other links appear to purchase calendars and posters. I guess this is fair enough, you may well be interested in purchasing a poster of your favourite photographer.

For those not particular knowledgable in the photographic world, there is a summary of each photographer, which is useful if you are interested in a particular style or subject, Surrealism, Nudes, Nazis, New York slums or perhaps 1920's Russia.... Lastly there is a FAQ section which should answer any of your questions, but if not, a contact email is also provided to the site owner.

All in all, it is a good resource for reading up on a wide range of photographers. It is very basic when it comes to design and layout, and the ads do sometimes distract from the content - still we can't have everything. For anyone interested in photography, this is certainly worth a look.

Summary: For anyone interested in photography, this is certainly worth a look