OUGD401: Chronologies- Photograph as document

Photography can be considered a form of documentation and also a way of recording events (evidence). 

Many consider documentary photography to be a scientific tool to bring evidence of how people live. Its origins are from the 19th century and still continue today but its main era was up to the 1960's (Moderism). Documentary photography is often debated to be between fact and fiction due to the idea that photographers are given somewhat a brief and a set of ideas to capture when they visit a certain area or location. 

Documentary Photography can also be seen as neutral and passive (simply documenting a scene from a distance) or a way in which a photographer can put across his views or the companies views. 

Documentary photographers tend to be middle class white males from wealthy backgrounds because they had the money to afford such equipment. The photograph shown below simply shows "how the other half live" and it could be suggested that the photographer is an outsider in this image captured but also the idea that these people have not seen such expensive equipment are in slight shock. The image was also used to show the middle class how poor people lived- photographers however also form scenes and have them acted out by those they come across to portray a certain message.

Lewis Hine's work was also shown within the lecture and his work is incredibly different to that of the image above. This piece doesn't make the viewer pity the small boy who is working, it allows the viewer to appreciate his work ethic but simultaneously also allow the viewer to create an opinion that there needs to be a change in circumstances. Documentary photography is known for bringing attention to bad situations and being part of social change. This photograph is a great example as it shows the boy as human and keeps his dignity. 

FSA- Farm Security Administration.

"The photographs in the Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information 

Photograph Collection form an extensive pictorial record of American life between 1935 

and 1944"

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/fsa/

Life magazine was most popular for photographing news and producing an informative magazine from what was happening around the world, whether it was war or a natural disaster they employed photographers to bring images on all different events. 

In Life magazine black and white images told the story in companion with the text and the two confirmed each others truth. This image is interesting in that sharecroppers used newspaper for more practical reasons to insulate the makeshift houses. However the photographer uses them to create a visual and political contrast.

Visual : education literacy with assumed lack of education of the small boy.

Political: the papers represent the American dream as seen in advertising of the time these contrasts ask us to question this system through the little boy in the centre of the image.

These are some of the most famous photographs within documentary photography and life magazine in particular, with the first being open to public and being the one which has most been viewed. These images were photographed by Dorothea Lange "Migrant Mother" in 1936. 

"I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made 5 exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her her name or her history…" 

This quote shows the idea that within this type of documentary photography their job seems to be most important and they must take the photograph, this could also display a lack of humanity and emotion towards the mother because the photographer thinks it is more important to take the photograph and observe rather than to help. This further enhances the idea that documentary photography is a form of voyeurism and enjoyment for the viewer as they are seeing scenes and people they wouldn't normally.  

Clarke as mentioned at the beginning of the lecture, suggests a set of visual strategies are employed to provoke and emotional response, the kind which might result in charitable giving. The image above shows a typical photograph which would be taken within photography, however there is an aura of being disconnected with the subject. This therefore could be seen as the subject wanting help and looking at the viewer/ photographer for this. 

Documentary photography is not only about the photographic evidence of people, it can also be about places or objects:

"documentary approach is of a particularly American kind, obsessed not with people but with things".

This photograph is part of a set taken but Bill Brandt who documents English/British culture of ordinary lives and allows them to become part of museum culture- artwork. The photograph and others indicate a vast difference within the english class system and seems quite intimate as the photographer seems to be almost sat at the table with the couple. Picture below shoes the book that some of these photographs are displayed; "The English At Home".

Magnum Group

"Magnum is a community of thought, a shared human quality, a curiosity about what is going on in the world, a respect for what is going on and a desire to transcribe it visually."

Magnum photographers were no longer restricted by large photographic equipment and had the ability to use smaller cameras that didn't have an intrusive flash. 

These photographers operated with "the velvet hand...the hawk's eye.” (similar models to: Leica Rangefinder camera. C. 1950)

Classic example of a decisive moment. The pose of  a man jumping the puddle in the foreground mirrors the pose of the dancer in the background.The scene is similar to a stage set that the photographer has imagined and waited for the moment to strike.

This photograph is incredibly respectful distance from the subject, it doesn't exploit the subject or need sensationalism (which is common in photography and would be easy to shoot in this situation) Sensationalism can be inappropriate. Instead the photographer uses juxtaposition of the living boy walking and the rows upon rows of dead bodies, there are no close ups and it views the scene as a whole. 

Documentary photography also shows the shocking photographs of war too.

This photograph in particular focuses on the mental state and damage of the soldier and although it doesn't show violence it suggests that there has been and allows the viewer to wonder what the solider has viewed for him to be so still and have a facial expression of pure distress.

My Lai massacre harrowing

Photographer yells 'hold it !' before the shooting so that he effectively shoots first to catch the drama of the moments before death- showing how the photographer cares more about capturing a moment and a shocking photograph than helping the people which is similar to the thought process of Dorothea Lange who captured Migrant Mother (see earlier content).

It could be argued that documentary photographers can be known to set up scenes in advance for shoots to allow for closer contact and also an organised composition. 

Overall documentary photography is generally a form of journalism which can be artistically made (organised) or pure and a form of document. Where photographers can be known to document the most horrific scenes and situations in the world but also the complete ordinary (cultures) it is vastly varied and incredibly powerful form of imagery.