Alongside this I was interested in spending time in K Road ( Karangahape Road, Auckland) photographing the diverse and alternative crowd, often holding peculiar, minute ultra-fluffy canines, going about their daily business.
I've very much enjoyed reading 'The Street Photographer's Manual' which has given me many pointers and things to try and things to leave behind. For example , having a collection of images in both B&W and colour can be unusual and inconsistent for a viewer so I will aim to do one or the other in any particular space in the future.
I do not yet have the coursework sent to me as I am in New Zealand and I will need to have it scanned or sent to me when it arrives in my UK 'care of' address... I am excited to see what it holds and look forward to spending time in these great libraries for my research!
Feb 14th - I have some of my coursework scanned and sent through by my dear, long-suffering mother acting as my PA whilst I'm out the country. I've arranged for some books to be reserved and sent to the Auckland library and in the meantime I have some essays I've downloaded.
February 24th- I've been working and then camping so I've had limited time to go to a library and continue studies but scanning the books I have a good idea about how I feel about my own work and also how I can view and discuss the work of others.
Located books:
The Naked Eye - Charles Saatchi - 'extraordinary un photoshopped images. An exploration of visual phenomena... A treasure trove of unusual images from across the world, all the more extraordinary for being real..'. Saatchi writes in his pithy style to accompany each image included.
A few of them - contemporary photography
150 years of photojournalism - Getty images
I find Juxtapoz magazine online very inspirational and holding some of the most creative work I see anywhere, but in most libraries and public places there seems to be a ban on the content so it is inaccessible. Well I've found it here in Rotorua which is very pleasing!
March 15th
Viewing context and narrative book, Maria Short.
Enjoyed the silhouette picture at he jam night so this could be a project. Prefer found places where this could be.
Many poppets of inspiration for projects and ways of viewing the images and how they can be manipulated.
A year in photography - magnum archive - Prestel
None have any description for context and narrative and only have the photographer name, place and the year.
Not knowing many of the photographers at this stage this means I don't know their other work and the themes they follow. If I did I may out it into a definite category or post-production edited, or street, or other title.
A duck is watching me ; strange and unusual phobias - commentary by bernie Hobbs - book of photographs relating to the phobia and many interesting and well found choices. Many humorous and extreme versions of the phobia description.
Exercise
Look up some of the examples mentioned above online – or any other news photographs of emergencies.
Are these pictures objective? Can pictures ever be objective?
Write a list of the arguments for and against. For example, you might argue that these pictures do have a degree of objectivity because the photographer (presumably) didn’t have time to ‘pose’ the subjects, or perhaps even to think about which viewpoint to adopt. On the other hand, the images we see in newspapers may be selected from a series of images and how can we know the factors that determined the choice of final image?
Think about objectivity in documentary photography and make some notes in your learning log before reading further.
My first thoughts about this are that the photograph is a moment captured in time and on the next moment the moves or a person or the juxtaposition can alter the overall image and the communication and response. You could have a photo of an emergency such as arriving at a car crash and one moment the ambulance could be there with lights flashing and people rushing out and within a few minutes realise that the ambulance is not needed and was only called as a precaution and perhaps with some misinformation. (I worked in the emergency sevices control centre for 10 years and know this often to be the case.)
As the view changes in the frame every millisecond, the circumstances of a whole event or of a few hours cannot be depicted in one shot which is where the response can be manipulated. When I completed my project of the documenting the rally for 'Je Suis Charlie' in Auckland, I chose the images that showed emotion and drama as the ones that may show people yawning or looking detached would not be good results. There were police present in case it 'kicked off' or brought unwanted attention, but they stood respectfully on the outskirts. If they moved forward to engage with people that would have been a 'truthfully captured' image bit would then have represented them being involved, perhaps unnecessarily.
Are the images objective?
For
The image exists as it is and the assumption is that there is no photo editing or manipulation on the technical sense.
A photographer would not want to be criticised for producing an unrealistic depiction of an event or scene so would choose the most accurate image from the selection.
It would likely be clear if the photographer had 'staged' anyone's pose or expression so what is seen is real if it looks raw and not 'acted' or posed.
Against
'Photoshopping' is so common now and so easy that no image is truthful and should be taken with a pinch of salt as to its accuracy and legitimacy. The seams are not easily seen!
Propaganda is an important weapon in wartimeand environments where sides are taken, and the choice of the image is likely to fit that of the selector or the editor of the image.
The photographer will want to be recognised for their work so they will choose the dramatic shot that leaves people gasping or shocked rather than the one that shows the calmer element of the scene.
Subject matter could have been included intentionally or cropped out.
The creator of the image may want to use technical expertise and display this to create the perfect image and 'wow' people, possibly using layers for example, rather than focussing on the true depiction.
Outcome
My personal view is that an image is never completely objective and can never convince every viewer of the intention and truthfulness as every response would be different. It can come down simply to bias and taste from both sides
From 'Photography, Icons of Culture' - Chris Dickie - Barrons, there is a chapter titled 'The camera never lies'......
David Hurn, Magnum photographer puts it in a very honest, brief and direct way; 'the only factually correct aspect of photography is that it shows what something looked like under a very particular set of circumstances. But that is not the same as the underlying truth of the event or situation'.
I feel you could actually argue that as soon as anyone is aware that an image is being taken, or any one of a group of people, the image becomes untruthful as manipulation can start on the other side of the camera, however small.
From reading book 'Context and Narrative' - Maria Short - Academia, I was inspired to take a series of images of a house we stayed in on Lake Taupo, built and decorated in the 1970s and having very few changes since then.
Fred Herzog Photographs - Co Berlin ( colour street photography 60s)
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