'The document' Lecture

Aims:

• Introduce documentary photography and conflict
• Introduce the work of mass observation mehnum and the fsa photographers.
• Explore questions and objectivity and subjectivity.

Joseph Nicephore Niepce 1826

'View from a window at Lagras'

Photography took over the medium of painting as representing the world.

James Nachtavey

'I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events i have recorded should not be forgotton and must not be repeated'

States photography is the document of the world at a moment which isn't to be questioned; evidence. To document, investigate social change, a record of history, to relay information to others.

To risk to take a photo to show the world what is happening - to negotiate for peace.

Photographers go to war to show others - to grab attention, to give understanding to others so you want to help. It's not just a record of events, taking a subjective stance, political position. An attempt to pursuade, exposing this for the benefit of humanity.

'Palestine 2000'

Seeks to align and create bonds between subject, audience and photographer.

'Sudan 1993'

Not neutral, sense of empathy.

Francis Frith (1857) 'entrance to the great temple'

Neutral

William Edward Kilburn

'The great chartist meaning at the common' 1848

Subjective

Photographer removed, not involved, not authentic.

As this image will be in history, its our only idea of this event is subjective. Idea's are skewed.

Henri Cartier Bresson

France. Paris. 'Place de l'europe'. - An example of the decisive moment. 

'Gare saint lazare' 1932 - Makes visual links - style. Studies his scenes - composed.

Does documentary photography - cares for its aesthetics

Jacob Riis 1888 'Bandits roost'
recording poverty - record to show how the other half live
Composition - Not the invisable eye.
Posed subject
Presenting sense of self. not real, not a depiction of life.

1887 'grouler gang in session (robbing a lush)
Staged. Acting. Artificial representation.

Lewis Hine, 'Russian Steel Workers, Hamestead, pa, 1908'
Presented as 'normal people/

Definition of OTHERING:The Other or Constitutive Other (also the verb othering) is a key concept in continental philosophy; it opposes the Same. The Other refers, or attempts to refer, to that which is Other than the initial concept being considered. The Constitutive Other often denotes a person Other than one’s self; hence, the Other is identified as “different”; thus the spelling often is capitalised. - Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Othering 


F.S.A Photographers - 1935 - 1944 - Photographers ordered how to take and what pictures to take.

• Dirctor Roy Stryher
• Depression - 11 million unemployed
• Mass migration of farm labourers 'oakies'
• The photograph of both photojournalism and emotive lobbying tool.

Roy Stryheer to marion post

Jan 13th 1939 - instructed what to take

e.g Margeret Bourke-white

'Sharecroppers home' 1937

emotive poverty

Russel lese 

'interior of a black farmers lounge'

1939

Dorothea lange 1936

Migrant mother. - The image of the great depression

Image choice to represent world

-some scrapped, some used

-photos chosen are meant to represent time - its not accurate - biast - our history skewed and controlled

'Paphael Madonna and child'

Walker Evans

'Grave yard, house and steel mill, bethlehem, Pennysylvania,' 1935

-representing of lifestyle, work, live, die.

Still aesthetisized.

John Lamprey 1868

'Front profile of views of a malayan Male'

New project - ethnigraphic. To compare and contrast with us.

Used to justify, scientifically - black inferior to white.

Cesare lambroso

Portraits of italian and german criminal 1889

aim - justifying scientific representations

used to stereotype

e.g receeding chin = criminal quality

Mass Observation 1937 - 1960

Social science project

Half political, half social.

Working class sending in photo diarys aswell as proffesional photograph

-Tom Harrison anthropologist

-Charles madge-post

-Humphrey spender - photographer

Still the idea - camera invisible eye

Neutral democratic view of working class. Shared vision. More accurate record of world.

WAR/CONFLICT PHOTOGRAPHY

Robert capa 'Normany, France' 1945

Striking image of human experience.

Photographer dealing with same horror, images only here- dependant on technology

Magnum group - founded 1947

cartier - bresson and capa

-ethos of documenting world and social problems

-Internationalism and mobility

LOOK AT A MAGNUM PHOTOGRAPHER

Aethetic techniques in particular

Robert Haeberle 1969, people about to be shot. Massacre, vietnam.

Interveened to take picture - the last image of them alive.

Key features of documentary photography

• They offer a humanitarian perspective
• They tend to portray social and political situations
• They purpose to be objective to the facts of the situation
• People tend to form the subject matter.