Imagine a world without photographs. Describe what this world would look like.
I don't know if I can imagine a world without photography. Pictures fill the walls and books I'm surrounded by. If we didn't have photography, we probably would not have television or other advancements influenced by photography. Popular culture and recent history would not hold the same intensity and reality. I don't think people would understand the world around them quite the way they do with the help of a photograph. Photographs hold memory and information that words can not describe. A form of communication we have gained through photography would be lost. Sharing between cultures, places, and time periods would be more difficult to appreciate and be aware of. It would be a new world people would have to adjust to. We would have to rely on paintings that take more time to develop and are through the perception of the painter. It is possible the transfer of information would slow down and hold different meaning when people do not have a photograph to help them imagine what is being described.
#2
What does the word "photograph" mean to you?
The word photograph initially makes me think of a reality or moment captured. The word memory also comes to mind. I always thought a photograph meant that a true event or emotion could be solidified and shared forever. After viewing photographs and learning about artists, my idea of a photograph has changed a bit. I still hold valid the truth that a photograph can capture, but I now see the photographer in the way photos are captured.
If you told someone to take a picture of a cozy house, what house would they photograph? Would they even photograph what you perceive as a house? The photographer's mark is left in a photograph and I didn't see that before. I used to think that the artist's apparent mark was what distinguished a painting from a photo. I think that seeing reality captured in new ways, as well as an appreciation brought forth to things most pass by, is what a photograph is to me.
The word photograph initially makes me think of a reality or moment captured. The word memory also comes to mind. I always thought a photograph meant that a true event or emotion could be solidified and shared forever. After viewing photographs and learning about artists, my idea of a photograph has changed a bit. I still hold valid the truth that a photograph can capture, but I now see the photographer in the way photos are captured.
If you told someone to take a picture of a cozy house, what house would they photograph? Would they even photograph what you perceive as a house? The photographer's mark is left in a photograph and I didn't see that before. I used to think that the artist's apparent mark was what distinguished a painting from a photo. I think that seeing reality captured in new ways, as well as an appreciation brought forth to things most pass by, is what a photograph is to me.
#3
“Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.”~Duane Michals. Write a brief reaction to this quote. Is this quote applicable to your experience with photography? What does it mean to you? Do you agree with the idea presented or disagree?This quote is stating that we take photographs capture what is happening in the world. Photographs are known to portray a reality because it freezes a moment that happened. "But nothing is what appears to be," is stating that even though the appearance of the photo may seem real, it could be staged. There is an illusion to many photographs. Because it freezes merely a moment, how does the viewer know this moment is real? Even if it is not staged by the photographer, could the subject be staging him or herself as something they are not?
A modern example I am sure many are aware of is facebook. You can look at multiple albums of smiling faces that give the impression a person is living a fun filled life, to find that in reality the person sharing these albums has numerous troubles and isn't the happy person they portray. The images are chosen to be shared with hundreds of people and are usually not a true depiction of reality. Photographs can not always be a reliable source for the truth.
I think this quote can hold true in some circumstances but is not always the case for every photograph. The tricky part is telling the difference between the real happenings in photographs and the posers.
#4
“If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera.” ~Lewis Hine.
Write a brief reaction to this quote. Is this quote applicable to your experience with photography? What does it mean to you? Do you agree with the idea presented or disagree? Describe situations when photographic images reveal “the story” (as compared to words). Describe situations when words reveal “the story” (as compared to images).Hine is stating that some things can not be described well enough through words and verbal description; that images are needed to communicate some stories that can not be as accurately depicted through speech or written document. Words can not describe some feelings or events, you have to see it for yourself. I think this quote holds true to many photographs. It can describe and make you feel an emotion visually that words could not.
Picture documentations of war and suffering are stories better told through images because there is some suffering that I do not understand and have not dealt with first hand. Words do not suffice explaining certain tragedies because it is unimaginable until I see the reality. Photographs uncover certain emotions that words can not.
Words better describe a story when it is a simple message that is being passed. When it is the facts that do not trigger emotions. Words are needed for certain descriptions and definitions.
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