Photography as something neutral
Joseph nicephore niepce (1826) first surviving photograph.
James Natchtway – records events as a witness.
Frances Frith (1857) entrance to the great temple.
Photographers like an invisible eye. Image used to capture an idea of the orient. Life in Africa as the western eye wants to see it.
William Edward Kilburn, (the great charlist meeting at the common) photographer distanced from the image, recording an important event.
Roger fenton (1855) into the valley of the shadow of death. Romantisised, artistic subjective element, view the image as something other than an objective record. Battle field.
The decisive moment. Photography achieves its highest distinction.
Henri cartier bresson. Influenced by the photographers eye, not neutral.
Jacob riis (1888) bandits roost. Construction, not an authentic representation, photographs slums. Horrors of lower class slum life.
A growler gang in session (robbing a lush) 1887. Staged, (lush is a drunk) gave them cigarettes to pose for him.
Lewis hine – document American sum life. Left wing social reformer.
F.S.A photographers 1935-44. Director ray stryker.
Depression – 11 million unemployed. Mass migration of farm labourers – oakies.
The photograph as both photojournalism and emotive lobbying tool.
Images designed to stir our emotions – political propaganda.
Margaret burke – white – sharecroppers home 1937. A record of adject poverty. Images on wall are adverts of the haves, use of a child etc there to promote an illicit response.
Russel lee – interior of a black farmers house.
Dorothea lange (1936) migrant mother, looking into ¾ distance. Thoughtful, thinking ahead, worried about the future. Pictorial analogy, composed.
FSA – individual photographers working for the government archives of all photos taken. Photography used to document different races and disabilities.
Cesare lambroso – photographed criminals to define criminal facial characteristics.
Robert capa – Normandy france 1945 – war conflict photography, dramatic blurring – capa shake, famous for a style.
Magnum group – international coalition of photographers. Founded 1947 by cartier bresson and cappa. Ethos documenting world and its social problems.
Internationalism and mobility, nick ut (1972) accidental napalm attack.
Don mccullin (1968) shell shocked solider banned from going to falklands war by british government.
Robert haeberle (1969) – split second after photo was taken the people were shot.
William klein – st Patricks day fifth avenue 1954-55. Documentary photographer – walk down street, push people, elbow them and take photo, gave props and bribes. Explicitness key to a more objective truth.
Bernard and hilla becher. Photographed water towers etc, series of ground rules, conceptual art.
Richard long 1981, a long line and tracks in Bolivia, transistent, uncommodifiable. Could only experience the art if you were there.
Documentary photography reason why conceptual art failed.
Allan sekula – fish story (book) lukaca ‘theory of the novel’ andreas gursky (1999) ‘99 cent’.
Gillian wearing – signs that say what you want them to say 1992-3.
Jeremy deller- the battle of orgreave 2001 – restaged miners strike. Miners strike – English civil war in the modern time.
Critical realism, restaging reality, testements from people who were there.
They offer a humanitarian perspective. They tend to portray social and political situations. They purport to be objective to the facts of the situation, people tend to form the subject matter. The images tend to be straight forward and unmanipulated.
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