Annette Kuhn’s essay discusses the practical matters of remembering, using a photograph. At the core of Kuhn’s essay she empowers the photograph as a tool of remembrance. In her eyes, the photograph may lack meaning given the viewer in different contexts. This is a common theme across photography in art galleries, in photojournalism, and in advertising and stock photography. However, the intimacies of family photography delve into personal relationships and the motive behind remembering events. Unfortunately, the commercialism of photography, beginning with the Kodak Brownie enabled an industry to encourage only making happy photographs. These photographs are edited down into a family album, where individuals are blessed with a tool to extend their memory, or not.
Kuhn’s father was a photographer who made many photographs of her, and in her own young family album, she selected more photographs with her father than her mother. While Kuhn admits this may not necessarily be because she had photographs with her mother in it, she still acknowledges later photographs of her mother without her in it. The intimate, emotional intent for making photographs and albums relating our loved ones are the driving factors behind issues of representation.
How do we represent our parents?
How do we want to be represented with our siblings?
Why do we want to be smiling in every picture?
Each photograph emits an energy, composed from the print quality, composition, line quality, color, formal qualities, and ultimately content and subjects of the photographs. The family with means to hire a photographer may choose to represent themselves knowing fully the plasticity of the image. These images are not necessarily representative of entire truths, and far from it - they are staged and created with intent to render memories only fond in our mind. The family album with photographs of sad moments as well as happier moments are less imaginable. I am not convinced a photographer - unless their professionalism bleeds into their personal work and inspires it - would have the opportunity to share negative connotations in a domestic and public album.
Photojournalist Christopher Capozziello photographed his brother with cerebral palsy intimately, passionately, and published the book “The Distance Between Us.” Capozziello in turn, uses photography over many years to help him understand the differences and meaning behind being the “healthy” born brother. This instance of family photography is published, public, and is a story that is shared meaningfully and includes moments of grief as well as pleasure. “The Distance Between Us” collides with traditional values of family portraiture and documentary photography in a gritty, black and white book that reveals more than either separately could have. I’ve included a link to his book.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1189718059/the-distance-between-us
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