Essay about Modern Photograph and Realism

As New York photographer James Maher quoted from A World History of Photography, “photographs used in campaigns for social reform not only provided truthful evidence but embodied a commitment to humanistic ideals” (361). Moreover, as shown in the article Documenting the Social Scene, the powerful photography that Hine and Riis have captured of immigrants encapsulate the need for change; furthering the separation of their photojournalism from illustrative and recreational art. From Hine documenting much of the practices of child labor, to Riis exposing the harsh living conditions of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, (Maher) both photographers comply to a code of ethics and sense of journalistic integrity— Riis and Hine showcase the truth behind the photos in a way that attempts to humanize the subjects on film as much as it attempts to engage a moral debate of the situations at hand. In addition, to exemplify the impact of photojournalism, we must consider the perspective of the Gilded Age

In this picture, Victorian style house stands alone in the field. A railroad track cuts through the foreground. There is a bare sky behind the house with no secondary objects in the immediate surroundings of the building. this enables us to keenly focus on the articulation of the building and its relationship with its environment.

During the Great Depression, Dorothea Lange photographed the unemployed men who wandered the streets. Her photographs of migrant workers were often presented with captions featuring the words of the workers themselves. Lange’s first exhibition, held in 1934, established her reputation as a skilled documentary photographer. In 1940, she

The images and lighting are similar to images that record the suffering of people during the depression of the 1930s. However, inside the park the weather starts to brighten making everything look lush and vibrant. It seems absurd to see such a strong contrast after passing through the imperial gates. This brings to mind the saying “The grass is always greener on the other side” This helps to show how the members of the public see this part of London as a desired thing and that everything is better, but this saying usually ends up being false; these people still live in the same world, it is all an illusion, Further on in the scene Theo says to his cousin Nigel, “A hundred years from now, there won’t be one single sad f**k to look at any of this (meaning his apartment). What keeps you going?” To which Nigel replies “You know what it is, Theo? I just don’t think about it”. He is just ignoring the inevitable.

The United States experienced both the Great Depression and harsh weather conditions during the 1930’s causing Americans to suffer through extreme hardship and impoverishment. Many of the migrant farmers were bankrupt, destitute, and struggled to survive. Photographer and photojournalist, Dorothea Lange, captured the dangerous conditions migrant workers and their families endured through her photograph, Migrant Mother. The photograph not only displays a woman and children suffering, but also reveals the determination and willpower the woman had to provide for her family.

The purpose of my study is to give people a chance to understand what is the meaning of photography and how it was invented, plus how people was able to take photographs before the camera was invented.

As photographer Jackson recalled, "No photographs had as yet been published, and Dr. Hayden was determined that the first ones should be good. A series of fine pictures would not only supplement his final report but tell the story to thousands who might never read it" (1940, p. 196). Jackson's photographs and Moran's watercolors and illustrations were instrumental in the successful lobbying effort to get Congress to designate Yellowstone the country's first national park. More significantly, I contend that the landscape art of Watkins, Jackson, and Moran are not merely evidence in a conventional political argument. They are not simply representing reality or making an argument about

When Robert Frank published his photographic masterpiece, The Americans, his collection of images was met with widespread criticism. Challenging not only the documentary tradition and the aesthetic of photography, Frank’s blurry exposures uprooted the very fabric of America. Traveling the roads of the United States from 1955-1957, Frank took over 28,000 images, depicting every strata of American society, from the assembly line of Detroit, to the opulence of Hollywood. Overall, through the lens of Frank’s camera, the viewer is given a collection of images, which directly undermine popular understanding of 1950s America. In a mere eighty-three images, Robert Frank tells a story of renewal and rebirth, of struggles, and hope, and of the very nature of America.

It is shot with color film using an 8 x10 large box camera from a frontal perspective. There is a casting of shadows from the trees on the street, but the light focuses more on the three buildings, which is the main objective of this shot. Shore respected natural light, shot in the daytime and rarely used flash. The composition in Shore’s photo is balanced and symmetrical. The gray building is the focal point since the entire building is included whereas the other two buildings have partial views. The eye is also drawn to the center since it has a red door and it is positioned in the middle. Looking from the top left of the photograph, you can see that the buildings step down in height which adds

The black and white photograph captured by Jose Miguel Martinez incites a range of sentiments to the audience with its landscape of the seashore at nightfall. A pile of rocks and a tattered brick wall are in the foreground, the sea and cliffs are in the middle ground, then the remote sailboat, distant land, and the moonlit sky are in the background. This photograph impressively demonstrates the uses of balance, utility, and variety in its composition. Balance is achieved asymmetrically by the raw and unintended placement of the mountains, brick wall, the sea and land. The composition also has a great balance with the use of positive and negative space. Because of the asymmetrical balance, the photograph is more stimulating to look at as both

When going for a walk, a person takes in the beauty around them. On this particular day, the refulgent sun is extra bright, making the sky a perfect blue. White, puffy clouds fill the sky, slowing moving at their own pace. The wind is peacefully calm, making the trees stand tall and proud. There is no humidity in the air. As this person walks down the road, they see a deer with her two fawns. The moment is absolutely beautiful. Moments like this happen only once in a great while, making us wanting to stay in the particular moment forever. Unfortunately, time moves on, but only if there were some way to capture the day’s magnificence. Thanks to Joseph Niépce, we can now capture these moments and others that take our breath away. The

In “Ways of Seeing”, John Berger, an English art critic, argues that images are important for the present-day by saying, “No other kind of relic or text from the past can offer such direct testimony about the world which surrounded other people at other times. In this respect images are more precise and richer literature” (10). John Berger allowed others to see the true meaning behind certain art pieces in “Ways of Seeing”. Images and art show what people experienced in the past allowing others to see for themselves rather than be told how an event occurred. There are two images that represent the above claim, Arnold Eagle and David Robbins’ photo of a little boy in New York City, and Dorothea Lange’s image of a migratory family from Texas; both were taken during the Great Depression.

Art critic Robert Hughes once said, “People inscribe their histories, beliefs, attitudes, desires and dreams in the images they make.” When discussing the mediums of photography and cinema, this belief of Hughes is not very hard to process and understand. Images, whether they be still or moving, can transform their audiences to places they have either never been before or which they long to return to. Images have been transporting audiences for centuries thanks to both the mediums of photography and cinema and together they gone through many changes and developments. When careful consideration is given to these two mediums, it is acceptable to say that they will forever be intertwined, and that they have been interrelated forms of

The name "Photography" comes from the Greek words for light and writing. Sir John Herschel, was the first to use the term photography in 1839, when he managed to fix images using hyposulphite of soda. He described photography as "The application of the chemical rays to the purpose of pictorial representation". Herschel also coined the terms "negative", "positive" and "snapshot".

What is a photograph? The simplicity of taking a photograph leads many to ponder its artistic value. Yet, it is undeniable that there are some photos that cause an emotional reaction deeper than simply observing a recorded point in time. Surely, there are photographs that cause more reaction than some modern art pieces. There seems to be two types of photographs. The first classification is the ‘time capture’ photo – an image with the sole purpose of recording a particular event or point in time. The second nature of a photo carries a ‘deeper meaning,’ which has the ability to change the observer’s mood and cause a reaction. But what distinguishes these two varieties? There are a