ipl-logo

John Berger's Interest In Photography

1379 Words6 Pages

In today’s world, photography exists virtually in almost every area of human activity. Every year, millions of photographic images are being made, not only by amateur photographers, but also photographers in industry, commerce, science, entertainment, medicine, publishing and in many other fields, for various of functions.

With the ability to capture and reproduce an image of a particular object or moment in time, the camera evolved from a tool of experimentation in image making to playing an important role in documenting pieces of history as it captures not only objects, but also people and events. These images were pivotal especially in the area of photojournalism as it freezes a moment in time, provided a record and evidence of the event …show more content…

The authenticity or the “truth” represented from a photograph does not always stand by on its own without being altered by different perspectives. How the photograph is being used or perceived by the photographer, the viewer and even by the photographed may have varied interpretation or understanding to the image. The status and use of a photograph changes according to the viewer’s relation with the subject or circumstances. For instance, a portrait of a family member might be of interest to social historians, not because of personal familiarity, but as evidence of clothing and furniture from the period and place. Photographs often do not activate individual memory directly, but operate through soliciting identification with needs, desires and …show more content…

With the easy access to digital cameras, everyone or anybody can claim to be a photographer and this has made photography perhaps one of the most popular choice of medium of art today. Yet within the contemporary art scene, artists have increasingly attempt to push and extend the possibilities of the photographic medium beyond the ordinary snapshot. Through stretching the other dimensions of photography, the “truth” and “reality” is deconstructed and reconstructed in the images to be represented and reinterpreted.

Charlotte Cotton describes in her book “The Photography as Contemporary Art” (2004), eight categories or themes, which contemporary art photographs can fall under. These categories do not determine the definition of contemporary art photography but it foregrounds the ideas that is considered for the visual

Show More
Related
69 Words | 1 Pages

Parliament had to pay for the war, even though the British won. They protected the colonists with a permanent army in North America from Indian attacks. In order to help pay for the taxes of war, they passed the Sugar Act in 1764. This act placed taxes on molasses and sugar imported by the colonists. British troops stepped up the search for smuggled good and smugglers were treated

Read More
1202 Words | 5 Pages

For instance, she cites iconic dates, in which photographs drew public attention, such as incidents in “1840’s, “1871”, and “1930’s”. By choosing to include the dates of events and notable time periods, she exemplifies her knowledge of the history of photography and establishes how her claims are based on factual research and analysis of previous events. Rather than speaking abstractly about the social implications of photography, she references specific events, which strengthens her argument, since factual evidence is more difficult to refute due to its objective

Read More
304 Words | 2 Pages

Polizer Prize-winning journalist, Donald M. Murray, in his essay for The Boston Globe, “The Stranger in the Photo Is Me”, argues that innocence changes overtime through photos. He supports this claim by first alluding to an artist’s painting. Then he speaks on himself in third-person, and finally reflect on the loss of innocence. Murray’s purpose is to describe his experiences in order to inform people. He adopts a nostalgic tone for people over the age of sixty.

Read More
1699 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout history, photographs have been known to depict and represent culture, character, information, and ideology. Through specific elements of form, and close scrutiny, photographs give a representation of the “bigger picture” by providing content and invaluable information that text, on its own, does not produce. Dr. Carol Payne, a professor of art history at Carleton University, wrote an essay in 2012 for the Oxford University Press. This essay focused on the relationships between photographic images, Canadian culture and identity, and indigenous people. Her thesis was to discuss how an image can present a sense of national identity (Carol Payne 310).

Read More
1346 Words | 6 Pages

A photograph is more than just a simple image; it tells a story. A story beyond a particular moment in time, it holds secrets and memories. The eagerness to comprise a moment in the perfect shot seems to become an obsession for many. In Kim Edwards ' novel The Memory Keeper 's Daughter, Edwards uses photography as a motif which coincides with the novel 's idea of secrets. David Henry, the antagonist of the novel, becomes fascinated with photography after choosing to give away his daughter and compresses his guilt with photography.

Read More
913 Words | 4 Pages

The story Barn Burning, written by William Faulkner, is set in Mississippi. The author creates a Southern vibe in order to help the audience better understand the conditions of the time this story took place. In the story, Sarty's father feels he and his family are mistreated by the rich. And in an act of revenge, he burns a wealthy landowner's barn. Sarty then becomes conflicted.

Read More
754 Words | 4 Pages

As a photographer myself, the theory of punctum is not unknown to me; however, the application of the concept of punctum towards the perfomativity of a photograph is unchartered territory. The photograph I chose to analyze is Dorothea Lange’s renowned portrait Migrant Mother, which is a Great Depression-era photograph featuring a migrant farmer, and is among the most famous photographs from this turbulent chapter of American history. The raw emotion in the mother’s face, paired with her body language and grimy appearance, captivates viewers; however, it is not the mother that makes this image so powerful to me, but rather, the turned away children framing their mother. This detail adds a new dimension to the portrait for me.

Read More
694 Words | 3 Pages

Professor, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Donald M. Murray, in his article, “The Stranger in the Photo Is Me”, suggests that innocence cannot be regained once it is lost, and he supports this claim by first reflecting on who he was before the photograph. Then, he detaches himself from the photograph because of his personal development throughout the war he fought in, and finally concluding that one cannot regain innocence after something as traumatic as war. Murray’s purpose is to argue in order to prove that war changes a person, adopting a nostalgic tone for the elder, over sixty, generation that is his audience. Murray admits that he used to never care to look at photographs, an example of his past self, but now, he gives them “a second glance” even “a third” (8).

Read More
610 Words | 3 Pages

For the duration of his essay “The Stranger in the Photo is Me”, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and professor Donald M. Murray depicts his train of thought while flipping through an old family photo album. While describing his experience, Murray carries the reader through the story of his childhood, describing snapshots of some of his favorite memories growing up. Throughout the piece, he shifts back and forth between a family oriented, humorous tone and a nostalgic, regretful one and by doing so, he parallels the true experience of looking through a family photo album. Murray expresses a more serious tone while reflecting on a certain photograph of him in uniform from the beginning of World War II and goes on to explain how in his opinion,

Read More
1078 Words | 5 Pages

From being a tool that only used during special occasions and used by professional photographer to a device that almost every family will have at least one of it. The purpose of recording moments during special events has also expand to capture our daily moments. Other than being a tool that captures memory, people nowaday also use it to defense anxiety, bring comfort, and share happiness. People can get rid of anxiety of being separated apart and bring comfort at foreign environment by simply taking pictures. Most importantly it shares the happiness with everyone that photographer wants to share.

Read More
774 Words | 4 Pages

A photograph can mean so much to different people, but it’s ultimate purpose is to capture an important moment in someone’s life and be able to hold onto a physical copy of a memory. Photographs enact a certain nostalgia for the past, the good times or perhaps an important person or location; it’s a memory you want to last indefinitely. It’s a subject many people don’t touch on when they examine a film like Blade Runner (1982), but director Ridley Scott’s film does place an emphasis on the importance of photographs and what they can mean to people. The film depicts photos as a gateway to nostalgia, the immortalization of important figures and how photographs can deceive their owners. When you hold onto a photography they are generally a preserved version of a past memory that is important or a time of happiness.

Read More
1808 Words | 8 Pages

These photographers and filmmakers are significant for the blending of science and art that criticized culture and ideology. As we shall see later in this book, photos (and media) with a purpose live on and documentarians continue to emulate many of these stylistic techniques practicing the science of ecology of the

Read More
1099 Words | 5 Pages

Therefore the role of photography plays an essential part of the world in order to spot the war situation in

Read More
1223 Words | 5 Pages

"The photographic image is the object itself, the object freed from the conditions of time and space that govern it. No matter how fuzzy, distorted, or discolored, no matter how lacking, in documentary value the image may be, it shares, by virtue of the very process of its be- coming, the being of the model of which it is the reproduction; it is the model." "Photography does not create eternity, as art does, it embalms time, rescuing it simply from its proper corruption. The aesthetic qualities of photography are to be sought in its power to lay bare the realities."

Read More
7336 Words | 30 Pages

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 Introduction: This chapter would analysis photography under conceptual review as the main concept of this study, it would look at the history of photography, types of photography, and types of cameras available till date, followed by empirical review and lastly the theoretical framework would come at the end of this chapter. 2.2.1 History of photography The concept of photography was coined out of a Greek words “photo” meaning light and “graphy” meaning writing and when merged together the word means writing with light. Although different scholars proffered different definitions of photography, the concept, however still remains the same.

Read More

More about John Berger's Interest In Photography

Related Topics

Open Document