More than a Face
“To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s (or thing’s) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time’s relentless melt.”
- Susan Sontag, On Photography
Photography is documentation, whether it be for purposes of a business, career or purely for fun. Sontag’s statement of the frozen moment is exact, because you invading into someone’s (or something’s) life, momentarily. The purpose of a photograph is to capture an image that can tell a story for itself; photojournalists are overly experienced in this domain and remain focused on the task at hand. Photojournalists can tell a story through an image and successfully affect the viewer with the intended response. A photograph is a moment of invasion and the goal of a photographer is to make that moment as comfortable as possible for the subject so that image is perfect.
This communication is obviously not verbal but the message embedded in any given image as well as the viewers’ responses affects businesses and photographers everywhere. Success in business is greatly impacted for better or worse by the way in which we communicate. Becoming a good communicator takes practice and consistent attention and effort, and it is a necessary skill. In order to please customers, it is important to convey the ideas that the customer is asking for in the images they are paying for. The best way to satisfy the customer’s wishes is to listen closely to them and make sure they are comfortable with the work produced. Although it is best to focus solely on the subject’s comfort, capturing the perfect image sometimes involve taking a risk of recording an event instead of intervenin...
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...: Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863." CARL Book Beacon: Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. Blogger, 1 July 2010. Web. 05 May 2014.
Meyer, Michael. “One day in the war of images.” Columbia Journalism Review Mar.- Apr. 2014: 39-45. Print.
National Archives. "Atomic Bomb Cloud over Hiroshima." Atomicarchive.com: Exploring the History, Science, and Consequences of the Atomic Bomb. National Science Foundation, 2013. Web. 04 May 2014.
Rosner, Brian ed. (2008). "Luther on Despair". The Consolations of Theology. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 63.
Sontag, Susan. "Susan Sontag." Susan Sontag. Estate of Susan Sontag, 2010. Web. 04 May 2014.
"The Cultural Studies Reader.” Susan Sontag: On Photography: In Plato's Cave – Summary. Blogger, 27 May 2011. Web. 04 May 2014.
"12 Of The Most Iconic Photographs Ever Taken." Swick. Ya'aburnee, 12 June 2009. Web. 04 May 2014.
Photography allows us to maintain memories and relish them whenever we desire. Although some advocates might argue that people are no longer enjoying experiences instead taking more pictures, in the essay, “Why We Take Pictures”, by Susan Sontag, she conflates that photography can be used as a defense against anxiety and a tool of empowerment. I agree with Sontag on the significance of photographs and how it allows us to store a part of our extended relatives so we are able to hold on the memories of family. Therefore, we must appreciate how photography allows us to manage anxiety, express feelings and remember our loved ones.
5 Light, Ken. Tremain, Kerry. Witness in our Time: Working Lives of Documentary Photographers. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000.
A picture is more than just a piece of time captured within a light-sensitive emulsion, it is an experience one has whose story is told through an enchanting image. I photograph the world in the ways I see it. Every curious angle, vibrant color, and abnormal subject makes me think, and want to spark someone else’s thought process. The photographs in this work were not chosen by me, but by the reactions each image received when looked at. If a photo was merely glanced at or given a casual compliment, then I didn’t feel it was strong enough a work, but if one was to stop somebody, and be studied in curiosity, or question, then the picture was right to be chosen.
Sontag, Susan. "Essay | Photography Enhances Our Understanding of the World." BookRags. BookRags. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Sontag titled the article the way she did due to the fact that Plato’s Cave would symbolize the reflection of Plato. Sontag’s article relates to how false it is when comparing it to the world. This was due to the thought of the photographs being interpreted. Plato’s allegory, with the prisoners in the cave that of which are able to cast shadows due to the brightness of the fire. Yet the cast shadows are considered to be false reality images. Sontag thought that photographs were really just false images of reality.
...sm: in a sense, photography enlivens the dead and gives immortality. The latter is a quality which make a photograph work as a fetish, its immobility and silence its ability to preserve a past moment, are the same qualities associated with death as is rendered rather obvious through Susan Sontag “All photographs are memento mori.”
Photojournalism, known as the practice of capturing moments or events to narrate a story. Sometimes it’s a story within a story. It is variously defined as visual telling through pictorial representation. “Photojournalism has as its underpinning a desire to portray accurately a visual scene which people around the world can relate to, respond to, and believe. Believability is the backbone of news imagery” (Harris, 2001). Walter Lippman mentioned in his renowned work, Public Opinion that the things about which people get to know, most of them are not derived from personal experience or direct interaction but through second hand sources most prominently, photojournalism.
The book “On Photography” by Susan Sontag, she expresses several views and ideas about photography to educate us further about her views. In Sontag’s view, “To collect photographs is to collect the world” (Sontag 3). In other words, Sontag believes that the photograph that is taken will always be a photograph within society in his/her own world. I interpret the quote this way because if our life is captured in photographs, that’s our whole world. Even though we are capturing it through the lenses, we are still experiencing it some how, some way.
Schwartz, Donna. “Objective Representation: Photographs as Facts.” Picturing the Past: Media History & Photography. Ed. Bonnie Brennen, Hanno Hardt. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1999. 158-181.
What is a photograph? The simplicity of taking a photograph leads many to ponder its artistic value. Yet, it is undeniable that there are some photos that cause an emotional reaction deeper than simply observing a recorded point in time. Surely, there are photographs that cause more reaction than some modern art pieces. There seems to be two types of photographs. The first classification is the ‘time capture’ photo – an image with the sole purpose of recording a particular event or point in time. The second nature of a photo carries a ‘deeper meaning,’ which has the ability to change the observer’s mood and cause a reaction. But what distinguishes these two varieties? There are a couple factors. The first is the ability of the photographer to make a photograph of ‘deeper meaning’ out of an obscure or random scene. The second is the capacity of the viewer, whether viewing the photo in a museum or in the privacy of his/her own room, to interpret the image as art. A photo can be classified as art when the thoughts and interpretations of both the photographer and the viewer overlap. In this case, any photo is taken beyond the simple ‘time capture’ classification.
"History of photography and photojournalism.." History of photography and photojournalism.. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. .
Have you ever seen a painting or picture that captivates you and directly stirs up emotion within you? More than likely, you have. Usually, viewers merely observe the picture and enjoy the way it looks and how it makes them feel. But, have you ever asked yourself, “why?” What about the picture makes it pleasing to the viewer? With each strategy the photographer uses creates their own touch and passion that floods all over the picture. The emotional connection nearly goes unnoticed for when the picture is well photographed, the viewers experience the sensation in their subconscious. This is one of the most powerful tools that a photographer holds in their hands. If one can become a master of manipulating how the photo affects its viewers, the said photographer can potentially maneuver people’s minds and thoughts with one click of a button. The time spent with my mentor has opened up the door for me to tap into that power though the use of background, focus, shutter speed, angles, and most importantly, lighting. Even with all these techniques, the person behind the camera must remember that creativity must be at the forefront of all operations. Caleno (2014), when writing about the basics of capturing a beautiful moment in a picture commented, “If we want to be creative we must drop these pre-conceptions and start looking at things from a small child’s innocence.”
When going for a walk, a person takes in the beauty around them. On this particular day, the refulgent sun is extra bright, making the sky a perfect blue. White, puffy clouds fill the sky, slowing moving at their own pace. The wind is peacefully calm, making the trees stand tall and proud. There is no humidity in the air. As this person walks down the road, they see a deer with her two fawns. The moment is absolutely beautiful. Moments like this happen only once in a great while, making us wanting to stay in the particular moment forever. Unfortunately, time moves on, but only if there were some way to capture the day’s magnificence. Thanks to Joseph Niépce, we can now capture these moments and others that take our breath away. The invention of the camera and its many makeovers has changed the art of photography.
Photojournalism plays a critical role in the way we capture and understand the reality of a particular moment in time. As a way of documenting history, the ability to create meaning through images contributes to a transparent media through exacting the truth of a moment. By capturing the surreal world and presenting it in a narrative that is relatable to its audience, allows the image to create a fair and accurate representation of reality.
Photography has created an outlet for the masses to story tell. It has a way of speaking without words like most art forms and is a manner of expression in itself. To eradicate photography from humans would be equivalent to taking away a limb from humankind. Our society has grown an immense amount of dependency on it. Photography has become almost a daily menial task such as brushing your teeth; where we must take pictures of the things we deem important or equally unimportant, even more so with the invention of social media outlets such as Instagram and Snapchat, where photography is the main source of communication between people who use them. Susan Sontag offers the basis of what taking pictures can undertake in both our daily lives and moments that are not part of our daily lives, such as travel. Traveling to places where one is not accustomed can flare pent up anxiety. A way to subdue that anxiety could be through taking pictures, since it’s the only factor that we have total control over in a space where we don’t have much, or, any control of our surrounding environment. On the other hand, taking photos can also be a tool of power in the same sense as it allows for it to be a defense against anxiety. With the camera in our hands, we have the power to decide who, what, where, when, and why we take a picture. This in turn also gives the person who took the picture power over those who later analyze the photos, letting them decide the meaning of the photo individually, despite the intended or true meaning.