A sentence that struck me as interesting and got me thinking while reading pages 117-165 of Wells’ Photography A Critical Introduction was a quote that said personal photography typically recorded “happy memories, but not the messy reality”. It is ironic that this medium that was believed to portray nothing but absolute truth is often very deceptive in the way it depicts its subjects. Through posed photography we are able to create illusions of setting, time, and emotion that may very well be false. For instance, wedding pictures are often taken several days before the ceremony, people in poverty dress up and hide their social status, people experiencing abuse and violence perk up and smile for the camera and the list goes on. The consciousness of the presence of a camera seems to drive people to put on a front and hide their true self, as to preserve a happiness that may not have existed.
However, Wells also briefly discusses how having portable cameras on cellphones has opened up another realm of personal photography which is not staged and exposes more private moments that one would not want the public to see, such as drunken photos. It astounds me how the general public’s attitude toward photography has changed over time, evolving from formal serious images taken while sitting and dressed up, to snapping a picture of ones friend while they throw up at a party. Do these images still have the same value when much thought and effort is put into one and the other is so spontaneous? Which one holds more truth? These questions lead me to another question of what the role of photography is in our lives today as it becomes more and more accessible. This generation’s deceptive photos come more commonly in the form of selfies put on social media. Either way, whether posing for a professional or taking a picture of ones face on ones cell phone, we tend to lie with our pictures if we are our own audience.
2 comments:
Nicolette --I think your analysis of the public's attitude towards photography today is a really smart one. In a way, everyone thinks they are a photographer if they have snapped some iPhone pictures at a baby shower or school function. Technically they are, I guess. Literally everyone has a camera with them at all times. Right in their pocket. Photography is the only art form that offers that widespread, public immediacy. You don't see the average American walking around with oil paints and a palette in their back pocket.
But it's funny how when photography was invented, photographers had to fight the notion that the medium was simply an industrial recording device and not art. The medium started to gain some legitimate ground and started being shown in galleries. But now, photographers are fighting the notion that photography is simply a pastime rather than art. Many people believe that anyone can take photographs (which I suppose is true,) but does that make the drunken pictures taken at a bar art? They might be, but does that offend the serious photographer who made photography their life career? Photography started out as an unappreciated art form at it's birth, and I believe it is now slipping back into that category.
Your idea about the subject's knowledge of the fact that they're being photographed leading to a corruption of truth is interesting in relation to the work by Robert Frank that we were looking at in class the other day. Knowing that Frank often kept his camera hidden gives his photos an authenticity that would not have been present if he had approached his subjects, told them about this project, and asked to photograph them.
If one knew that they were going to be photographed for a photo-book called "The Americans" they would be forced to confront their their own sense of what it means to be American. The resulting picture would likely portray something more along the lines of someone "acting" American.
By keeping his camera hidden, Robert Frank created "true" photographs (by not manipulating lighting or composition) of "true" subjects (by not posing them or asking them to pose). It is important to recognize and interesting to understand that these same principles also apply at the level of personal photography.
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