We watched a short clip, where he explained his work and medium. I have stated some of my thoughts on him, in this short response:
Most of Soth’s work includes working with strangers. Being that he is a shy character he finds this challenging, but that drives him more. He quoted: My own awkwardness comforts people.” He also added: “I still get nervous today… I did a picture for a The New Yorker recently and I was drenched in sweat by the end and it was the middle of winter.”
Much like Trent Parke, Soth is also into street photo photography, although that’s not his main practice. The American photographer looks at large scale projects including: portraits, landscapes, still-life’s, etc. It’s complicated to explain it, as he says. But he tried to ‘weave all the pictures together to show this larger world’. He creates some many portraits of complete strangers and other amazing works.
He imagines what he wants to capture before he even photograph’s it. He has a purpose and an aim. Most of the time, the Magnum photographer writes down a list of things he wants to look at, for instance ‘bird watchers’
Here’s an example of Alec’s old business card:
An old business card by Alec Soth.
Soth said that in he see’s ‘photography as different from conventional storytelling in that in some ways, the photographer is the protagonist’. He believes that ‘the photographer is the protagonist’. This means that they have as much input as the people being shot and that the photographer can ‘experience the movement’.
Since he’s a documentary photographer, he believes that “you need multiple images to tell a story.” He adds “being frozen in time, means you can’t really tell stories.” His contemporary photography is amazing. It captures great moments such as vulnerability, both in him and the people he photograph’s. Soth is very interested in vulnerability as he thinks there’s something beautiful about it. He added “(I’ve been) amping up the vulnerability, but also my own vulnerabilities, exposing more of myself. Throughout the process in which he takes, edits and uploads pictures vulnerability is definitely a major theme.
He’s essentially an artist that uses photography to tell stories. Although his approach isn’t the typically traditional.
For instance here’s some of his work entitled Sleeping by the Mississippi
Sleeping by the Mississippi.Sleeping by the Mississippi.Sleeping by the Mississippi.Sleeping by the Mississippi.
Most people would imagine that during the ‘Mississippi’ series all Alec did was take pictures of random places. Contrarily to popular belief, Soth actually wanted to capture a ‘journey’ and magical moments as he travelled through the state.
In class, we watched a video on Trente Parke. He described his photography, techniques and philosophies. I have written some paragraphs on my initial thoughts:
Trent has so much motivation and determination. He has got an extremely strong sense of light and visual components. He takes documentary pictures, meaning that he takes pictures daily. He loves the process of making pictures, from taking them, to processing them in the dark room. His passion for photography started when he was 10 years old, after his mother’s passing. Parke wanted to capture special moments in time and keep them forever. He said ” Photography is a discovery of life which makes you look at things you’ve never looked at before.” His photographs contain very sharp strong light. Here are some examples of his work, which are in both color and black and white:
AUSTRALIA. Sydney.Image from the series Dream/Life. Sydney.
He quoted “I am forever chasing light. Light turns the ordinary into the magical.”
His pure perseverance to get the perfect shot is apparent. Trent once tried shooting the same scene for a period of three months. He saw something in the film that he wanted to recreate and he went back to that place every chance he could. In this occasion it was at a train station. He managed to finally capture the shadows in a magical way. This is the picture that he was referring to:
Trente Park – Australia, Sydney.
Concerning the picture above Parke stated the following: “I went each evening, for about 15 minutes, when the light came in between two buildings. It happens only at a certain time of the year: you’ve just got that little window of opportunity. I was relying so much on chance – on the number of people coming out of the offices, on the sun being in the right spot, and on a bus coming along at the right time to get that long, blurred streak of movement. If I didn’t get the picture, then I was back again the next day. I stood there probably three or four times a week for about a month. I used an old Nikon press camera that you could pull the top off and look straight down into, because I was shooting from a tiny tripod that was only about 8cm high. I had tried to lie on the ground, but people wouldn’t stand anywhere near me. I finally got this picture after about three or four attempts. I shot a hundred rolls of film, but once I’d got that image I just couldn’t get anywhere near it again. That’s always a good sign: you know you’ve got something special.”
This really solidifies that he is a very determined man. His pure perseverance and love for photography drives him to try again and again. For me, it’s sort of like ‘trial and error’ where he aims to get a shot that’s very close to perfect.
He originally came from Newcastle and rose to fame, winning many awards. However, Parke’s enthusiasm is driven from his love for photography; he isn’t concerned with winning awards, but catching amazing life moments.
The Australian has a passion for street photography. He first began by travelling to certain places and he’d wait for the exact right moment to shoot. The light would have to be exact and well reflected.
In a particular shot, Parke was able to photograph a very unusual scene:
Trent Parke – To the Sea.
He saw a black ‘aboriginal’ woman with her ‘albino’ child. He doesn’t usually go up to people and ask for pictures, but Trent felt compelled by this unique opportunity. Just as he was clicking the camera button, the sky began dark and cloudy. He’d regretted wasting that chance, since he thought that the darkened sky had ruined the shot. It wasn’t until ten years later that Parke processed the image and fell in love with it. I think that the strong lighting creates a bold and powerful contrast, which works really well here.
His work is normally presented in grand displays. Here’s one of his exhibitions called ‘Please step quietly everyone can hear you’.
Trent Park – Please step quietly everyone can hear you
Here are some of his pictures that I discovered online: http://www.stillsgallery.com.au/artists/parke/
Trent Parke’s work is very Contemporary. The word in itself, originated from Latin of ‘Con’ which translates to ‘with’ and ‘temporarius’ which signifies ‘of the time’. Therefore, Contemporary now equates to the word ‘modern’. Nevertheless, just because the picture is modern doesn’t mean that it can be called this. The photography’s normally described as abstract or unusual. It’s all about recording up-to-date, present-day moments, for instance Urban Development, Terrorism, Pollution, etc.
Web link to post called “12 lessons that Trent Parke has taught me about street photography”: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2014/02/10/12-lessons-trent-parke-has-taught-me-about-street-photography/
Tableaux is a french word. It derived from the term ‘tableaux vivant’, which translates to living picture.
Lukasz Wierzbowski
Tableau photography is completely staged type of photography. People are normally instructed to pose in these images, which creates a constructed environment. The models are often placed in over the top outfits and dramatic stages. The result, is that a ‘pictorial narrative’ is created. Many artists may produce scenes from fairy-tales, myths and depict both real and unreal situations.
This medium relates to the practice of performance photography, in that, tableau’s are made through the act of performance. It also connects to studio portraiture, as the subjects normally wear bold outfits, act and there’s usually extravagant backdrops.
Unlike documentary, tableau photography tells a story through a single image. Documentary is about developing a story with various pictures. Tableau photographs are usually shown in exhibitions and are compared to other artworks. In the past, many photographers desired to achieve pictures that looked like art.
A very modern Tableau photographer is Tom Hunter. Here’s a link to his website: http://www.tomhunter.org/
Another modern artist is Tracey Moffatt. When she was in an interview she was asked “Curator Lynne Cooke said you don’t take pictures; you make pictures.” She responded by stating “Yes. Technically, I’m quite stupid. I hardly know how to use a camera. I often use technicians when I make my pictures. I more or less direct them. I stand back and call the shots.”
Here’s some examples of this Australian photographer’s tableau’s:
Tracey Moffatt – The Movie Star.Tracey Moffatt – ‘Up In The Sky’.
Moving on, Pictorialism is an aesthetic movement that started in the late 18th century. This photography dominated and influenced many people during time until the early 20th century.
Photographers would edit their outcomes until they got the same form and texture as art, such as altering the focus to a softer one. They wanted to create something completely opposite to the normal commercial images of that time. The Pictorialists rebelled against mechanization and industrialization. This is because they didn’t like the fact that photographers were capturing industrial things on a regular basis. Here’s an example:
Pictorialism
Since they were very influenced by the ideals of art, they were influenced by Allegorical painting. Allegory is fictional, it’s all about symbols and representations. However, the underlying meaning normally has: social, religious, political and moral significance. The people that pose in the Tableau’s usually portray the following: greed, envy, love, etc. Their photographs showed many concepts such as: expressions of their personal opinions, beliefs and spiritual moments. A very famous photographer was Julia Margret Cameron, who like the Piscatorialists got her inspiration from the Pre-Raphaelite era. Here’s an example of her work:
Julia Margaret Cameron – The Rose Bud Garden Of Girls.
Cameron used to shoot with very soft natural lighting. She’d tell the models to have very subtle and calm poses. She used long exposures so that the people she photographed would have a blurred appearance when the role came out.
I’m going to be analyzing a documentary picture with my own personal opinion. I’ll explain my own thoughts on the subject as well as commenting on the ethical concerns that apply the photograph. Ethics is defined as: moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior. It’s about recording truth, in the realest way possible. However it’s also about who’s truth, what we believe in and what’s acceptable, which is where the ethics come in.
In class, we watched a YouTube clip that was dedicated to this incident. The film was entitled The Falling Man.
Here’s the link to it: https://youtu.be/m3gbxJ4xUDE
‘The falling man’, that was taken on September the 11th. Here’s the picture by the iconic photographer Richard Drew:
The Falling Man at 9/11.
Richard Drew is the man behind this shocking picture. It was taken on September the 11th, when the World Trade Center was a target of the various life-threatening terrorist attacks. That day was full of chaos and with that came a lot of reporters, snapping away pictures of the scene. Surprisingly, Drew’s ‘falling man’ was the most memorable of the lot.
Richard Drew – photographer of ‘the falling man’.
The man in the picture, was seen falling from the North tower. His body was in an upside-down position. There is a question that remains however. Is it that the man fell as a form of escape from the fire, or did he fall accidentally while looking for safety. That will probably remain a mystery. However, when the picture was released into the media, by the photojournalist Richard, it ignited masses of attention. When it was uploaded onto the internet, the companies were bashed with negatives comments saying it was ‘tasteless and voyeuristic’. Therefore, they removed all their online records of it, making it know as, by Drew, ‘the most famous picture that no one has seen’. The unidentified man appeared to be falling in an uncontrollable manner. The ferocious amounts of wind filled his white top with ripples.
‘The falling man’ by Drew – closeup shot.
For me, it was good that Drew released this picture to the press. Although a lot of controversial situations occurred, it became one of the most powerful photojournalism pictures of 9/11. I watched the film linked above, called ‘The falling man’. I will be writing a short paragraph of my thoughts on it:
Most picture that were taken that day showed the amazing and heroic scenes, in which people were being rescued. All of the attention was being placed on the soldiers, firefighters and people that helped with the event and aftermath. Even though that was truly amazing, no one wanted to show the victim’s struggle’s. Here are some of the generically typical photojournalism photographs of the heroism that day:
To summarize, the world preferred to remember the rescuers rather than the explicitly graphic scenes of the victims that suffered during the explosions of the terrorist attacks.
What I find so breathtakingly amazing about Drew’s ‘Falling man’ picture is that he simply shows a man falling to his death. It truly expressed the depressions he might have been in and highlighted the disasters of that day. The fact that another humans valuable life was lost. Drew captured the horrible torture of the people that fell or jumped had to endure. It depicted the harsh reality of what it might have been like for the victims. He took various pictures of many people in the air, here are some:
Richard Drew
Most reporters that were on the scene that day didn’t film the people falling in mid-air. Instead, they were asking spectators and eye-witnesses what their thoughts on the scene were. Personally I believe that they shouldn’t have done so, as it doesn’t show the truth of what’s happening, it’s simply an opinion. For example, this picture, where they only interview onlookers:
news report on witnesses
It’s much more powerful in my opinion, to show the victims and then let the world evaluate the case in order to make positive changes.
It’s sad to think that their only hope may have been to suicide and end their life’s then and there. It was the only thing that they had control on. They could either choose to stay and burn in flames, or jump and end it quickly. Is it that they’d wait for themselves to die, or would they end it themselves. Many were forced to jump, or accidentally fell and had no choice. The desperation was incredibly high, showing the moments of fear and bravery. It’s like when everything around them was out of control, they could at least control one thing.
The only picture that left the most memorable response that day was Drew’s. Compared to other pictures of 9/11, his photojournalism picture emitted the biggest impact on a worldwide scale. This image of ‘The falling man’ received the deepest and most heartfelt responses that were combined with anger and frustration. The picture highlights the insane choices that the victims were urged to commit. It made spectators put themselves in the victims positions. They began to question what they’d do and their personal choices if they were in that situation. Drew’s image showed the negative side of the event and prompted people to want to change the world for the better.
Richard Drew – long shot – twin towers
Even though everyone was in denial that there were jumpers, Drew proved this. All of the broadcasts missed out the fact that people actually chose to leap, instead they said they were ‘forced out’. No one could seem to deal with the truth or confront it fully. Some spectators found that the specific way he died was not right. They felt uncomfortable seeing this. But as the man in the clip stated, the jumpers shouldn’t be excluded from the pictures, just because they died in a certain way. The falling man was symbol that demonstrated pure bravery on behalf of himself and the other jumpers. However, again he brought light to this subject and it was a real eye-opener.
Later they tried identifying the man, his white shirt resembled one of a waiter from the tower’s restaurant. They linked him to a man called Jonathon Briley. Briley’s family didn’t want to accept the fact that the falling man was him. They viewed the way he fell in a bad manner, they were quite negative about it. They stated it wasn’t the right way to die.
Jonathan Briley
However, to this day ‘The Falling Man’ has never been properly identified. There is no proof that it was in fact Jonathon Briley. The ‘falling’ man will therefore always be a mystery, but it’s certainly a moment to remember.
On Friday the 25th of September, our photography class visited Tom Pope’s recent exhibition. It was called ‘I Am Not Tom Pope, You Are All Tom Pope’. In the building, he had a total of 21 works. Here’s a picture of Pope giving a speech on his outcomes:
Tom Pope
Tom quoted in this exhibition letter: ‘My practice does not make artwork for a community, it creates a community through the act of making’. I think what he means is that he brings people by doing what he does. He is probably inciting that he isn’t the sole producer of the work, rather, community members have a big part to play. In that, everyone’s brought closer together under the name of visual arts. Here’s the letter:
I Am Not Tom Pope, You Are All Tom Pope – Letter.
He also displayed a rather long film, around 20 minutes or so. Pope and many other volunteers from all around Jersey, helped to push a small boat across the island. The film was entitled ‘The Last Portage’. Portage defined as: the practice of carrying a water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. The boat was then placed on a slipway and pushed out to sea by Tom. The aim was for the boat to sail in the Atlantic ocean. Surprisingly, Pope then had to phone the coastguards to alert them that a ‘lost’ boat was at sea. The footage was displayed in a dark room, here’s a picture I took of the screening:
Tom Pope – The Last Portage. – Film Presentation.
At the end of Tom’s presentation, I took some pictures. Here’s his collection from the first room:
This picture above, shows an upside down woman holding a reflected shoe on her heel. The background of the image is pitch black, so that the girls legs stand out. I think that this picture is quite bold. The subjects in this photograph are quite off balance. This is because there’s a massive void of empty space on the right hand side. For me, this creates interest and mysteriousness. Also the rule of thirds are rather strong. The legs intercept the two hot-spots and are aligned with one of the vertical lines.
This picture shows a portrait of a woman on the beach. She’s wearing a leopard skin bikini and has had a face altered on top of hers. The face is actually from the Jersey Archive and Pope’s cleverly placed it onto her body. I think that this hides her emotions and is a sort of disguise. Compositionally, it’s great. The woman is directly in the center of the frame and the sea behind her creates a vertical overlap with her. Also, her stance is strong and tall.
Tom Pope is actually featured in this one. This self-portrait shows Pope being painted by another man. His expression looks surprised and the painter looks focused. The way that Tom’s arm has been cut off on the right hand side, leads me to look at it. This image also has a pretty good amount of depth to it. The painter in the foreground creates shadows on Tom, which then creates shadows on the background wall.
Here, a man appears to be climbing on a statue. This was taken during the night, so it’s likely that a flash camera was utilized. In all, there is a lot going on in this picture. From the street signs on the side, to the cool statue and the man trying to stabilize himself. It looks like it was taken in an amateur man, because the elements aren’t that well aligned. Nevertheless, I believe that that makes it more intriguing.
Lastly, these two images were placed together. In the left one, a night scene has been captured, where someone seem to be holding a hockey stick. The man pictures was probably playing hockey whilst someone was snapping pictures. The image on the left is of a girl on a cylinder shaped structure. It looks as if she jumped on it and is now grabbing on. The way she’s holding on, somehow reminds me of a bear climbing a tree. The striped background works well, as it creates depth and leading lines.
If you notice, all of the pictures were framed with a bright orange frame. When asked why he did this, Tom said that he simply liked the color. He also said that it paint the pictures stand out and that he has presented his work like this in the past. For instance, when he photographed oranges, he’d normally frame in in that color. It could also relate to Baldessari’s work.
In this room, Pope had also displayed a blue podium. The color was bright blue and it stood out quite a lot. Pope stated that he chose this color to create a contrast against the white images on it. He said that it wouldn’t be as interesting to look at, if the podium was just plain white and i agree. The podium is cut at exactly one meter by one meter, making a perfect square. The way that he presented the images is also quite exquisite. Tom said that he would grab a picture and hold it up, at about one meter from the ground. He would then drop the image and simply leave it to land, whether it be upright or face down. Again this incorporates his love for performance photography. In this medium he performs something and records it, with the camera.
Here’s his collection from the second room:
Tom then gave us an insightful speech about his idea behind this part of the exhibition. There were various cutout faces placed on posts. The portraits were in black and white and so were the pieces placed on the tables. Pope said that the faces were actually from the archive. He added that this project was about distributing the archive out into jersey, which he did by photographing them. I think it’s great because he’s bringing the past and present together, to create new images.
Below are some close-ups of the masks. The eye’s have been cut out so that people can wear them:
On the tables, Pope displayed these pictures. He used a coin method to create these interesting holes. Basically there’s one picture on top of the other. Tom used a regular coin and placed it in a desired place. He then cut out the shape and left a gap for the photograph underneath to shine through. Again, a coherent theme of combining pictures is apparent here:
In order to explore the theme of family, I decided to take some pictures of my extended family. I went to my aunt and uncle’s house to do so. Since they were at home, I was able to capture more natural moments due to their familiarity and comfort in that environment. I took most of images in an amateur manner. It didn’t really matter whether the composition was perfect. I wanted to photograph with a casual approach, just like Richard Billingham did for instance. I made sure to experiment with different zoom lenses and angles. I also took staged and un-staged images, meaning my family didn’t have to pose.
I visited them on two different occasions. The first time I went, I mainly captured them outside, whilst we were having a BBQ. My parents were also there that day and the atmosphere was very different.
The second day, I shot them inside, in the lounge and dining room. They were doing ordinary things, for example my cousin was playing games and my aunty was doing house chores. I also caught some social interactions, like when my uncle played with my cousin.
In this post I’ll be exploring at least two photographers, that explore the theme of family. I’ll also be analysing some of their best images and commenting on compositional elements, the aesthetical components and others.
The first artist that I’ll look at is Larry Clark and seconds Sally Mann. Both of these photographers were mentioned in my previous post ‘film notes on family’. They both have very different styles, which can be seen in their work.
Larry Clark.
Larry Clark has got a very specific style in which he photographs family. His photography is described as Confessional. Confessional work is very personal and shows honesty. It’s also referred to as a diary. Clarke’s an insider and not an outsider, which gives him a great opportunity. The audience truly gets a feel for what it’s like to be in his family.
Growing up in a very poor environment, his mannerisms and behaviour were affected by this. He was always surrounded by junkies, hustlers and alcohol users. He quoted: Once the needle goes in, it never comes out’. Clark displayed a risky and shocking exhibition called ‘Tulsa’, which is where I got these images from. Some may say that it’s an exploitation. Most of these pictures were black and white, so this gives it a different ambience.
Larry Clark – Tulsa.
I think that this picture above is very deep. I believe that there is a lot of meaning to it. Clark’s captures a very chaotic and busy family scene. The trio in the bathroom seem to have chill expressions, yet their body language says differently. Also, the small child leaning against the wall, seems very stressed. The way she’s crutching the doll or baby shows that she might be scared. There seems to be a very good contrast here. The bright white wall separates the outer shadows in this image. There is also a man smoking a cigarette. For me this picture communicates a very distraught and bad environment. It may be unstable to have a child there, and it appears that they are party-goers that like to have fun.
Larry Clark – Tulsa.
Moving on, I’ve selected this image from the ‘Tulsa’ series again. This is a particularly famous example of Larry’s many photographs. For me, this whole-body portrait has a certain vibe to it. When looking at this, people could stereotypically assume the following keywords: gang affiliation, danger, self-protection, etc. The black and white tones give this picture a very soft look. Also the face that the man is played perfectly in the middle of the frame is aesthetically good. The rule of thirds are quite well aligned. The mans pose doesn’t necessarily look natural. It’s possible that Clark assigned the man this certain position. Nevertheless, the expression on the males face looks sincere. I think that Larry was trying to show the type of lifestyle that he lives in. The fact that he has a gun says quite a lot, so it may show his struggles and what lead him to that point.
Sally Mann.
Sally Mann, photographs on a very different way. She photographed in a Collaborative manner. Her and her three children would help her to make these pictures so compositionally beautiful. The people which she collaborated with, had to hold a certain expression, they themselves, had to make the effort. Mann lived on a farm and spent her whole life there. She produced a great variation of family pictures whilst she was there. Sally quoted: “it’s always been my philosophy to try to make art out of the everyday and ordinary…it never occurred to me to leave home to make art.”
Series ‘Immediate Family’ – Shot in 1984 – 1991. – Sally Mann.
In this first image, I can begin to analyse some common features. Mann always seems to photograph in black and white. She includes many sharp and soft contrasts which may have been created with natural light, since they’re outside.
To me, her photographs look very natural, yet also well planned out. Her family portraits have a professional look to them. The expressions on the members faces are distinct and look honest. Sally said: “Every image is in some way a ‘portrait’, not in the way that it would reproduce the traits of a person, but in that it pulls and draws, in that it extracts something, an intimacy, a force.”
Aesthetically, and this applies to both images, I think that Mann captures the true essence of natural moments. She manages to catch beautiful snippets, which are taken just at the right time. Her family has quite symmetrical faces. This is seen as attractive, on an international level, therefore her images work well. Although these pictures have been taken outside, there seems to be a very soft bounce of highlights. All of these elements add up to create an aesthetically pleasing image. Mann stated: “ If I could be said to have any kind of aesthetic, it’s sort of a magpie aesthetic—I just go and pick up whatever is around. If you think about it, the children were there, so I took pictures of my children. It’s not that I’m interested in children that much or photographing them—it’s just that they were there…”.
Sally Mann – ‘Immediate Family’ – Shot in 1984 – 1991.
In the second image, a small child is seen laying on a man. She seems to be fast asleep, and the fact that she’s asleep gives her relaxed appearance. The holding of the hands represents love. The angle this is taken from, is quite high up, and it cuts of at her waist. I think that the photographer was trying to show a common situation, which normally happens on summer days, maybe that the child has had so much fun and is now tired, for example. Sally Mann quoted: “Some of my pictures are poem-like in the sense that they are very condensed, haiku-lik. There are others that, if they were poetry, would be more like Ezra Pound. There is a lot of information in most of my pictures, but not the kind of information you see in documentary photography. There is emotional information in my photographs.”
In this short reponse, I’ll be considering the question in the title. This is a very contraversial topic and many people have varied opinions on this. However, i can analyze some of the points that agree with each one.
A very famous photograph includes:
Vietnam Napalm 1972 South Vietnamese forces follow after terrified children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc, center, as they run down Route 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong.
Nick Ut, was the man that recorded this disturbing image. It was taken in South Vietnam. At that moment, war planes had accidentally dropped bombs over their terrain, which caused an outburst of people in shock. The children are seen trying to evacuate the place and have a look of terror on their faces. The girl is left completely naked after the acidic bombs erode her clothes.
Nick Ut holding his Vietnam picture
Discussing mind-set, I think it’s extremely difficult to change someone’s. It takes a powerful and meaningful picture to get to some people. Nick Ut was asked the name of this specific image, and he said: “Terrible War.” A lot of people say “Napalm Girl” or “Napalm Photo”, but when I use the photo I say, “Terrible War.”
This is a link to a website that I found. It shows the 30 most influential photographs that people say changed the world: http://www.photographyschoolsonline.net/blog/2010/30-photos-that-changed-the-world/
Example of a strong picture on that list:
The 9/11 attacks; New York Times, 2001 There are many haunting images of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, but this one of a person standing in a gaping hole of wreckage, with no exit or hope of rescue, is one of the most wrenching.
Lewis bush, a photographer and lecturer posted an article on his blog. He talked about the topic in which I’m addressing, whether pictures have the power to change the world or people’s perceptions.
Bush’s official website: http://www.lewisbush.com/
Bush’s blog post: http://www.disphotic.com/photographs-wont-change-the-world/
In the title of his essay, Bush says: ‘Photographs won’t change the world’. He goes onto say that there’s no real evidence that an actual picture can change the world. He says: ‘photographs are just bits of paper’. Bush states that pictures do help to ‘expose’ situations for what they are. Nonetheless, he say’s it’s always ‘incomplete and fragmented’. Bush says it’s not the same, to experience the situation in real life and look at it in a picture. For example, the picture of the drowned Syrian boy. Bush quoted: ‘This is not to say that seeing a photograph of a drowned child on a beach is the same as standing on that beach over that small body. But it is about knowing that somewhere a child drowned, and that his death is the consequence of other things which might be more within our power to change. Photographs present the idea that things are happening, or exist, or are possible’.
Lewis simply adds that photographs can’t drastically change someone, they also won’t completely make someone a saint. Picture can influence people in both ways, bad or good. Photographs can only change the world due to one link, says Bush: ‘in the unreachable recesses of the human mind’. Bush included that: ‘To claim that photographs, and by association the act of photographing, will in themselves change the world is disingenuous, a case of letting ourselves off the hook’. I believe that this is a very powerful quote. Bush very clearly exudes that there needs to be external factors, that work to make the world a better place and that the photograph should only remind us of the deterioration as a motivation. Bush ends with a slightly alternative view: ‘To believe that photographs can’t drive us to change the world is to believe in a futile, solitary, and self-fulfilling prophecy’.
For me, I believe that photographs have the power to change people’s perceptions .You have to feel very strongly and be motivated, as a human being, to change the world. Of course, strong and powerful pictures like Vietnam one, can leave a long lasting impression on people. Therefore, I think that, that’s what causes us to want to change the world. It cannot be done without being in a certain mind-set, which photographs ignite in us. As Lewis Bush says: ‘These things (photographs) can’t change the world, but they can change people, and people can change the world’.To conclude, pictures have the power to change our views, in result we act to change the world.
In class, we began to watch an episode from the various that were created. The name of the programmer was “The Genius of Photography” and it aired on BBC. From that film I have made the following notes, linked to family. I’ve also incorporated some relevant photographers and their views on ‘family’ photography and the tips they gave.
In the past, photographing the subject of family was described as being a very introspective and subjective topic. However, as it evolved, it began to turn into a more public subject.
Duane Michals, a famous photographer spoke upon some of his ideas in this film. He stated that the person in control should be the photographer. Before, in the olden days, photography used to make people appear perfect and ‘divine’. They were always depicted in a soft and traditionally beautiful manner. However, Michals wanted to rebel against this in his pictures. He aims to create a more interesting and updated way of capturing families. He saw the other past versions as ‘outdated’ and ventured for a more modern outtake. His goal is to encapsulate people in a candid state. Duane wants to see what’s ‘behind the mask’. Also, the picture should reflect the photographers views. Michal’s photograph’s are very different from any of the the older versions, in that, he likes to reflect the people’s inner beauty. He believe’s that it’s more about the beauty of their personality, rather that their physical aesthetics. Duane also states that portraits don’t depict the true side of people. He says he found it easier to photograph celebrities, as they already have a ‘prepackaged’ personality which they transmit to the world. Michals actually photographed Pablo Picasso, which had a great variety of skills, himself. When Picasso arrived to the set, Michals claimed that he started posing in very generic and definite ways. His stances were unnatural and seemed forced. Duane told him to ‘drop his mask’ and after Picasso relaxed, he captured the most amazing portrait. The picture was raw and real. Duane Michal’s work was normally presented in a Tableaux style. Here’s an example:
Duane Michals, Dr. Heisenbergs Magic Mirror of Uncertainty.
Another photographer that appeared in the episode, was Larry Clark. He described himself as an ‘insider’ and not an ‘outsider’. His culture was very different due to the way he grew up, and this impacted the way he viewed things. His work is usually described as a ‘diary’ where he includes a lot of personal and what is called ‘confessional’ work. An example includes:
Larry Clark – self-portrait
Nan Goldin, also works similarly to Clark, with a ‘confessional’ photography style. She mainly focuses on subjects that most people would label as ‘outcast’. Her photographs are on drugs, transvestism and transsexuals, which she refers to as ‘the 3rd gender’. She shows a sense of ‘humanity’ and shows these people as being a part of normality. Goldin says that she always see’s them as their visual gender and doesn’t just see them as ‘a man dressed as a woman’ for example. Nan photographs people over many years and at the end of specific projects she may create a slideshow with music playing in the background. Goldin got her inspiration from film-making, where lots of loops are made. Her pictures, to a professionally trained photographer appear to be amateur. Nevertheless, it’s more about the feelings and emotions, rather than the normal conventions. Her images were Vernacular, which is defined as purely amateur.
Goldin’s body of work is all about relationships between her and or others. She wants to show what it’s like ‘maintaining them’. This project contains a few self-portraits. An especially striking one, is where she’s showing bruises from her abusive boyfriend, In this one, she’s laying in bed next to him. This is what she means when she talked about ‘maintaining relationships’.
Goldin and her boyfriend
Nan said that the fact that she’s ‘present in the moment’ and that photograph’s can ‘hold the moment’, is what motivates her to shoot.
The famously crazy, Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki has become known for his very promiscuous work. He became recognised when he published a book of his honeymoon, that contained sexually explicit images of his new wife. The phenomenon book was published in 1971 and he soon got noticed. Araki usually publishes one new book every month, he’s constantly taking pictures. He stated that ‘my photographs help me to remember’. He also gave a tip on how to show the real side of someone, saying ‘you have to be in the mind-set, that you’re going to reveal the person’s emotions’. Araki said that he can capture the past, present and future of a person. A very interesting debate to look at is Japanese VS American photography. In the image below, his wife had fallen asleep in the foetal position:
Nobuyoshi Araki – sentimental journey – his wife sleeping
Richard Billingham used to do art in University and then suddenly changed to the medium of photography. The reason why he did this, is because his work got discovered by an editor. His art, in fact, was rather appalling. But, what gave him the upper-hand of the situations was that he had an artistic eye. During his art degree, Billingham only started to take pictures so that he’d create more ‘detailed’ art drawings. He quoted that: ‘all photography is exploitive’. He does add though, that ‘you should make them (the pictures) so good, that they over-shadow this’. Richard photographed his family, revealing deep and personal moments in their life. He gave the viewers a ‘backstage pass’ to situations that nobody would normally, ever want anyone to see. His poor surroundings and disfigured environment created a very chaotic ambience. Example:
Richard Billingham
There was a photographer called Sally Mann. She spent her whole motherhood photographing her three children. The main reason why her outcomes were so good, was due to Collaborations. Her kids would have to make the effort and work on their expressions. Essentially, working together with their mum, the photographer.
Sally Mann
Finally, Larry Sultan focuses on souvenir work. His photographs are instrumental. He is the complete opposite to Richard Billingham, in that Sultan grew up in a very lavish lifestyle. Sultan always told his customers ‘don’t smile’. It makes the pictures have a ‘different body’ as he described. He also made a point to say that taking pictures of others, may actually reflect you as a person. It’s like a projection of the photographer onto the people, as they’re controlling the situation.
Standards and ethics are a set of codes that photojournalists should strive to follow. Basically, it discusses the difference between two views: if the cameras being used as a mere tool by the photographer, or if the photographer alters the scene in other ways. To apply to the rules, the photographer must not alter the situation in anyway, expect for his camera. Although, it’s a fact that the camera is always going to give the photographer some level of control.
Recently, an Italian photographer called Giovanni Troilo caused a great amount of controversy when he showcased his photojournalism pictures in a French gallery called ‘Visa Pour L’Image’. He was bashed by the country, as their mayor claimed that Troilo had shown very negative connotations in relation to the place. Unluckily, they also found that Giovanni had broken the code of standards and ethics. He didn’t photograph the situation in a real state and he altered the scenes.
‘Maitre Doberman and Klara la Chienne, his wife, receive guests in a building that at glance appears abandoned.’ – Giovanni Troilo
He was questioned on a very particular image, which showed a car in the darkness. A couple seem to be engaging in sexual relations together in the car. Viewers said that they felt mislead by this portrayal, as the man inside the car was Troilo’s freind. It appeared to be brighter because he’d actually utilized a bright remote controlled flash light.
Giovanni Troilo
Here’s a two links to webpages talking about the ‘Visa Pour L’image’ incident with Giovanni Trioli :
This image was captioned: ‘Philippe lives in one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in the town.’ But Magnette said the man was in fact a well-known local figure who ran a wine bar. – Giovanni Troilo
This massive incident was what caused many questions to be asked. Such as these, that I found on a Visa Pour L’Image website from above:
‘Who sets the boundaries of what defines photojournalism? What are industry standards when some of the techniques accepted in magazines are generally forbidden in news pages, and when such distinctions are increasingly blurred online? When technology makes it so easy to manipulate images, how much manipulation is acceptable? With viewers more sophisticated and skeptical than ever before, how can photojournalists preserve their integrity and maintain trust?’.
Visitors at the Visa Pour l’Image festival in Perpignan, France, where a searching debate about the ethics of photojournalism is unfolding.
All of these assumptions and queries is what sparked people to really ask themselves about the principles of photojournalism. It caused an uproar and what normally was ignored, was now being discussed. Pierre Terdjman, a French photojournalist described the event, quoting ‘It’s like in big families, when you have a secret history inside the family, and nobody wants to speak about it, and finally one night at dinner, everybody talks about it. That’s what happened’. A little after this controversy, a man from the World Press organisation Amsterdam and his team began to write official and updated codes. They did make sure, however to get as much knowledge from other countries whilst writing them.
The photojournalism of works of the Turkish photographer that I talked about in a previous post, helped to reinforce their Standards and Ethics. She merely used her camera as a form of ‘bearing witness’ and recorded the situation in an un-retouched manner.
An exhibition space at the Visa Pour l’Image festival in Perpignan, France.
Here’s a link to the official World Press Photo website: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/
But World Press were worried that as a consequence to these new changes, that photojournalism could turn into a ‘cliché’. Never the less, the rules have increased in strictness and both at WPP and in the VPL festival have been working to make sure that every picture is a true representation.
Considering what happened with the incident at World Press Photo, I’ll be responding by answering three short questions:
Who sets the boundaries of what defines photojournalism?
According to this article, the director of the World Press Photo Foundation called Jean-François Leroy competed in a heated debate. The debate erupted after the controversy from the festival. Against him, was Lars Boering, which was the managing director of the company. Predictably, the director, Leroy was proud of his success and stood by his decisions. Meanwhile, Mr. Boering, was said to do the following, as stated in the article:
“Lars Boering, the managing director of the World Press Photo Foundation, working hard to restore the contest’s credibility, announced that officials were writing a code of ethics and revising their rules to make clear that staged images would not be permitted”.
2. When technology makes it so easy to manipulate images, how much manipulation is acceptable?
A direct quote made from Jean-François Leroy, on the issue of manipulation is: “World. Press. Photo,” he said. “To make a long story short, maybe they should change their name.” Mr. Leroy said he defined photojournalism as “witnessing the world.” The company has made it crystal clear that absolutely no staged images can be exhibited. As Mr. Leroy stated, the camera should be used as a witness to the situation.
However, a member of the jury called Donald Weber views the subject differently, saying that Leroy’s point was ‘outdated’ and ‘risked becoming cliche’. Instead he stated that photojournalism’s “lost the point that it’s not a language, it’s about reflecting on contemporary society,” He also commented: “The more that we shy away from alternative forms, or other norms or other ways of visualizing the story,” he said, “we’re only killing our own profession.”
When it comes down to it, it’s about being honest. You shouldn’t ‘misrepresent’ anything.
Here’s a link to some interviews with Donald Webber. In them he talks about his judging role in the World Press Photo contest: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/people/donald-weber
3. With viewers more sophisticated and skeptical than ever before, how can photojournalists preserve their integrity and maintain trust?
As Alison Morley, the chairwoman of an NYC photography program says, photojournalists should keep this tip in mind: “If you’re afraid to tell your editor you did something to a photograph, something is wrong.” That way, the photographers will portray the whole truth. Adding to that she says: “They want the list of rules of what is O.K. and what is not, and there is none.” Nowadays the standards of photography are very high and it seems more difficult to impress people. Nevertheless, it’s seen as a misdemeanor to taint the viewers thoughts with false representations. Therefore, as long as photojournalists feel like they are being true to themselves and the scene, then this should preserve their integrity and maintain their trust with everyone around them.
Visitors look at photos at an exhibition of World Press Photo 2012.
The NPPA, which stands for National Press Photographer’s Association has a very different Code of Ethics than these one’s. The NPPA has got very high standards and therefore, their standards are also precise. They are all about depicting the whole truth and say that it’s wrong if a picture is edited or manipulated in any altering way.
You can begin to compare the differences in the code of ethics between the festivals above and the one’s in the NPPA.
I copied that code of ethics that was presented on their website (https://nppa.org/code_of_ethics) and pasted them below:
Standards in their daily work:
Be accurate and comprehensive in the representation of subjects.
Resist being manipulated by staged photo opportunities.
Be complete and provide context when photographing or recording subjects. Avoid stereotyping individuals and groups. Recognize and work to avoid presenting one’s own biases in the work.
Treat all subjects with respect and dignity. Give special consideration to vulnerable subjects and compassion to victims of crime or tragedy. Intrude on private moments of grief only when the public has an overriding and justifiable need to see.
While photographing subjects do not intentionally contribute to, alter, or seek to alter or influence events.
Editing should maintain the integrity of the photographic images’ content and context. Do not manipulate images or add or alter sound in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects.
Do not pay sources or subjects or reward them materially for information or participation.
Do not accept gifts, favors, or compensation from those who might seek to influence coverage.
Do not intentionally sabotage the efforts of other journalists.
Ideally, visual journalists should:
Strive to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in public. Defend the rights of access for all journalists.
Think proactively, as a student of psychology, sociology, politics and art to develop a unique vision and presentation. Work with a voracious appetite for current events and contemporary visual media.
Strive for total and unrestricted access to subjects, recommend alternatives to shallow or rushed opportunities, seek a diversity of viewpoints, and work to show unpopular or unnoticed points of view.
Avoid political, civic and business involvements or other employment that compromise or give the appearance of compromising one’s own journalistic independence.
Strive to be unobtrusive and humble in dealing with subjects.
Respect the integrity of the photographic moment.
Strive by example and influence to maintain the spirit and high standards expressed in this code. When confronted with situations in which the proper action is not clear, seek the counsel of those who exhibit the highest standards of the profession. Visual journalists should continuously study their craft and the ethics that guide it.
