The definition for Documentary Photography is: “Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life.”  The purpose of documentary photography can essentially vary among the individual purpose of the individual using documentary photography to achieve a desired objective.  The spectrum of opportunities available are very wide in how documentary photography can be used to document a series of events and inform others, by exposing them to the historical context of the documentary and within this, the social, political and economic contexts.  What stands out with documentary photography, its purpose was never although to inform, was to necessarily influence our view on something (like an advertisement) but more so to broaden our gaze  what the wider world is really like.  For the viewer this is particularly useful in understanding other people’s perception of the world in order to help us recognise where we stand on certain views.  Examples of this throughout history have been to document the hardships of child labour and poverty.  An example of another photographer’s work documenting child labor is Lewis Hine.  Here he used documentary photography  to show us and allow us to explore these suffering people’s worlds and day to day experience by documenting their living conditions.

Aside from this point, regarding to the idea of documentary photography documenting the realities of life.  This style of photography can be used in a more fiction based style that show how the artist perceives the world around him and how this has affected him and his daily life.  The collection of photographs building up to a certain point or issue that the photographer leads us to is essentially a story, which can be either more fiction based or factual.  Either way the idea of a story allows us to comprehend the result of our actions as it leads us in a direction where we may not necessarily feel in control of.  In respect of this we then have to live and accept with it unless we want to take action and change the wrongdoing of what the documentary photography is showing us.  Therefore documentary photography can be a powerful tool in ensuring people are informed of the wider world.  Evan today contemporary photographers show through the use of documentary photography that there is perhaps more child labor and poverty today than there was back in the 19th century.  For example, photographer Chris Steele-Perkins documents the realities of the wider world that we in the sophisticated and western hemisphere are ignorant to.

On the other hand tableux photography shows a slightly different side of the coin but could have potential in using this style of photography for similar purposes for documentary photography.  The definition for Tableux photography is “a style of photography where people are staged in a constructed environment and a pictorial narrative is conveyed through a single image.”  This arguably makes it harder to achieve similar principles of telling a story as compared to documentary photography however I believe it can be achieved but through more levels of subtlety.  For example, you could capture an event on camera but also showing possible reactions of those around allowing us to lead on and expect how a story might turn out with eventual consequences perhaps.  It must be taken note of that to tell a story for the photographer to communicate an intended message through a story captured “accidentally” is rather difficulty and for that reason, Tableux photography is generally staged.  With added subtleties, it can be harder for the viewer to understand the message of the photograph compared to documentary photography and so can be left more often than not to be interpreted by the viewer.  Photographer Anna Gaskall uses the idea of staged and Tableux photography to construct images that perhaps reflect her view or opinion of the world and so, as that is very quite personal to her, she wishes to convey her feelings towards a particular feature of the world that can’t be expressed through documenting the reality, but only the fantasy which is where this is linked to both styles.

Because these photographs are more often staged there is a strong sense of control as to how each part of the photograph makes up a strong composition and therefore there is arguably more significance as to each individual part of the photograph in telling a story.  For that reason, it is accepted that these photographs are often exaggerated to get the message across and so unlike documentary photography, these photograph’s purposes are less so to inform but more to persuade, influence or alter my opinion.  Therefore alongside the fact that documenary photography may pose to show a certain reality of life, Tableux is essentially the opposite as it creates a more fiction based story to tell us.  Fiction or not, both forms of photography are extremely effective if used in the correct way at communicating messages on very similar subjects.

Larry Sultan, Pictures from Home

This photograph fascinates me because of the use of documentary style photography but how also how elements of Tableaux photography are incorporated.  For example this appears to be a quite a middle to upper class setting.  Evidence to suggest this is the well lit environment, the high quality clothes, and the general objects in the photograph that appear of value.  This is interesting because the objects, especially the women doesn’t necessarily appear happy which emphasizes the meaning of how money can’t buy you happiness.  It is almost as if they are trying to impress us with all the objects in the photograph that they are trying to mask some of their own difficulties.  In this sense this shows the documentary side of the photograph as it is documenting the daily life of these people and is expressing to us quite intimately their feelings.  Interestingly, focusing on the woman she appears to reflect feelings of isolation.  I can tell this because she is standing up against a wall, something that reminds me of a prison photograph, telling us how she feels trapped.  She has a TV next to her where presumably her husband is watching that.  This shows the fact she is stood next to a TV and brushed aside suggests that her husband is giving more affection and time to his TV  than her and so she is subordinate to the TV.  Clearly the couple are elderly and so this reflects the days where women are seen as objects.  By how she is staring at us through the eye contact shows she is trusting us, a stranger and that perhaps explains how insecure she feels.  However the fact, that this photograph appears slightly staged, giving reference to how well presented the environment is and so which appears quite fantasy like, it shows a more of the Tableaux side in how this composition is trying to tell us a story.

Richard Billingham, Ray’s A Laugh

This photograph is somewhat different to Larry Sultan’s work of documentary photography.  I believe the subtleties in this compared with the previous photograph are much more refined and intricate, showing a much more accurate picture of most people’s lives.  That is not to say the previous photograph, doesn’t show real life, it does, only just from that women’s perspective.  Here however we see a man and woman who are despite both sitting and standing in a similar way as to the couple in the previous photograph, appear much more active, open and authentic in their relationship than before.  For example the man and woman are facing each other in a more open manner but  still look as if there is some sense of unhappiness or worry between the two. However where both artists  strikingly differ is the fact that previously it displayed the problems of middle class issues, whereas Billingham’s parents show more of a lower class environment.  Interestingly this photograph conveys the struggles of every day life from the perspective of a joint and collective struggle that somehow the issue of poverty concerns everyone within the household.  Whereas before it showed the daily struggle form the perspective of the woman.    On this idea of a collective struggle, this is particularly interesting because it makes us the viewer feel somewhat inclusive in the environment and it’s objects.  I believe this is why the couple appear much more active together due to  the fact that what is bringing them together is the struggles of daily life.  Therefore this binding relationship is one that is so focused on economic principles, that it doesn’t have time to allow other principles such as social and family principles to grow.  This is clearly  a great shame and we can  see the direct results from this in terms of the couple’s relationship.   Therefore this communicates the problems money creates on a wide scale.