Famous+Photographer

=**Takashi Amano**=

**1. Give some historical background on their life. /20** Takashi Amano, or Amano Takashi, was born in Niigata, Japan on July 18, 1954. He is a photographer, designer and aquarist who specializes in land and underwater photography. Since 1975, he has visited tropical rainforests in the Amazon, Borneo, and West Africa as well as unspoiled forests in Japan. Amano has recently been working on a series of photos focusing on "untouched nature" with his cameras. He is the author of Nature Aquarium World, which is a three- book series on aquascaping, freshwater aquarium plants and fish. Amano published the book "Aquarium Plant Paradise". His works have been introduced internationally through many different exhibitions and publications. He also advocated the magnitude of tree-planting programs to help save the Earth's environment. An award that Amano won was the Fuji Film Nature Photo Contest, Grand Prix, 1992.

**2. Describe their influences. /5** Amano's interest in aquaria led him to create the Japanese company Aqua Design Amano. He is one of the most influential people in the freshwater aquascaping community and can be largely credited with introducing gardening concepts such as the Wabi-sabi and Zen rock arrangements.

**3. Describe their style and major genre (Documentary, Fashion etc.) /5** Amano's major genre is land and underwater. He tends to use his large-format cameras to capture minute details of nature on extra large size film that is up to 8x20 inches.

**4. Upload a minumum of 5 Photos that represent their work. /25**



**Design elements that are apparent in this photo are:** -Depth -Balance -Diagonals -Planes & Depth Levels -Colour Space -Simple & Single Point -Framing (of the shadowy forest) This is a good representation of the photographer's work because he went traveling to the Amazon to take a picture of a beautiful sunset like this. The lighting is all natural and has been used to Amano's advantage.

**Design elements that are apparent in this photo are:** -Direction -Balance -Diagonals -Colour Space This is a good representation of the photographer's work because everything in this picture (and all the other pictures) is natural. There is nothing artificial about it. The lighting is natural. It was taken underwater with an underwater camera by Amano in the Amazon.

**Design elements that are apparent in this photo are:** -Depth -Direction -Balance -Element Relationship -Framing (of the sky) This is a good representation of the photographer's work because the first thing that you see are the trees reaching out to the foggy sky. The lighting is completely natural. It was taken in the Maliau Basin in Sabah, Borneo Island. **Design elements that are apparent in this photo are:** -Direction -Diagonals -Planes & Depth Levels This is a good representation of the photographer's work because the first thing that you see is the waterfall, which stands out in stark contrast against the darker background. The lighting is natural and is coming from the sky, which is not visible. **Design elements that are apparent in this photo are:** -Depth -Colour Space -Element Relationship -Simple & Single Point This is a good representation of the photographer's work because the picture draws the viewer into the photo with its intricate details and magnetic colours. The lighting is natural and is coming from the sky. **Design elements that are apparent in this photo are:** -Depth -Balance -Framing (of the sky as well as the mini waterfall) This is a good representation of the photographer's work because it looks untainted and undiscovered. This is actually one of the smallest waterfalls around. The light is coming from the sky, which is streaming through the rectangular hole at the top of the picture.