Photography plays an important part in everyone’s day to day life, it lets us see the world from an entirely different perspective. By capturing the present we are able to look at the past, the places, the people and tell stories that would otherwise be forgotten. So what is photography? It’s the craft of creating images by capturing light using a camera.

Functions of photography vary from artist to artist and what they are trying to accomplish. For example a wedding photographer may aim to capture fun and important moments from the event in order for friends and family to enjoy and remember it for years to come. A wildlife photographer on the other hand, could aspire to inspire people to protect endangered species and make a real change.

There are multiple genres of photography all of which are important to understand as a photographer since they could influence your style and technique. The three primary genres include: Nature Photography, People Photography and Manmade Objects. The next part will focus on explaining the most common photography styles everyone should know.

Landscape – Involves capturing the presence of nature and natural scenes. This doesn’t always mean huge maintain ranges and meadows, landscape photography can be microscopic.

Abstract – Uses colour, light, shadow, texture and shape in order to produce a feeling, sensation or impression without presenting the object or scene that’s actually being photographed.

Portrait – Capturing a person or group of people in the way where everything, from the backdrop to the lighting, conveys the personality of the model in one shot.

Sports – Self explanatory, sports photography captures all kinds of sports. Its main application is usually for editorial purposes such as sports magazines.

Travel – Documents places and their historical, cultural and touristic aspects.

Macro – Photographs close-ups of mostly very small subjects such as plants and insects. Not to be confused with micro photography which uses actual microscopes.

Fashion – Capturing models in clothing and other fashion accessories for editorial or advertising purposes.

Documentary – Provides records of events, people and places, adding to a particular storyline, often important historically.

Street – Capturing a scene in a public place. Those photographs are usually candid; unstaged and spontaneous.

Still life – Consists of arranging inanimate objects in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Usually shot for personal, commercial or editorial purposes.

Architectural – Capturing aesthetically pleasing shots of a building’s interior or exterior.

From the moment the first photograph was taken, many have debated whether the practise of photography is an art form or a just a way of using science to capture reality. Before we start answering this question ourselves it’s important to understand what art really means. Art is by definition is the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects. The most common argument against photography being an art is that photography captures reality but doesn’t create a subjective reality. However, aesthetic photographs often blur the line of objective reality.

“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus” – Mark Twain

That being said, it would be unreasonable to consider every photograph ever taken art. One can argue that only images that evoke an emotional response should be considered art. Since the photographer consciously makes creative choices about the lighting, framing, subjects, technical settings and editing as well as the overall symbolism and meaning of the photograph, we should be able to call a photographer an artist and therefore, photography an art form.

Now that we have accepted photography as an art form we should talk about photography as a science.

Photography originated from a collaboration of scientists trying to discover a way to permanently capture light on a flat surface. The first photograph was taken in 1826 by a french physicist and inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. This wouldn’t be possible without the use of chemistry and physics. Since then the study of photography came a long way, today photography gives back to science, helping us record and document significant findings.

“Photography, born of and shaped by science, transformed the nature of observation and stretched the parameters of knowledge and humanity’s sense of itself”
— Marvin Heiferman

This photograph is known as the ‘Migrant Mother’ and it is one of the most iconic photographs in American History. It was taken in 1936 by the American photographer Dorothea Lange, and it symbolises the hunger, poverty and hopelessness endured by many Americans during the Great Depression.

In this picture, we can see an elderly woman that is deep in thought and observing something in front of her while having her one hand lifted to her mouth. She has two children leaning against each of her shoulders, both facing away from the mother and appearing to be dressed in rags like the woman herself. There also appears to be a baby bundled up in a blanket on top of the woman’s lap.

The photographer took this picture from the waist up, with the mother being in the centre and two of her children on either shoulder, then turned it black and white. The lack of colour is  making it feel old and like the mother has lost all hope and is probably going through depression. There’s a lot of detail in this picture; for example, the woman’s wrinkles are very visible on her skin, which could symbolise all the stress she has gone through and all the anxiety. You can also see that there is dirt on their skins and clothing, showing that they have been struggling and going through this for a long time. This makes the viewer feel sympathy towards the mother and her children.

Contextual –

Robert Frank Trolley travelled around America, taking photos for his book. This photo shows its a group of different people travelling somewhere on a bus in 1955, post war when racism was still quite big and coloured people were still made to sit at the back. The bus signifies how old the photo is and when this picture was taken as it is very old fashioned.

Conceptual –

It could show how unfair the treatment of coloured people was back in 1955 as they were made to sit at the back of the bus and their facial expressions could signify how unfair they think that it is.

Visual –

The light and dark tones, created through the natural light, contrasts against each other, which catches your eye and makes the reflection in the windows above quite clear which draws your attention to it make you wonder where in New Orleans this was taken and what the surroundings were like. The bars in between each people can show how it may look like they are imprisoned and sectioned off.

Technical –

The lighting in this picture is quite natural, which is created by the daylight, while also being under exposed due to the time in which it was taken and the cameras which would have been available, this creates quite a cold feel for the atmosphere the photo creates. The lens which creates the way the picture was taken is at quite a wide angle but is very focussed on the subjects within it, so that it catches your attention well.

The close angle that Newman used makes Krupp, an industrialist whose factories manufactured weapons for the Nazis throughout WW2, look intimidating along with Krupp’s pose as it adds to the aggressive tone of the image – his clasped hands give him a look of authority.

The dim, yet warm toned, lighting creates a murky atmosphere that draws attention to Krupp’s face and his almost sinister expression. This was due to the photographer, who was Jewish, wanting revenge against one of many that caused the death of so many of their people. Newman successfully captured a ominous atmosphere especially with the use of one of Krupp’s own factories in the background of the photo which further adds to the hostile tone of the image.

The clarity of the image allows the viewer to fully examine the factory that Newman purposefully left in frame behind Krupp, making sure it was centred. Due to this, the image is balanced which makes it visually appealing to the eye.