'The Photograph As Document" Lecture Notes
Helen Clarke
Used as a kind of evidence- viewed as a type of truth
"The Great Chartist Meeting At The `common" (1848) by William Edward Kilburn
- Protesting against living conditions and environment of the work place
- Historical event of people power
- Window to the past- Objective record
- Photographer is an invisible recorder- presence is not acknowledged
"How The Other Half Live" (1890) by Jacob Riis
- Slums in New York photographed by a wealthy middle-class male
- One social group is being told by the photographer what to think about the other social group
- Could be seen as menacing by ignorant social classes
- Reacting to the presence of the photographer-Interested in what he is doing
- Give the impression that lower classes have a tendency to crime despite constructed images
"Russian Steel Workers" (1908) by Lewis Hine
- Dignity in Portrait image
- Respect for people regardless of Immigrant status
- Relationship between the audience and subject
- Images have a sense of self- non-exploitative, just reporting
F.S.A (Farm Security Administration)
- Text would be used with images to explain the truth with the beginning of magazines (Life Magazine)
"Sharecroppers Home" (1937) by Margeret Bouke- White
- Practical use of paper for warmth
- use of stack and dramatic contrast between lifestyle shown in the magazines and the poor reality
- Directive
- Represents the American Dream
"Interior of a Black Farmers House" (1939) by Russel Lee
- Less Composition
- No Human Presence
- No manipulation of the audience
"Migrant Mother" (1936) by Dorothea Lange
- Manipulation of the subject and audience
- Subject is an object- Composition is Religious (Dramatic and Artistic Intent)
- Image gathering becomes more important that the human aspect of the poverty
"Floyd Burroughs, Hale County, Alabama" (1936) by Walker Evans
- Art status- not cropped, framed as taken- Modernist aesthetic with no manipulation
- Objectification of the poor
- Artwork makes poverty looks beautiful- aesthetically pleasing manner
"Northumberland Miner at his Evening Meal" (1937) by Bill Brandt
- Working Class Life- significance of every object in the image
- Ordinary lives become a museum culture
Re-Definition of 1950's
"Parade- Hoboken, New Jersey" (1958) by Robert Frank
- Re-defines documentary photography- revolutionary
- Uses the title to contradict the image
- Photographing observers- reflection of himself
- Flag is a main theme in his photography- What it means to be American
"St. Patrick's Day, Fifth Avenue" (1954-1955) by William Klein
- In the action amongst the subjects
- Uses of Blur and Grain- dark connotations
Magnum Group
- Founded in 1947 by Cartier-Bresson and Capa
- Mission was to document the world and its social problems
- Internationalism and mobility
- Sees the world a s a stage, ready to capture the moment
- Modernist- truth to materials
"reflecting the universality of the human condition is a never-to-be retrieved fraction of a second"
- Cartier-Bresson on coining the phrase 'The Decisive Moment'
Documentary and War
"The Falling Soldier" (1936) by Robert Capa
- The moment of a soldiers death
- This photograph has been disputed however
"Normandy, France" (1945) by Robert Capa
- Blurring implies that he is also in the water, involved in the action- stating his presence
"Bergen- Bergen Concentration Camp" (1945) by George Rodger
- Retains a respectful distance from the bodies
- Shows the horror of the event but keeps the diginity of the people
"Buchewald" (1945) by Lee Miller
- Sense of respect to the survivors
"Accidental Napalm Attack" (1972) by Hung Cong Ut
- Moral dilemma- do you make the picture or not?
- Anti- War
- Iconic class transforms the relation to the photographer and subject
"People About To Be Shot" (1969) by Robert Haeberle
- Situation overrides the human elements
- Shouts 'hold it' before they are shot so he shoots first
- Desire to gather picture over-rides any human response
"Shell Shocked Soldier" (1968) by Don McCullin
- The effect of War
- Soldiers trauma and the photographers trauma
Constructing Documentary
"Contra Curtis Cover-Ups" (1989) by William Neidich
- Depicts elements/situations that would have never been able to photograph
- Re-write American history that has been glossed over
"Left Wing Riot Protesting The Building of the New Naruto Airport" (1971) by Bruno Barbey
- Formalist manner- no individuals (looks at the crowd in an aesthetic manner)
"The Battle of Orgreave" (2001) by Jeremy Deller
- Re-consturcting history
- people who took part in the original re-inacted it
- Recognises the multitude of viewpoints
- Re-writing history for therapeutic reasons
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