Prima Gallery

Ancient sculptures have always held the modern man in awe! From gods and goddess, the ancient sculptures defined their age as one of force and magnanimous. Ancient Greece comes to the fore front whenever the subject of ancient sculptures is touched. Within Greece and its wide heritage of sculptors, there are six who are considered to be the fore-most in the art. Many sculptures were known for their famous works, sculpture being an important part of the Greek culture; but the six sculptors gave a new direction to the art of sculpting. This fine arts blog brings you the details of the six sculptors Myron, Phidias, Polyclitus, Praxiteles, Scopas, and Lysippus who are considered as the most famous artists of Ancient Greece. Sadly, most of their work has been lost except as it survives in Rome and later copies.

Phidias

Phidias was an Athenian sculptor, painter and architecture and is considered one of the greatest sculptors in all of Ancient Greece. Although few facts are known about his life, he is believed to have lived from around 490 until 430 BC. Phidias is mainly known for his two enormous chryselephantine (gold and ivory) sculptures Athena in the Parthenon and his Zeus at Olympia.

Phidias’ colossal statue of Athena was housed in the Parthenon, known as the Athena Parthenon and recognized as the symbol of Athens, dating from 447 – 439 BC. Phidias’ second work was his gigantic statue of Zeus for the temple in Olympia. Dating from around 435 BC, the statue was counted as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Athena Promachos, the Lemnian Athena, an Athena for Pellene and an Aphrodite for Elis are among the few great works from Phidias.

Myron

Myron was an Athenian sculptor who lived during the mid 5th century BC. He was born in Eleutherae but spend most of his life in Athens. He was believed to the student of Ageladas of Argos. Among his many works, the two most famous ones are the group of Athena and Marsyas originally standing on the Acropolis of Athens and the Discobolos (Discus Thrower). Myron was considered to be one of the most versatile and innovative of all Attic sculptors.

Polykleitos

Polykleitos was one of the well known Greek sculptors during the fifth and early 4th century BC. He was considered the most important sculptor of Ancient Greece next to his contemporaries Phidias and Myron. He was famous for his masterly bronze sculptor of athletes. Of his many works, Polykleitos two works are considered best. These were Diadumenus (Man tying on a Fillet), which was made during 430 BC and Doryphorus (Spear bearer) which was made during 450-440 BC and was latter being known as the Canon.

Praxiteles

Believed to be the native of Athens, Praxiteles was a famous sculptor who lived during the early 4th century. Son of the sculptor Cephisodotos, his recognition as a great sculptor is clear from the pictures of his sculptures which were engraved on Roman coins, as well as the descriptions given to us by writers such as Pliny the Elder and Pausanias. Few of his famous works are the marble statue of Hermes Carrying the Infant Dionysus which was made by Parian marble during the end of 4th century and Aphrodite of Cnidus which was considered as the best statue of the world by Pliny the Elder.

 Scopas

Scopas was a Greek sculptor and architecture of the Late Classical Period who lived during the 4th century BC. He was the successor to Polykleitos and contemporary of Praxiteles and Lysippus. He is known to introduce the powerful emotional expressions in the faces of his marble figures. Few of his notable works includes Maenad, the Pothoas and Ludovisi Ares.

 Lysippus

Lysippus is one of the well known sculptors of the Greek Classical Era along with Scopas and Praxiteles. He was one of the official sculptor of Alexander the Great. His works was characterized by life-like naturalism and slender proportions. According to roman writers, he has produced more than 1500 works all of them in bronze. Of these, not one has been preserved, nor is there a completely reliable copy. Lysippos is best known for his bronze sculpture and marble sculpture of athletes, heroes and Gods. Few of his famous works includes Apoxyomenos (The Scraper) and The Farnese Hercules.

Of all the different types of photographies, underwater photography is probably the most difficult and challenging to practice. Wonderful colors, unusual shapes and challenging conditions make it all the more interesting to try underwater photography. The common techniques used by professional photographers are swimming, scuba diving and snorkeling. Mostly aquatic life such as fishes and corals are the main subject of photography but shipwrecks, submerged cave system and landscapes also attract photographer’s attentions.

The peaceful beauty of underwater life is the perfect subject for photography. Underwater photography is challenging as it is very difficult to find and capture the deep blue sea on camera. Understanding the behavior of underwater life is the first step of underwater photography. Few important things like, how close to get to the school of fishes, the depth where coral reefs are found, reaction of underwater life to danger, all these and more form the basis for a code of conduct for underwater photography.

Challenges faced by Photographers during underwater photography

Underwater-Photography

The biggest obstacle faced by underwater photographers is the absence of natural color and light when they in the deep waters. One can get ample amount of natural light while photographing on the surface but it keeps decreasing as you get deeper. At deep levels everything becomes colorless even to naked eyes. This is because the longer wavelengths of sunlight are absorbed by the surrounding water which makes everything appears blue-green in color to naked eyes.

However these problems can be solved by moving close to the subject, not by zooming in but manually moving close to the subject. Also using wide angle lens camera or macro lenses can help in reducing the horizontal loss of color. Another technique is to use flash which helps in restoring the color lost vertically through the water column. It is always recommended that the distance between the photographer and the subject should not exceed 3ft.

Selecting the Right camera for Underwater Photography

To get the right pictures it is necessary to get the right camera. There are many unique cameras available which are designed specially to suit the underwater environment. If you intend to improve your underwater photography then it is advisable to select a good quality water proof digital camera.

Compact camera and DSLR cameras are the two types of cameras which are highly recommended for underwater photography and are easily available in the market. Though both come with their own pros and cons, having any one of them will surely enhance your underwater photographic experiences.

The main point of difference between a compact camera and DSLR camera is that a DSLR allows you to use a variety of lenses with different focal lengths while a compact camera has one attached lens. On the contrary compact cameras are very light in weight and less complicates thus used more often by amateur photographer. Professional underwater photographers always go for DSLR cameras as it helps to capture high-quality photos.

Underwater Photography is an art which gives you a chance to experience something out of the ordinary. There is life brimming just under the surface and to capture it as a memory long after time has passed is something that is the fundamental why underwater photography has increased in practice.