The title of our next topic is Faith Family and Community.
These titles are very interesting because they can be linked together in different ways.
Community is the widest of the three words, as both Faith and Family can be interpreted as being communities.
Faith can be something you’re brought into because of your Family and from having been to church when I was younger a lot, there was a very strong community of people who all knew each other and all had something in common.
Family is a different type of community in that most of the time you don’t get to choose to be in it.
Some people don’t have a normal sense of family community, for example, people who have to go through Foster care because they have lost the family they were born into or because their Family community isn’t accepting of them; However some of these people find new Families, who they choose, and who choose them, and some manage to find community within a family of others who are in the same position as them;
And for some Families, like in some Portuguese and Italian families, the community that their family holds is one of the most important things to them, and they celebrate having big families.
One thing which I am going to explore with this project is the buildings and places that bring these three things, Faith, Family and Community together. Faiths have religious places in which they congregate, Families have certain places where they may go every year as a tradition, or somewhere they see each other often. All together I think I will look at the places that bring Communities together, and look at the different kinds of communities there are.
The photos which I will be collecting have to contain these things:
Either are places with lots of people gathered, or where people would normally gather (e.g. a church on a Sunday or a church when its empty)
Can be places with strong Faith/Family/Community connections or without. (e.g. a church, where everyone is of the same faith vs a Plane, where people are all gathered together, but not necessarily of the same faith/family/community)
If you break it down into the basic meaning of the words, documentary is defined as a factual record. In fact, it’s very difficult to give it an exact meaning as photography in itself is a process of documentation. However, it has been previously described as the following: a genre, a traditions, a style, a movement and also as a practice.
Here are some pictures which I found to illustrate it:
In photography, the genre of documentary is crucial to capture real moments. The normal elements of composition that we should strive to include in a picture are not so much needed. It’s more about the meaning behind the image, rather than how it’s set-up.
Documentary photography demonstrates a story and can be taken over a various periods of time. Also, documentary images transmit a life long effect. Meanwhile, photojournalism is meant for short-lived moments and is normally published in magazines and news papers. Photojournalism only depicts what the certain viewers, or in this case, what the writers, of a news paper believe to be the truth. It doesn’t explore the deepened subjects behind it. Here are some examples of the both:
Photojournalism example:
Zaatari Camp, in Jordan, run by UNHCR for refugees from war in Syria. Daily bread ration supplied by WFP. Photograph by James Nachtwey.
Documentary example:
Where am I? – by Yavuz Sariyildiz.
Documentary photography and Photojournalism are linked quite closely. The main difference is that documentary photography aims to tell a story over time and some pictures can be set-up. Whilst, photojournalism captures events from one time period and may take the photographs in such a way that it portrays something else, that perhaps is untruthful.
Documentary photography is designed to capture real life moments. Some images have the power to even change peoples points of view. A single picture can have create a stronger reaction than anything else. Many photographers use this medium because it can open people’s eyes. For example, recently there was a controversial news story, in which a three year old, Syrian boy washed up at shore. A Turkish photographer was at the beach when it happened and she decided to snap a picture. For some this was a shocking move. Many people questioned whether it was right for the picture to be taken, or whether she should of helped out the baby toddler first.
Here’s a link to one of the Syrian boys’ news stories: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/04/world/europe/syria-boy-drowning.html?smid=tw-share
The photograph was taken by Nilüfer Demir, a photographer working for the Turkish agency DHA.
For me, in this case, I probably would have taken the picture also. I think that she was trying to show the rest of the world the saddening moment and wanted to share how critically severe it was in an attempt to make a difference. And in result, when the pictures actually were released they affected many individuals.
Documentary photography first began in the early 19th century. A man named Jeremy Bentham was the first person to use it. Later on, a famous film maker called John Gierson used this word to describe a film and this is what prompted people to start using this term in visual arts. Meanwhile in France, during the mid 19th century, Eugene Atget described his work as ‘documents’. His work was mainly of buildings and empty streets. Also, in Denmark, a Danish reporter called Jacob A Riis, referred to his work in the same way. On the other hand, Riss’s work was focused on poverty in the slums during the 1880’s. And finally, the much later work of the American man Lewis Hine, that reflects a modern version of social work campaigns and child labour. Here are some examples of these three:
Jacob Riis example (Danish,1849-1914):
Jacob Riis – How The Other Half Lives.
Here’s a link to a website showcasing some of Riis photography: http://www.moma.org/collection/artists/4928
Eugene Atget example (French, 1857- 1927):
Eugene Atget – St. Gervais, Old Paris, 1900.
Informative link, with details on Atget’s life: http://www.britannica.com/biography/Eugene-Atget
Lewis Hine example (American, 1874-1940):
Lewis Hine
Here’s a link to an article on Lewis Hine’s work: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17673213
It first started to become a phenomenon when it began to appear in the 1920s when print technology was beginning to evolve. Most of these prints were placed in worldwide magazines. The main motive behind the magazines was to document a story. They included many different pictures which all portrayed different emotions and meanings. In result, it inspired the photojournalism movement to begin.
Documentary has a wide range of key words linked to it. It has many different approaches, styles and practices. There are also many different categories and types that apply to it. A few of these include: photojournalism, reportage, street photography and contemporary fine-art. Documentary photography can be used as a way of learning. For example, if you photograph political and moral values, you may start to comprehend the situation in a better manner. This genre can lead us to question many things. It may question you on your personal morality, and what you’d do if we were in that situation. It may also make you view places and people differently. For example, there could be rare sights shown in the photograph that show things you would normally not see.
This type of photography, in itself, is very controversial, especially with the word ‘documentary’. Some people argue that documentary photography is always set up, no matter how little you tamper with the situations. This is because a picture, in itself, is a documentation. The moment in which the camera snaps, a document is supposedly taken.
Many people use this genre to capture stories, which can be fictional or non-fictional. While other use it to capture performances. Just like the typical photographic styles, it can vary.
A very touching and famous example of this medium is as follows:
Taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt.
This is Glenn McDuffie, a former sailor which was famously featured as a part of this documentary photograph. At that moment, the photographer was able to capture the couples emotional kiss as they celebrated that Japan had surrendered. I believe that Eisenstaedt caught a very precious moment of love, which was later identified as being this man in the picture.
Nowadays, contemporary documentary photography still portrays a lot of meaning. However, one distinct characteristic is that, now the audience has more freedom to interpret individually. Whereas in the olden days, documentary pictures used to have a specific and driven meaning behind them. Contemporary photography is often set up in a series, it normally demonstrates a chronicle or account. The images can be a collection of various different genres, such as portraiture.
Street photography is simply photography featuring the human condition within public places. I think this kind of documentary photography is very raw and something that a lot of people enjoy doing nowadays. This is the movement in which the photographer isn’t trying to send out a message about one form of society that needs to be changed but is simply documenting the world around them, showing the rest of the world what their own personal world looks like. I think street photography is the documentation of the people. We often forget about ourselves as communities when looking at the news seeing famine and crisis in other parts of the world as well as being hypnotised by the celebrity world. Our regular lifestyles are going to be the ones that the people of generations to come are going to focus on and look into.
Street photography is all about the timing and capturing people and places in its greatest form. It is less news and more everyday average life. These photographers tend to capture elements of peoples days that we would often overlook or not even think about. I like this style of photography as it shows that normal people are just as interesting as those of the celebrity world and that sometimes they can be even more interesting than those who are constantly in the tabloids and always camera ready. Here photographers are able to capture the most raw images of real people, some not even noticing the camera as they go about their lives. They can capture a person unexpectedly, like when we wonder we come across new people often unexpectedly. I think that street photographers simply photograph the usual elements of life that we see everyday and ignore. Here many amazing images can be produced.
I like to take photos of public spaces and put them on my social media sights. I do this as a way of remembering how my world was at this point in my life. I like to capture different people in my shots and to reflect on them and see what kind of people I’ve captured in my images, business people, parents, teenagers, tourists, children etc. Here are some of my own images that I have taken for my social media.
Robert Capa was a Hungarian war photographer [photojournalist]. He covered five wars; the Spanish civil war, the Second Sino-Japanese war, World War II across Europe, the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the First Indochina war. Capa died while capturing images during the First Indochina war after stepping on a landmine, in 1954.
Robert Capa
“It’s not always easy to stand aside and be unable to do anything except record the sufferings around one” – Robert Capa
Robert Capa was one of the co-founders of Magnum Photos and the International Centre of Photography. I think that Capa was a risk taker and did so to make the best, most inspiring images possible. One of his most iconic images came from the D-day landings, this image is one that inspired Steven Spielberg to make Saving Private Ryan. All of the images Capa took on the day of the D-day landing in France, June 6 1944, were almost ruined as the editor of the paper wanted them developed as quickly as possible. The photos that weren’t destroyed became some of the most iconic images from World War II. These images were slightly smudged and blurred but to me these look more raw and real as if the photographer was running in on the action and getting out of the way. I like the way this image looks as it gives you a sense of how fast pace the action is down at the war front that not even the photographer can stand still for a second to capture a photograph, he too has to remain on the move. I like this image as it shows one soldier clambering his way through the blood covered waters in an attempt to make it to shore and fight the enemy lines. This image shows the rest of the world what soldiers actually went through during the war and how tough it was to fight and how easy it was to lose your life. The soldier in the centre of this photograph looks very serious and in the zone as if he is ready to fight for his country and to protect those he is fighting for. The barriers in the background show some soldiers hiding behind them, trying to avoid bullets. Sometimes I feel that we are numb to the struggle that soldiers went through during the war, we forget how many of them lost their lives and how many of them barely survived. We forget that they are not only left with physical scares but also mental ones too. This image makes you remember, it makes the spectator believe every moment and allows them to remember the kind of tragedies that they went through every second of the war. Not only did innocent people die, but there were actually people willing to risk their own lives and happiness to defend their country to make a stop to the madness which was uncovered during World War II.
A photojournalist is a person who makes images to illustrate news reports, to tell more of the story. This is an effective method as viewers often take in more visual images rather than just being told about what is going on in the world. To me photojournalism is the realest kind of photography, which is true. We often hear stories and think nothing of them until the hard-hitting truth sets in when images are revealed to the world through social media and tabloids. I think our modern world really benefits from photojournalists as it is not only a way of documenting our current world but it makes spectators reevaluate their lives, making them want change and thinking more carefully about certain situations. Photojournalists tend to get more up close and personal with others than any of us would feel uncomfortable doing. They not only tell the story but they become apart of it. By documenting the goings-on around the world, they are making history and publishing it. Growing up we were all told horror stories and we would believe that there were witches hiding underneath our beds waiting for us to get into bed and back then we would believe every word, scared of being taken by that witch. But for some reason as we grow older and get told real horror stories of goings-on in places like South Africa, Syria and former Yugoslavia yet we tent not to believe these stories until we can somehow see it with our own eyes. There is limited amounts of trust with the great powers of the world, only when images are reported and citizens of these countries speak out in disgust and outrage will these great powers begin to think about change. I believe that photojournalism is a very powerful thing and can make thousands, if not millions, of people all over the world stop living in their own little bubbles and reach out to try and help others.
A lot of photojournalist images are really hard-hitting, which they need to be nowadays for people to actually want change. I think that this aspect of photography is very important. Photojournalists aren’t there for self gain and to make a great photo, they are there to make an image that makes the rest of the world stop and think. In order for change to happen, we need proof that it’s actually been happening.
Photojournalism can be a tough job as sometimes there are moments of extreme distress and moments when you just aren’t sure whether to intervene or to make the image. It’s a tough decision to make and much criticism can follow but without these images we as a first world society would be unaware of the goings-on across the world. We wouldn’t know what people were doing to others and we wouldn’t know that we are just sitting around and letting it happen.
In recent events on the Syria refugees trying to flee the country to get to Germany on tiny boats and rough/risky means of transport. The world saw an image arise of a small boy [toddler] washed ashore. The small boy had fallen of the already tiny and overcrowded boat and was drowned. This image has had mass impact pushing the British government to make changes and to try and help these innocent people. When I first saw this image I got very upset, seeing such a small innocent little boy lying on the cold wet sand, lifeless. I could not understand how terrorists [ISIS] could actually do such a thing as to scare people out of their own country and for an innocent child to lose his life, not even old enough to understand what is going on and why he can’t sleep in his own bed. This boy had barely lived a life, he was most likely just running around and starting to make small sentences to communicate with his family. This is why it is important for photojournalists to photograph these events. We need to see these images in order to make us think differently and to make us want to help out. I myself didn’t really know much about the refugee situation until I saw this image of the little boy. These images almost don’t seem real to me as I hate to think that something like this could actually be happening in our supposedly modern and civilised world.
Another iconic image from a photojournalist is the one below of a little girl, starving being stalked by a vulture. This image was made in 1993, taken by Kevin Carter a South African photojournalist. This photographer received so much hatred from this one image, he was tormented and tortured by the things he had seen on his travels as a photographer and committed suicide months after this image was made. Part of his suicide note reads:
“I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain … of starving or wounded children” – Kevin Carter, extract of suicide note
There have been so many iconic images in history that have stood out and actually sparked change. These images are the ones that will be remembered and kept for future centuries to come and our new generations will reflect on these as historical events with no one left who actually lived through these events. I hope that in the future these images will just be horror stories that are told as a memorial for all those who lost their lives in these events and for our future generations to try and make peace with one another and to stop these fatal events from happening. I know that there will never be a time where we have complete peace across the world but maybe human nature will become less destructive.
Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle both significant and relevant to history and historical events and everyday life. It is typically covered in professional photojournalism, or real life reportage, but it may also be an amateur, artistic, or academic pursuit.
Opinions on documentary photography are very controversial as they can be perceived differently by all. Most people have a view of it as inhumane to capture images of scenes and events when they could be helping. therefore photographers get negative backlash from images.
For example in Mongolia 1996 Captured street children in Ulan Bator, Mongolia’s capital, are hosed down before being put into a youth detention center. in the link above shows an image of a tiny child cowers against a cold wall, awaiting his violent shower. Cropping within the viewfinder helps to show how small and frail the boy is in relation to his environment. He is the main subject. But to the side, in a watery light, another boy looks into the lens, judging me or you and seeming to ask if we have the right or the guts to stare. He is ghostly, making his presence all the more ethereal.
There is a refugee crisis in Europe, a young child was washed up on the beach after trying to reach Europe from north Africa. The image is being shown all around the world, however some people have a negative view on the picture as the photographer is obviously just stood watching the event and just taking pictures and offering no help.
A manifesto is a declaration of rules. This is a list of my aims for my photography projects. This applies to my previous and current projects which I’m working on:
Rule number one: Capture moments spontaneously. Live in the moment and don’t think too much about it. This relates to ‘Chance’. When opportunity strikes, take it.
Rule number two: Show the different stages of progression. Show the changes over time and the subtle moments. This applies to ‘Change’.
Rule number three: Do something you’ve never tried before. Put yourself out there and don’t be afraid to push the limits. This conforms with ‘Challenge’. Being scared will only set you back and stop you from finding more creative means of exploration.
Rule number four: Photograph the imperfections. Include harsh angles or strange compositions to unbalance the picture. Break the rules. Train your eye to see differently.
Rule number five: Give a purpose to things. Always try and give off a meaning, whether it’s hidden or easily spotted. Create a story.
Rule number six: Reflect the truth. Show it in the eyes. Demonstrate passion and release your emotions.
A photographer that I came across while researching tableau photography was the tableau photographer David Hilliard. He was born in 1964 and is American. He is a fine arts photographer, mainly known for his panoramic photographs. Taking inspiration from his personal life he creates great images of his natural surroundings. Most of his scenes are staged, mixing with fact and fiction.
I found Hilliard’s images very interesting because of the panoramic style which is unique. I think that I will respond to some of these images creating my own scenarios while following the panoramic idea. I like that there are white lines separating the single image into a series of three almost. This gives the spectator more to look at and makes for a more interesting photograph. The images could have been taken each individually and then put together during the editing process but I think that it would be more likely that a single image was taken and the white lines were added in afterwards. Something about the lines really draws the spectator into the image and makes you focus in on the central part of the image first and then allowing your eyes to wonder round the background of the image and take everything in individually.
This is one of my favourite images of Hilliard’s as I really like when photographers use the ocean as a means of the background of their images. I think the blue of the ocean really stands out and, to me, is very therapeutic and calming which is what the young boy seems to be too. The young boy on the right hand side of the image almost looks fed up, as if he’s been trying to jump in and capture the boat but every time something is pulling him back and he just can’t reach out and grab it, tiring him out. The boy on the left hand side looking back at the boy as he pushes off with his paddle looks confused possibly, as if he was waiting for his friend to come and join him on the boat and doesn’t understand why he didn’t get on it. It almost looks as if there is only one person in this image, possibly linking to surrealism as if in a dream-like state. He can’t catch up with himself and feels lost deep down. That is what I took from the image from first look at it. I like that tableau photography can do this, it allows every spectator to interpret the image and look at it in whatever way they like. I think this allows the spectator to actively engage with the art and opens up for discussion too.
Throughout the duration of the AS year I kept referencing back to the artist Cindy Sherman. A woman who found her voice within the photographic world during the 1970s when women were finally voicing their opinions in an artistic and creative way. I really enjoy Sherman’s set of ‘film stills’ that she created mainly during the 70s were she focused on the cliches modern women are faced with. To this I responded and came up with my own cliches as well as mimicking a few of Sherman’s. I believe that Sherman is a great photographer and knows exactly what she wants the spectator to get out of the images that she has created. She is the face of all of her images yet appears different in every one. This is one of her signature works were she plays dress up in order to create the best images possible for the spectator and without knowing that Sherman was the face of her own photographic work you would never have guessed it was her.
The images that Sherman creates are not reflections of herself but, I think, show as a reflect of our society and how we expect women to be and how we expect them to act. I believe that Sherman wants to bring across a message that women aren’t the way most people think they are and we can do so much more and have greater aspirations than living and working at home like our ancestors. Something that has really come to light in recent years is feminism. The right of equality of life for both men and women. Yet people like Sherman have been exploring this and working hard to open people’s eyes on this topic for many years. I am a strong believer in feminism and I think that now is the time were things are going to change dramatically with huge impact. I like the idea of sending out a message to the world through the art of photography and tableaux photography is an excellent way to create a staged way of documenting serious issues of our modern world.
Some of Cindy Sherman’s ‘Untitled Film Stills’
#14
#13
#54
#3
#17
Sherman was born in 1954 and is an American photographer and film director and is most known for her conceptual portraits. Sherman tends to work in different series of images and all of which are ‘Untitled’. I believe that she does this as a way of allowing the spectator to make up their own mind and form an opinion on the images themselves with an open mind and no preconceived ideas of how they should be looking at the images. I like this as most of her images speak for themselves and don’t really need any title or introduction to them. They are very hard hitting yet the spectator is about to form a completely independent view of each image, they are simply different representations of cliches and the way that women are viewed in society.
This is one of my favourite of Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills. There isn’t one thing in particular that I like about the image, I just enjoy looking at it. I love the amount of books everywhere showing that the subject is in a library somewhere. An effect element of this image in the direction that the subject is looking as she looks up the sky over her shoulder as if looking for even more books whilst choosing some already. I think the idea of mimicking the cliches women faced in the late 1970s an excellent documentation of the way society used to think and being able to compare it to our modern day society and how much or how little has changed over the past years. I like that all of the film stills are in black and white, this is largely to do with the type of cameras that were around in 1979 as they were all black and white, however I still think that it makes the images more interesting and allows the spectator something to maintain focus on rather than dotting around the whole image looking at all of the different colours of the books and what the subject is wearing. Something that I also enjoy about these film stills is that in every one of them Sherman is the subject. She seems to create a brand new character in every photograph and each time they are faced with a different scenario in a different environment, which is a great way of documenting what places in America looked like in the late 70s compared to what they all look like nowadays.
Tableau simply means staged. This is a type of documentary photography as the photographer may find the subjects in their natural environment but may ask them to pose in a certain way to make for a good photograph. It is the form of a ‘living picture’. Most photographers will use their own models who are carefully positioned and posed and can often be quite theatrical and staged in an attempt to create a meaning and bring across a message to the spectator looking at the images. Often props will be used as well as facial expressions. I like the idea of tableau photography as I am able to develop a story and bring in different characters for the spectator to interpret and view. I also like the idea that it is documenting the way people think. This can be more of a broad way of doing documentary photography but it does fit. Photographers are able to explore new things as well as make a visual documentation of the way our modern society thinks and the way some people feel within it. We are able to document the environment that we live in, in a more interesting way. Something that I have noticed in modern tableau photography is that everyone appears to be naked. Somehow I don’t think that I will be using this in my response to tableau photography just because I feel that there is no real need to be naked in images, I think that images are more effect in the art of telling a story through the emotion of the subject/character rather than the physical appearance of them.
