Part One - Photograph as document: Project Five - The manipulated image: Exercise 2 - Digital technology and truth

The exercise requires us to consider whether digital technology changes how we see photography as truth and to  consider both sides of the argument making notes in our learning log.

To answer this question, you need to consider the purpose of the digital technology being used.  For my purposes, it enables me to straighten, repair exposure misjudgments, add contrast, boost colour, sharpen and crop.  I don't consider that it makes the photograph any less truthful, as all my photography is unstaged and without interference.  The closest I'll get to rearranging a scene is to kick away some rubbish or remove a leaf that might be blocking a view to a bug.  The truth from my perspective is defined by the framing, not by the technology.

But, there are other photographers, e.g. Darius Kilmczak, whose work is entirely fictional moreover surreal.  Sure, each component part of a photograph is captured truthfully, but the assembly and construction makes the result a fabrication.

Wells (2009) argues that the move towards dislocated moments in documentary photography provides more artistic reference, which may well be accurate, however, I don't see this as a step away from the truth; it is simply the truth at that moment in time from that photographer's perspective.  Of course, photography will always be subjective, as elements are excluded from the frame, but that is true of anyone reporting a scene or an account of an event, even in written or oral forms, there will be elements that are excluded.  In my view, this does not make them untruthful; more that they are snapshots of the truth.

Wells (2009) goes on to describe how digital technology enables fabricated images to be constructed.  The medium of this work is still photography, but the move is away from documentary/reportage towards pure art.  In my view this is still acceptable, but it's not about truth, it's more creative than that; just don't call it documentary/photojournalism or reportage!

References:

• Wells, L. (2009) Photography A Critical Introduction (4th Edition), Abingdon: Routledge pp 73-75 available online from http://www.oca-student.com/sites/default/files/oca-content/key-resources/res-files/ph4can_the_real_and_the_digital.pdf [accessed 28 September 2014]

Part One - Photograph as document: Photograph as document: Project Five - The manipulated image: Exercise 1 - composite image

Just to be clear about things, image manipulation beyond a few tweaks to colours/exposure, is beyond the bottom of the list of what I want to do.  I appreciate images by other people, e.g. Darius Klimczak has an amazing surrealist mind, and I enjoy looking at his images, but this is not an avenue I want to pursue.  In fact, it couldn't be further from what I'm interested in.  So, I'm afraid to say that my approach to this exercise was just to get through it in the hope that I won't have to repeat it in the future.

I chose two images to compile:

I then selected the rabbit's head using the lasso tool, cut and paste it into the background image (into a box, moved the box into position on the draining board, and then shrunk it so that the writing was still visible:

 Websites:

• Darius Kilmczak available from http://www.kwadrart.com/ [accessed 28 September 2014]

Part One - Photograph as document: Project Four - The gallery wall - documentary as art: Exercise - Documentary

The exercise requires us to review images from Sarah Pickering's series Public Order available from her website.  We are asked to consider:

• How do these images make us feel?
• Whether Public Order is an effective use of documentary or is it misleading?

First of all, if I hadn't read in the course materials that the images were taken in police training grounds, I would not have been able to tell that from looking at the images online.  But, the conclusion that I would have come to is that photographs might have been from a TV set.  It's clear from the images that the buildings are facades only, and that there is an absence of real life.  And although there is the presence of debris, it appears ordered and designed.  Other than curious about the construction of the sets and relief that the police have somewhere to train, these images don't really make me feel anything.  I certainly don't feel uncomfortable or disturbed.

So to answer the second question, I need to suspend disbelief as I know too much already about this series.  If the purpose of the documentary is to present police training grounds, then yes it is effective.  If the purpose is anything else, i.e. to show the impact of social chaos, or why we need a police force in the first place, then the answer is no, it is not effective.  Although compositionally pleasing, the images in Public Order have the impression of being clearly contrived. There are plenty of real life situations that you can photograph that would do this trick better, for example, a picture I took of a weapons deposit bin in Feltham for Assignment One:

I find this far more chilling and a subject that raises a lot more questions than an articially created environment that has a distinct purpose.  For instance, if I didn't know the area, the first thing I would ask is why there is a weapons bin so close to residential housing (the building directly behind).

Websites:

• Pickering, S. (n.d.) Public Order available from http://www.sarahpickering.co.uk/Works/Pulic-Order/workpg-01.html [accessed 28 September 2014]

Part One - Photograph as document: Project Two - Photojournalism: Research point - Images of war

One of the research points suggested is to consider whether we believe that images of war are necessary to provoke change and if we agree with Sontag's earlier view that horrific images of war numb viewers' responses.

In my view, images of war don't numb my response.  Over time they become easier to look at, because you become more used to seeing gory details, but they still shock.  And in fact, because you are able to look more easily, the impact is more shocking as you are able to look for longer and take in more detail.  I certainly don't feel compassion fatigue.  In fact, what I am currently feeling is that I wish I was 20 years younger and not tied in to the mortgage system, so that I could be a war journalist and make a contribution towards raising awareness and getting knowledge to the right people.

I personally believe that we don't do enough to prevent war; we happily elect governments that seem willing to send troops into wars that are nothing to do with us, and the problem with sending graphic imagery to news agencies is potentially that it reaches the wrong people.  The politicians making the decisions to sacrifice people's lives should be the ones that are forced to witness these events.

If journalists stop showing the public images of the appalling cruelty and degradation of human life, how else will people know what's going on?  And how else will people be incited to take action?  In my view, the question of action or inaction depends on many factors particular to each individual, for instance, available time, resources, family commitments, access to communications and transport, political motivations and innate compassion.  I don't think you can blame the lack of inaction on the bombardment of images as Ritchin (2014) argues; there are people who do take action and I wonder if they would have done this had the images not existed?  Moreover, is it about the number of images available, or is it that people simply do not look?  And I also don't think you can make a connection with the existence, start and end of wars on photography; wars exist as a result of political, religious, social or ethnic situations.

Last night, I watched the film A Thousand Times Goodnight directed by Eric Poppe about this very topic.  In the film the photographer was accused of sensationalising shocking images, to which she responded that she photographed what she saw, as she saw it.  And of course it is the photographer's skill that makes the images have impact.

To refer to a later point in the course materials, I think that both photographs taken in action and "late" photographs can be effective.   In some cases, late photography can be chilling, but in this case, the photographer most likely has more time to compose a beautiful or striking image than a photographer who is at the scene of a war situation.  Campany (2003) argues that "aftermath" photography has become fashionable (in many photography genres); I think the difficult with late photography is that you are adding an element of interpretation beyond the photographers; the removal of the action and inclusion of the trace only may leave the viewer wondering what has happened.  It is quite possible for such an image to be misinterpreted and therefore to lose its impact (unless there is sufficient text present to guide the reader).  I think there is definitely a place in late photography, but on the subject of war, its purpose should be to illustrate the impact or effect of war, i.e. the longer lasting state, than the immediate cruelty and torture of war.

Websites:

• Campany, D. 2003 Safety in Numbness available from http://davidcampany.com/safety-in-numbness/ [accessed 28 September 2014]
• Ritchin, F. in Time Lightbox (2014)When Photographs of Atrocities Don't Shock available from http://lightbox.time.com/2014/01/28/when-photographs-of-atrocities-dont-shock/#1 [accessed 28 September 2014]
• Wikipedia (2014) A Thousand Times Goodnight available from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Thousand_Times_Good_Night [accessed 28 September 2014]
• Wikipedia (2014) Eric Poppe available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Poppe [accessed 28 September 2014]

Bibliography:

• Poppe, E. (2014) (film) A Thousand Times Goodnight, Arrow Films 
• Sontag, S. (1979) On Photography, London: Penguin Books Ltd
• Sontag, S. (2003) Regarding the Pain of Others, London: Penguin Books Ltd

On Composition and Improvisation by Larry Fink

I wanted to read this book as it promised to teach about layering within a frame, a technique that I am trying to implement in my street photography (and as Dave Mason achieves so well!).  What I actually found though (unless I haven't read the book properly) is that this is Larry Fink's account of his own photography, not a guide to composition, and I don't particularly like his photographs either.  And to be honest, I think that Mason's images are more layered than Fink's!  Disappointing.

Sure enough, there are little tips here and there, e.g move an inch to the left or right and your perspective will change, but what I actually need is something that's going to make me stop and slow down and actually put theory of composition into practice. 

Note to self - only read photography guides by photographers whose work you know and respect!

Bibliography

• Fink, L. (2014) on Composition and Improvisation, New York, Aperture Foundation

Context and Narrative by Maria Short

Another incredibly useful text for this module!

Context and Narrative by Maria Short takes you through the various critical aspects of preparing a narrative from:

• The photograph's role in the narrative: its function and context
• Choice of subject, concept and external factors to consider
• Audience: content, intent and response
• The narrative itself - what it is - series/set of photographs / single image
• Use of signs and symbols: theory, enigmas, truths
• Use of text

Although I didn't directly refer to this in my preparation of Assignment One, I did draw on the section on signs and symbols, as a number of my photographs were metaphorical ideas, rather than directly visual representations.

Bibliography

• Short, M. (2011) Context and Narrative, Lausanne: AVA Publishing SA

Alejandro Cegarra - BJP September 2014

I first became of Alejandro Cegarra's work about half a year ago when I saw his Tower of David series at the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition earlier this year (see post in DPP blog).  So I was pleased to read in the September 2014 edition of BJP on page 7 that the same series has won him the Ian Parry Scholarship.  I found it interesting that Cegarra attributes his success to (Cegarra quoted Smyth, 2014, p7):

"I really believe that [being local] makes a difference; it gives you a deep understanding of what is really happening. [...]  'Move as a local but see as a foreigner; be a foreigner in your own country and be curious.'  That's what I'm trying to do".

I have heard similar perspectives previously.  To produce a successful project, you need to know and understand your subject but retain at the same time retain sufficient distance to produce commentary.

I find Cegarra's work very striking: clean lines, use of dark and light, and compelling subject matter.


References

• Smyth, D. (2014) Alejandro Cegarra wins Ian Parry. British Journal of Photography 161 (7828), p. 7

Websites

• Alejandro Cegarra available from http://www.alecegarra.com/ [accessed 28 September 2014]
• Ian Parry Scholarship available from http://www.ianparry.org/ [accessed 28 September 2014]

Own work referenced

• Adcock, A. (2014) Sony World Photography Awards 2014. Digital Photographic Practice Blog [available online] http://jointheaadpp.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/sony-world-photography-awards-2014.html [accessed 28 September 2014]