To me photography is a way of representing issues, beauty, nature, life and more in a way that holds emotions and meaning whilst also creating something eye capturing. I believe photography should not only focus on taking and editing an image to make a creative piece, but should be able to give the viewer their own way of interpreting what it symbolises.

On Photographs by David Campany

David’s text holds many metaphors and symbolises a lot about photography. He describes how one photo can have an incessant number of meanings and connotations. He explains how words and denotations can change an images meaning in many ways. Words can ‘direct and oversee’ the images, and when strategically placed next to the photo, can make the reader focus on one interpretation of the photo. On the other hand, he says you can place random texts next to an image and let the reader create their own correlation between the words and the photo. This is a way of explaining how photography has endless ways of being interpreted and impacting the viewer.

The word ‘still’ is said to describe the feeling a photograph gives. You can stand whilst time passes, but be looking at something frozen in time, in that exact moment. He then goes on to say that nothing else about photography is ‘still’. The rapid movement and development of cameras, and the use of them has changed quickly over time. They are not just used to capture well composed images, but quick, unprepared moments passing by. The history of photography is being changed swiftly in time.

Contrasts in words are used by David to depict how photos can be seen. He writes confusing but structured sentences to show how photography can mean two things at once, it just depends how you look at it. The main quote he states is ‘photographs confuse as much as fascinate, conceal as much as reveal, distract as much as compel. They are unpredictable communicators.’

‘Photographs confuse as much as fascinate’ suggests that depending on an images composition and contents, it can draw in the viewer in so that they are captivated by what they are seeing. However at the same time maybe not fully understanding what they are looking at. Whether it’s an abstract image that can’t be recognised, or an image with a deeper meaning that can’t be found. This part of the quote tell us that no matter what the undiscovered meaning is, photographs can captivate an audience.

‘Photographs conceal as much as reveal’ can imply that as the audiences view is subjective towards the same photo with a different perspective. One person may view an image as beautiful, and the next person may say it hides darkening thoughts. How photographs are perceived is based on a persons perspective on life, and possible experiences. on the other hand, an image might disclose a new thought or idea to whoever views it, while on the other hand another person may not even notice this aspect. David has a way of explaining how ambiguous photography can be.

Finally ‘distract as much as compel’ may infer that a photograph can on one hand leave someone thinking about it, the meaning of it, and how it affected them, distracting them from the world. Whilst on the other hand a photo could possibly make someone realise a situation, or focus on something on the image, redirecting them to be more aware in the and forcing them into the real world.

What shapes a response to a photo? I would say that each individual will create their own response. It may from life experiences, thoughts and opinions. My initial thought about this image is that it could be an abstract photo representing fire or night time darkness and capturing something such as a street lamp or candle. However the meaning drastically changed when I found out it was taken from a war zone. Suddenly the photographs colours represent death, darkness and fear. This is a clear example of how images can have many meanings and emotions that may be completely different from its real one.

This image links with the fact that ‘Photographs confuse as much as fascinate’ due to the fact that the though of this man jumping off the building builds confusion as to why he may be doing this. Other questions may be how did he land, or even is he flying? The fascination from this image makes people wonder how it was created, and was it edited? After finding out that two images were merged together, the photograph finally makes sense and the confusion is solved.

Photography is the art of taking and processing photographs. The word photography literally means ‘drawing with light’ which I think is quite poetic and portrays the creativity of photography and how you can manipulate factors to make your photographs look even better.

There are 3 main elements of photography; aperture, shutter, and ISO. The aperture is what controls the amount of light being allowed into the camera. The shutter is the device that which the lens aperture is opened admit light, which exposes the film. The ISO is the camera’s sensitivity to light. The lower the ISO, the less sensitive the film/sensor is to light.

David Campany talks about how much of an impact photography has. They allow people to look at fixed appearances. Photographs can capture special moments people want to keep forever, or they could simply be to document something. Photography allows us to see things we may have never noticed otherwise. There are no limits to photography. As photographs are highly mobile, it’s easy to share art with other people who may even be across the world. This means more people can appreciate the art being created and interpret its meanings. Even if a photographer takes a photo trying to express a certain meaning, it can lose that meaning or perhaps other people can interpret their own meanings from it. Everyone has different perspectives.

“photographs confuse as much as fascinate, conceal as much as reveal, distract as much as compel. They are unpredictable communicators.”

David Campany

I agree with this statement as it expresses how photography is limitless and is open for interpretation. It tells how photography can affect people in many different ways and how photographs can serve different purposes. ‘distract as much as compel’ this shows that people can be drawn to photographs for different reasons and have different to reactions to them.

photography is the art or practice of taking and processing photographs.

many factors may shape our response to photography this could include past experience and beliefs of our own which others may not share.

the meaning we ascribe to an image may come from how we are feeling or what type of mindset or past experiences we have since everyone lives a different life and may not a feel a certain way about an image due to not experiencing the same experiences as you. for example a war photo will give a greater effect to a veteran over a child’s which may be naive and unmoved.

the photographers intentions may not effect how we view pieces of photography since we may not know the artists true intentions when creating the piece or even the photographer might not know there own intensions and may be leaving it to the viewer.

Where did it start?

The world’s first permanent photograph was taken in 1827 and was titled View from the Window at Le Gras. The first photo in the world was created by an inventor from France named Nicéphore Niépce.

The world’s first colour photo was produced in 1861 by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell. He believed any colour could be made by the correct mixture of red, yellow and blue. Maxwell made three lantern slides of a tartan ribbon through red, green and blue filters. He then projected them onto a screen, they combined to make a full-colour image which was a recognisable reproduction of the original.

Photography is the process of recording an image with a camera, originally by using light sensitive film but now more often digital electronic memory. The word photography is derived from the Greek words ‘phōtós’ meaning “light” and ‘graphé’ meaning “representation by means of lines” together meaning “drawing with light”. Photography is usually thought of as a means of documenting a moment in time and in a way it is. A photo can be of any subject and still it captures a moment in time however the art of photography is about how the subject of that image is interpreted. A photographer can have their own implications and a context behind an image when they take it but often someone else will look at the exact same image and interpret something completely different. Photography is subjective and can change meaning to each individual that views it. Over time photos can gain new meaning or loose meaning as events happen throughout the world, many things become less relevant, and opinions and people change.

I think Campany is referring to how a photo never has one set meaning and can change and be different for everyone explaining the contradictory phrases. “confuse as much as fascinate” I think this alludes to how photography is diverse and often we don’t understand as they are documents and arts of things that many of us have not experienced. Hence how each image can be regarded in a different light by each person as all have separate life experiences.

A very famous photo from the anti war pentagon march in 1967 is the “flower girl”. I think it is an incredibly powerful photo documenting the views of protesters that day and what they were standing up against – from an art standpoint the composition was obviously no accident and creates a stark contrast between the subjects. On one side a young girl holding a flower and on the other soldiers with sheathed bayonets. I think this is a good example of how photos meant to document events are still an art form. “conceal as much as reveal” this image at one end reveals a lot of the protesters standpoints from the day but does not fully explain the circumstances, it hides the atrocities of the protest and how the protesters were then treated behind one moment frozen in time. Photographs never give full context, but then again there is nothing that can give full context, in history we rarely see all sides of the story. It is up to a persons opinion of what has happened and what they think and the same goes for photography.

“Distract as much as compel” I think this refers to how photographs can be used a a form of escapism as they freeze a moment in time and can bring a sense of nostalgia or simply remind you of a far away place. I think photos are needed and helpful to help remember events whether it is monumental changes in history or small snippets of someones daily life. In my opinion photography can be both an art form, a way of documentation, and more often than not both.

Klein’s work the “Saut Dans le vide” meaning “leap into the void” perfectly illustrates many of Campany’s contradictions. As it depicts a man throwing himself of a building it begs the question of why is he doing it? what lead to this? what happened after? As every photograph it documents a moment in time, but as an art form it can mean many things. He is wearing a suit it could be a social narrative on working conditions and economy in the 1960s. He is throwing himself into an open space as he calls it the “void” this could allude to jumping into the unknown the 60s were turbulent years filled with social and economical change. Or it could simply be an eye catching advertisement for Yves Klein’s upcoming exhibition and a means of getting into the public eyes. It is all about your interpretation of of what you are seeing from own lived experience someone in the 60s living that decade would take something entirely different from this photo than someone living now. The actual image is made from two separate photos removing a group of people holding a tarp to catch him as he fell further suggesting that images can “conceal” and are often made to be confusing as it creates interest and a narrative.

Photography is the art of recording, capturing and reproducing images. It has evolved over time with new techniques and equipment being developed to improve the quality of photographs. Photography can be done using a camera, digital cameras or even a mobile phone. The most common type of photography is still photography which involves taking pictures without moving the camera while video photography involves moving the camera while shooting videos.

What are some types of Photography?

There are many different types of photography such as landscape, portrait, macro (close up), sports, wildlife and street photography for example.

Using a camera.

There are a multitude of ways to take a good photo, but most professional photographers edit the camera’s setting such as aperture and shutter speed. Aperture is the adjustable lens opening that controls the amount of light allowed into the camera. Aperture is used whether you want the background or foreground in focus. Shutter Speed is the speed on which the camera’s shutter closes, a fast shutter means the photo is more focused and has a shorter exposure a longer shutter means the photo has a long exposure and is more blurry.

History of Photography.

Photography means drawing with light. It come from Greek words phos, meaning light, and graphê meaning drawing or writing. The first photograph was taken by French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 at his family’s country home, the title being ‘View from the Window at Le Gras’ .

The first sign of photography was in 1717 where Johann Heinrich Schulze captured cut-out letters on a bottle of a light-sensitive slurry, but he never thought about making the result durable. In 1800 Thomas Wegwood, who was unsuccessful at capturing images in a permanent form, his tests did produce detailed photograms – but Wegwood and his associate found no way to fix these images. A photogram is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a light-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light, this was how the first fil camera’s where made.

Photography is form of art which involves taking and processing photos. Photography gives people a chance to relate to images and have their view on the image. It also, gives people a chance to look back on memories they may have forgotten about. To me photography is a way of showing how you see the world to others. For example some people may not have the same vision as you when taking their photos. I also think there’s a deeper meaning in many photos it’s just how you view and interpret the photo.

‘Photographs confuse as much as fascinate, conceal as much as reveal, distract as much as compel. They are unpredictable communicators’-David Campany

I agree with the statement ‘Photographs confuse as much as fascinate, conceal as much as reveal, distract as much as compel. They are unpredictable communicators’ because photos can be interpreted by the audience how they want to view it and they can take their own interpretation on the photo. Photographs ‘confuse as much as they fascinate’ this means that when the audience is looking at the photograph they can be drawn in because there’s something about the image that captivates them whether that be confusing or fascinating, they see something in the image that keeps them from looking away.

Photographers are meant to show the world the truth with the photos they take but their images can be misinterpreted as they only capture the moment. Campany states that photographs ‘conceal as much as reveal.’ In my opinion I think this is true because photos only capture a single moment so it conceals and hides an element of truth. An example of this is Kevin Carter’s photo of the starving Sudanese girl. It concealed how there was actually a feeding centre around the corner but also revealed how bad the people were suffering in Sudanese. However, some photos do show the truth and reveal peoples feelings in the moment the image was taken.

Within Campany’s quote he states that photographs ‘distract as much as they compel’ This may suggest that photos can distract people from the real world and let their mind wonder. Furthermore, photos can also compel people and force them to look at what is happening in the world because something in the image has caught their attention.

Finally, photographs are ‘unpredictable communicators’ because you never know what you’re going to see or what to expect. Photographs are ‘communicators’ in the way that they send a message to the audience and everyone will have their own thoughts and opinions on the photo. They can also show us what’s happening around the world and the truth that the media may be hiding from us. In my opinion a photo is the best communicator because it can be shared all around the world

David Campany also speaks about when we look back at a photo our second or third response will be different to our first one. This could be because when we look back at an image we may see it in a different light as we could relate to it in a different way than the first time we saw it.

My initial thoughts on this photo was that it was an abstract photo of fire or a flame. However, that change when I found out it was taken from the war zone in Afghanistan. This image links back to David Campanys quote as this photo will confuse and fascinate people.

This photo links back to Campanys quote because the final image conceals how they made the final image as he put two different photos together. Campany didn’t reveal how he took the photo which left the audience with a lot of questions, wondering what happened after the photo had been taken or if the photo was even real.

Still Life

The term still life comes from the Dutch word ‘Stilleven’ in the 17th century, when the genre flourished in the fine art medium. Artists arranged significant objects and painted them and the genre was consolidated as one of the most popular.

Vanitas & Memento Mori

The above image is an example of Vanitas. A Vanitas is a piece of art full of symbols that represent the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and death. The term derives from religious origins – in the first lines of the Book of Ecclesiastes; ‘Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.’ These works include imagery of material goods such as wine or musical instruments, to demonstrate the triviality and vanity of worldly belongings.

The above image is an example of Memento Mori, a Latin phrase meaning ‘remember you must die‘. It is a style of still life of which the purpose is to remind the viewer of the fragility of life and inevitability of death. These can include imagery of skulls or extinguished candles.

Of course, these are all examples of pieces of fine art, not photography. An example of Vanitas/Memento Mori in photography is the work of Paulette Tavormina, shown below, who was inspired by the work of 17th Century Old Masters.

Of course in the modern world of photography, we see that still life constantly has a place as a popular genre and here are some examples below.

Laura Letinsky

The work of Laura Letinsky is some I find particularly interesting. Through her images in this series, she creates a moment, an action, an interchange – all through careful arrangement of her subjects. I personally love this work because it creates a space for where there was clearly life previously.

Additionally, the abandonment of the articles within the images suggests symbols of rejection or perhaps the action of leaving things behind. This in itself directly links to the idea of Memento Mori photography – as the items have perhaps been left behind by someone who is no longer here to claim them.

Overall, I think it is clear that still life is always going to have a place in all different forms of art and creation, and so it should not be overlooked in its power to evoke emotion and thought through the use of symbolism.

In my view, it is almost always the case that a picture comes down not to what is contained in it but how the viewer interprets it. This relies upon; context – what previous knowledge the viewer may have surrounding the background of the image/its subject/s; personal background – as we know that this impacts every element of a person’s experience and choices; and connotational aspects – how the human brain has the ability to connect multiple things to each other at once, triggering specific emotions or memories through imagery or sensory experience. This interpretational nature of photography is, in essence, what secures it as an art form and makes it entirely accessible. 

I am going to analyse the statement, ‘photographs confuse as much as fascinate, conceal as much as reveal, distract as much as compel. They are unpredictable communicators.’, from David Campany’s work On Photographs. This quote is interesting because of its use of oxymoronic language. This gives the subject (photography) far more depth than one may have originally established and this is what creates the talking point. 

When Campany says that photographs ‘confuse as much as fascinate’, he is possibly referring to the inevitability of captivation – oftentimes when one views an image it will fade from memory almost immediately; imagine how many images we see in a day, but there are a few occasions when an image will be entirely consuming in its attraction and mesmerism. Sometimes, when this occurs, we are unable to draw away from the image, consistently returning to its beauty/mayhem/gore/nostalgia – I think nostalgia is the most important here as it is often this which triggers the mind and evokes such emotions as sadness, joy or wistfulness to an overwhelming degree. Photographs can confuse as they may force the viewer to confront their content and also question something they believed in previously – as, after all ‘the camera never lies’ can sometimes be true.

The phrase ‘conceal as much as reveal’ is interesting as it alludes to the ongoing presence of media that shows false imagery – media which is consumed by all of us. There are so many examples of this, and one may find themselves constantly questioning what they thought they knew or had seen evidence of. Whilst alluding to this negative aspect of photography, the statement also shows that photographs have always and will always be used to document and broadcast – they allow us to reach across continents to access common experience and reference as a human race. This is arguably the most important role of photography due to its capacity to allow us to connect and also ask for help from one another.

To ‘distract as much as compel’ is important because this is what allows us to escape through the use of images. To ‘distract’ ourselves through the medium of photography is to see things in a new manner and discover new perspectives. To ‘compel’, an image must galvanise the viewer – make them so acutely aware of their own emotion that they believe they must act upon it – or, if not act then just continue to enjoy the image.

Photographs are named as ‘unpredictable communicators’. This is perhaps due to the adaptability of the human mind – we are programmed to take what we are given and make it comprehensible and relatable to our own thoughts and views. However, as discussed earlier, photographs are quite good at challenging this aspect of our nature and they often force us to confront personal barriers or beliefs. One should always be reminded of the need to believe only what we know is certain, and always to question that which we believe is certain, and always be aware of the fact that a photographer’s job is always to make their subject seem a certain way – every single part of the shoot will be directed towards this intention and therefore it will always be achieved, and we will always view an image that has been calculated very thoroughly. Perhaps a good example of this is the use of propaganda during fascist eras in European countries. The imagery used will always be chosen based on its factor of admiralty and inspiration – the purpose is always to ensure the subject appears strong and capable.

The above image is an interesting example of this principle. We can see a man falling from a second-storey window, whilst another person cycles by. This is a piece of performance art produced by the famous performance artist Yves Klein, famous during the 1960s. The image is actually a photomontage made up of two images taken at different times and merged together. This is shown here:

Yves Klein has created an image of himself leaping from the building ‘into the void‘. A void is an absence, a space created by lack of presence. As photographs are only snapshots – frames caught in a split-second – they do not allow us as the viewers to know what happened prior to or after the photo was taken. Therefore the image only draws our attention as viewers because we know that he cannot have photographed this as it is shown without injury. This creates a desire to investigate the story behind the image, which is perhaps the purpose of this intriguing technique. Additionally, drawing on the time the image was created, one could possibly link its illusion of freedom to the current socially turbulent era and all its numerous social and political movements including the civil rights movement, the student movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, the women’s movement, the gay rights movement, and the environmental movement. This links to my earlier point – that a viewer’s interpretation of an image will rely upon context just as much as content.

Therefore, as a whole, I think that photography is many different things all at once, and is always down to interpretation on behalf of the viewer and their personal experiences. Often, the images we remember the most are the ones with a story behind them.

What is photography?

Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light. The word Photography literally means ‘drawing with light’, and is the process of recording an image on light sensitive film.

Photography is often used to capture the view of the photographer, most of the time using them as a way to spread their ideas and bring awareness to specific topics. It can also be used as a way to express ones self through the photos they create.

David Campany

David Campany is a British writer, artist and photographer. He was born in 1967 in London and has a PhD as well as may awards for his writing. He has also written around 20 books one being called “on photographs”, in which he talks about the meaning of photography and his own personal view on the topic.

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He thought of photographs as ways to press pause on the world and to allow us to look back on said moment any time we please. He also says that although the photographs never change, the meaning behind them does, and most likely will for a long time.

He also talks about how photos can show contrasting views and meanings. An example is through his famous quote “Photographs confuse as much as they fascinate, conceal as much as they reveal, distract as much as they compel. They are unpredictable communicators”. I believe that he is trying to say that there will always be two sides to every picture, since everyone will interpret what they see differently and see a different side to the image than someone else.

Another example of his idea of contrasting would be shown in the picture below:

In the photo we are able to see a small girl smiling contrasting against the conditions in her surroundings and the gloomy grey scale the image shows. It also will allow different people to have different view on whats happening in the picture, since its mostly up for interpretation.

David also talks about the use of words and language in his book, saying about how they are there to guide photos similarly to how a parent would guide their child through life.

Words also are used to help direct the viewer and give them a better idea of what their looking at through the use of captions. Captions are small annotations just below the image giving more detail about the photograph. This is a more discrete way to get the information across but to still have the main focus on the image at hand.

A leap into the void

Yves Klein was born on April 28th 1928 in France. He was a painter in a group but was one of the most influential artists at the time. He practised judo and at age 25 received a black belt, later going on to teach it for a period of time, even writing a book about it.

The making of the image was done by the help of a small put together team. He asked photographers Harry Shunk and Jean Kender to make a series of pictures documenting his jump while seven other people would hold a tarpaulin for Klein to land in.

There are two different versions of the photograph: one with a cyclist driving away in the background and another one, slightly darker, where the street is completely empty. The image including the cyclist was more popular and even used on the front of a popular Sunday magazine.

WHAT IS APERTURE?

Aperture is the adjustment of how much light is allowed to pass through the lens. When there is a large hole through the lens it lets more light pass through and when there is a smaller hole, less light can pass through the lens.

WHAT IS DEPTH OF FIELD?

Depth of field is how much of the image you have photographed is in focus. It is the distance between the nearest and furthest photos which are “acceptably in focus” in an image captured with a camera.