The Ignorance Of American Photographers

For this essay the works of Robert Draper, author of “Why Photos Matter,” and Fred Ritchen, author of “Photography Changes the Way News is Reported,” will be analyzed. Though both deal with the topic of photography, their take on the matter is very different. While Ritchen is a photographer who writes on “what professional photographers will be doing in the future,” Draper is a writer for the National Geographic writing on how the photographers of the magazine share “a hunger for the unknown.” Both writers, however, write on the topic of photographers having a deeper understanding of their subjects, Ritchen due to research and practice, and Draper because the photographers “sit [with] their subjects, just listening to them.” In both essays the need for a deeper understanding of the

Although cameras are machines used to capture a moment, Ondaatje argues that they do not accurately portray a person’s essence and their true self. To know someone’s genuine character, one must interact with them, rather than only viewing them through “ground glass or tripod” or the stories told through another person’s perspective. “Ground glass” represents camera’s lenses, a filter altering reality to fit the desired perception of a moment. Cameras are machines that influence someone’s perspective, rather than providing the true nature. Readers typically view Western society as an unknown wild land with no laws, but is it really so? Ondaatje’s use of cameras as a machine questions this notion and shows that cameras and images are only a biased representation of someone and how they want to be perceived.

Salgado, who considers himself a “social photographer,” has been highly acclaimed for his work- as well as criticized. He has created several extraordinary projects throughout his career, several of them documenting the suffering of extremely poor and distressed people. His projects “Sahel: the End of the Road,” “Workers,” “Exodus,” and “Migrations” are filled with shocking photographs of humans in the most impoverished regions of the world. His photographs of people on the verge of death contain an intimacy and sheer reality that is impossible to find in photographs displayed in the news and social media. This individualism in each subject that Salgado

The violent markings of the photo album and its images, however, produce an equally powerful message that jars the memory as it disrupts and distorts the photographic chronicle of her life and that of her family and friends. The result is a complex visual experience that addresses the use of images in producing knowledge and making history.

This particular photo essay about the Armenian Genocide was so compelling for multiple reasons. Most noticeably is the sheer aesthetics of the ten featured photographs. Each of the images used in the slideshow serve as artful visualizations of the tragic genocide a century ago. Another reason why this photo essay was captivating was because of the Armenian Genocide’s

When looking at some images, humans have a strong emotional response. This response is most evident when looking at Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of a starving Sudanese child and a vulture is a drought-ridden field. The picture was even a factor in Carter’s suicide.

Lister magnifies the complexities of citizen journalism in “Blurring Boundaries” by recapping tragic events such as, 9/11 and the London bombings that signify the importance of shared photojournalism between citizens and journalists. More specifically, the article focuses on the “death of photojournalism” due to the notion that the digital age is allowing everyone to become a photojournalist. The article, non-judgemental and fair from both angles describes a paradigm shift from photojournalism as a profession (limited to the skills of qualified journalists) to something ordinary citizens carrying cameras/smartphones can perform.

As human beings we all go through hard times each and every day no matter what has occurred. But think of it this way, there is always someone else out there suffering worse than you are. Living in the United States of America we are very fortunate for the resources, health care and stable life styles most of us survive in. On the other hand, over in second and third world countries, life is to be perceived as a struggle for day to day life. Without the precious and emotional photographs taken in the hardest moments, Americans may never get to realize how well their life is compared to others. A contemporary photographer, named Steve McCurry, has set out to deliver a message of how well Americans truly have it in life. His work and dedication is an art that

Even if they are only tokens, and cannot possibly encompass most of the reality to which they refer” (2003: 102). We definitely need to see these type of photographs. The reason being that these photographs are the voice of the victims. The photograph is a trace of an event, that is a validation of what has happened. I think it is the only way these people have a chance to be recognized in the history, instead of being forgotten or quieten. I would like to point out that Sontag’s text has been written in 2003, whereas Azoulay’s book has been written in 2008. It is evident that Azoulay knows what Sontag has had left out in her argument and Azoulay doesn’t lose sight of it. Both Azoulay and Sontag share a common interest, that is the photograph as a debate in the public sphere. A motivation for political discourse and social alteration. Sontag makes an argument that, “modern life consists of a diet of horrors by which we are corrupted and to which we become gradually habituated is a founding idea of the critique of modernity” (Sontg 2003: 95) and takes notice of the drawback in this type of thinking. She makes two arguments in regards to this, the first is the assumption that “everyone is a spectator. It suggests, perversely, unseriously, that there is no real suffering in the world” (99). The second argument she makes is that this kind of reaction only pertain two groups of people, those who are tired of war and are being continuously photographed and the cynical people that haven’t experienced war first hand. Sontag considers what this kind of thinking process excludes. She discusses how the victims are, “ interested in the representation of their own sufferings.” However they want, “the suffering to be seen as unique.”(100). She talks about Paul Lowe exhibition in support of her argument, the exhibition contains photographs of Somalian

The introduction of portable cameras has made it feasible for anyone with basic knowledge of how to use a camera to now go out and record what they see. However, what one chooses to photograph is still a reflection on them as well as well as the scenes they witness.

Kevin Carter, the south African photographer, is famous for a photograph named Struggling Girl. In 1993, while on a trip to Sudan, Carter found a Sudanese toddler stalked by a vulture. The vulture is waiting for the girl to die and to eat her but Carter stopped and took a picture instead of helping the girl. Hundreds of people feel mad about the photograph because Carter only used the girl to take photograph, and left her away. Ironically, the photograph won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1994. (1) As an ethical photographer, I believe it is unethical to take photos for vulnerable subjects and then left them away.

For many centuries since their inception, photographs and photography struggled to find its own niche, inspiring heated debates over their value and place in the artistic world. Today, they are viewed as an instrument of artistic expression, inspiring change and thought, reflecting our tastes and interests, as well as social and political realities. The photograph has the ability to inform and educate, as well as to evoke emotion. With its ability to capture a moment in time photograph is a time capsule enclosing the secrets of the people and times that it captured.

Many people came on September 22, 2015 to witness a young women’s story about how she overcame cultural bias, sexual abuse, and physical danger in order to achieve her dream to become a professional photographer. Invited to speak at Saginaw Valley State University’s Malcom Field Theatre by the president of the university, the title of Eman Mohammad’s speech was ‘Breaking Taboos and Documenting Devastation: A Woman’s Journey’. This title fitted her speech perfectly as a many people came to hear her speech for a number of reasons. Some came to listen to a female talk about her journey in a male-dominated occupation, while others came to hear her life story and how it influenced her passion and the subjects of her work. Eman Mohammad is a significant

While we may experience an array of subjective emotions when looking a photo, we generally accept the idea that it depicts the truth in a way that narrative and other images (e.g. paintings) cannot. It is for this reason that photographs are frequently “prized as a transparent account of reality” (Sontag 2003: 81). We can contextualize this association between photography and the truth socio-historically: “photographic techniques came of age in parallel with post-enlightenment science” (Jones 2013: 32). Consequently, photography became bonded with the ideals of post-enlightenment, such as veracity and a lack of bias. This bond was strengthened as photojournalism emerged in the 1920s and 1930s and images became the hallmark form of bearing witness, foolproof evidence that an event occurred (Åker 2012). Today, we frequently demand images as proof (consider, for example, the public outcry that followed when the Obama Administration refused to release images of Osama Bin Laden’s corpse). We also know that images have developed a profound influence on our everyday social interactions; most social networking sites enable users to share images with friends and family, allowing them to narrate their experiences with pictures rather than (or in addition to) words. These images, of course, are intimately related

With today’s easy access to instant information and news updates, photography is everywhere. Photos capture everything ranging from an innocent birthday party in the backyard to a tragic dying solider in the rubble. Susan Sontag’s subjective essay Regarding the Pain of Others questions the ethics of looking at and judging controversial photographs, especially the ones of extreme suffering and anguish during war. Sontag elaborates on the relationship between photography and art. She also addresses themes through real life examples, including cigarettes and museums. Although Sontag never directly states her position on the case, her opinion is developed through her selection and analysis of each theme.