The Genre Of Documentary Photography

The Genre Of Documentary picture takingIn his examination of Lt. Col. Oliver L. Norths portrait, taken by Harry Benson for Life time (1987), Andy Grundberg (1988) emphasizes the importance of the camera position, background elements and attitude of the subject towards a heroic meter appearance, even though the naive realism was somewhat diametrical, visible in an another(prenominal), s ethereal interesting news pip of Colonel North facing the full kinsfolk of Congress. The juxtaposition of the two injects makes one forecast of the kind of information impressiongraphs fall in behind. Is it an actual reflection of the actuality or something more interpret suitable and selective? lay this into the perspective of the pre- moving-picture showic history one could say that photographs are better representations of the historical events than say, delineations or drawings. Nevertheless this is not entirely certain because photography screwing also be biased exactly as a painti ng using different capturing techniques, topples, and recently computer aided photo manipulation which makes everything so much easier to tamper with. antic Griersons which is generally accepted as being the father of the objective genre characterized it as the creative preaching of actuality. The first question that comes to my mind is why did he use the enclosure actuality and not reality?For this we have to take a look at the definition of actuality. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary actual center existing in fact or reality. In my opinion reality is what you interpret and you think something is, and actuality is what it really is by looking at the facts. Reality and actuality are regent(postnominal)ly connected and one can say that reality is what you perceive from actuality.John Tagg (p.172, 1988) argued that It is not a question of the defend for truth alone, rather, of a struggle slightly the status of truth and the economic and political role it pl ays. unmatchable of the iconic photographs that apply to this statement is Dorothea Langes Migrant Mother and the extensive debates around the truthfulness of the photograph. Is it that important that the photograph was staged, edited and cropped or not? The maneuver is that even though it might be a staged photograph it tranquil conveys the reality of the time. Lange was sent on assignment for the Farms Security organisation to document the poverty of the overlap-croppers. The story she associated with the chassis was not entirely true but it efficiently showed the condition of the migrant workers.It is arguable that the changes made to the accredited Migrant Mother photograph created the notoriety of the build (i.e. the editing push through of the thumb, and the possible staging of the photograph). If we look at some of the other images from the scud we can see clearly that at least one of the children is smiling. This could nothingness to the belief that Lange posed the two children with their faces behind her mother to hide their light he nontextual matteredness.The final portray and the iconic image of the Migrant Mother is relating to what Grierson refers as creative treatment of actuality and nevertheless a reality for everyone who saw the image at the time.Another very well-known photograph which had a allot of debate whether is true or not, is one made by Duane Michals called This break down is My Proof. Duane admitted1he is gay in many of his interviews, so how can this photograph be true? He realised he is gay beforehand his 20s and the photograph is taken when he was in his 30s thence leading us to think the photograph was staged.Tagg (p.16, 1993) argued that The camera seems to declare This really happened. The camera was there. fall upon for yourself. Ask yourself under what conditions would a photograph of the Loch Ness Monster or an Unidentified Flying Object become acceptable as demonstration of their existence? It seems that f or Tagg the actuality of a photograph can only be turn up by other means and not only by the photo on itself.The general belief is that photography is an object glass medium able to portray an objective reality, but if we think about it one photograph is just one point of view. Just by changing the angle in which you take the photograph you can change its whole meaning. Edward Weston and capital of Minnesota Strand were among the ones that strongly believed the mechanical nature of the camera is the most powerful argument for the truthfulness of photographs.In the book On photography, Sontag argues that (p176, To us, the difference amongst the photographer as an individual eye and the photographer as an objective recorder seems fundamental, the difference often regarded, mistakenly, as separating photography as artistic creation from photography as document. But both are logical ex tensitys of what photography means note-taking on, potentially, everything in the world, from ever y possible angle. This approach suggests that every image taken for esthetical subprograms or for recording purposes has a documentary quality. It means that even though someone took a photograph for aesthetic purposes its still a recording, but from another point of view. She further explains that the two attitudes be the presumption that anything in the world is material to the camera. If we could photograph the same subject from every angle by many different creative eye we could end up with a series of images that show the actuality.Martin Parr had a different approach on documentary photography adding humour and irony to close to If not all of his photographs. He has a unique way of give tongue to a story which is often harsh. His creative style is covered in irony, and this generates a very strong statement about society. His approach seems to be very close to actuality even if his unique style is very distinct.In her book called Documentary Dilemmas, Caroline Anderson (p .1, 1991) talks about Frederick Wiseman and his documentary movie Titicut Follies saying that he (i.e. Wiseman) considered his films as reality fictions. Anderson (p.1, 1991) argues that Wiseman didnt want to be accountable for representing social actuality in an objective manner. He used the ambiguous term of reality fiction as an excuse to be able to sort his work in both documentary genre and as an artistic creation. Anderson (p.2, 1991) exacts that Wiseman used the term of reality fiction as a claim upon film theory and not to point at the inevitable tension between actuality and film. Nevertheless Titicut Follies is still a documentary film.Elizabeth Cowie (p.22, 2011) referring to the recording of actuality in both photography and film, claims that two different predilections exist. There is the need for reality as a fact and the ability to review it, and on the other hand there is the need of rational knowledge, conveyed through logical interpretation. This melodic them e reflects upon John Griersons creative treatment of actuality in a sense that a documentary creation has to represent the actuality but also to help the spectator pump see the reality which the creator wants to deliver.Looking at my own photographs for an physical exercise of Griersons statement I chose a photograph which shows a woman dormancy on the pavement between two pocket books that read A bag For Life. This photograph was taken a few steps from my place and could be a good example of the creative treatment of actuality. My intention was to devise the fact that the woman was homeless but the reality is she can be anyone and anything and she just happened to enjoy the sunshine.A while ago I was communicate myself if documentary photography is the middle ground between art and actuality. I was putting actuality, documentary photography and fine art photography in a hierarchy, fine art photography being on the highest ranks. This is because actuality on its own is not inte resting, it does not have that spark of genius documentary photography and it does not have the creative approach of fine art photography.One of the best examples of how documentary photography shed light on the social injustices around the world is the Magnum Agency. Founded by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier- Bresson, George Rodger and David Chim Seymour the agency had, and still has, the purpose of chronicle the world through the distinctive eyes of each piece thus creating a complete image of the society.Documentary photography and so can be seen as a genre which binds the aspirations of photojournalism with the ones of photographic art, thus becoming a kind of bridge or grey area, if you like. The briny characteristic of documentary photography is the appetite for social subjects that go beyond the simple story in the newspaper, becoming increasingly subjective but at the same time holding a grip to actuality and truth. For me creative thinking represents the fingerprint which the photographer applies to the raw actuality with the purpose of creating his own reality to share with the world.