Raw Histories Photography Summary

This photo was taken for assignment nine, which was the independent project. The process for this picture was relatively simple; on location, I placed the horse at the entrance of the barn, the natural light from outside shining on the horse. As for editing, I was easily able to edit it in Lightroom, using the adjustment brush and setting the exposure all the way down, I easily brushed over the background. I personally found this assignment the most fun to shoot since the subject matter is in my comfort zone. Though horses are something I'm used to shooting, I was still able to find ways to push myself as a photographer when it came to this shoot. I feel that I was able to push myself when it came to lighting since I was mostly working with

I plan on majoring in art history at USC. This major combines the study of art and culture, which are two topics that I am very much interested in and passionate about. I would also minor in visual culture and hope to enroll in the AHIS 100g: Introduction to Visual Culture. Having a father as a film producer, I have been fascinated by film and photography since I can remember and appreciate these art mediums especially as they portray social injustices in our communities. One class in particular, within this minor, that got my attention was AHIS 373g: History and Theory of Photography, which would combine my interest of art and visual culture. As an art history major, I would also like to take part in the study abroad program to learn more

The second picture I chose called Laxman Singh, Rajasthan, 2002 I felt that this man is a prisoner in his own world because he has no legs to walk but prosthetics. I believe that the photographic approach of contemporary photojournalists have changed with both the idea and the technique since Gardner’s era. There is more history going on every day and there are so many stories that can be told that each photojournalist can use different techniques and ideas to tell that story to a viewer.

For everyday pictures, you can mix things up by telling a story with your photography. Instead of snapping pictures as they happen with no influence on the shots, this style of photography involves planning and executing your vision. The storytelling is completely up to you.

When WWI broke out , president Wilson announced that America would remain neutral(Nash 496). Wilson repeated his slogan “ keep us out of the war” during his reelection campaign in 1916(Unveiling History Par 1). Many Americans agreed with this and they sought out to promote peace and help end the war. Unfortunately, others were ecstatic for the adventure and could hardly wait(Nash 496). Over time, Wilson came to believe that it was the duty of the U.S to intervene on the side of England and France. I believe that Wilson and the government tried extremely hard to promote participation for soldiers and make the war seem like a good thing.

The article I chose came from the National Geographic Magazine and is titled Snorkeling With the President: How Our Photographer Got the Shot by Craig Welch. The article focuses on Brian Skerry’s, a National Geographic photographer, experience photographing former President Obama in the Midway Islands. Mr. Obama was vacationing on The Midway Islands to promote “the announcement of the expansion of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a marine reserve encompassing several islands of Hawaii”(Welch 76). The president’s personal photographer gave the opportunity to Skerry. Skerry explained the experience as exceptional but nerve racking.

Representations are not merely objective truth, but encompass conscious selectivity and emphasis which shape and define the meaning we derive from a text. The importance of the Smithsonian's Bearing Witness to History site as both a historical and American representation causes a divergence in its purpose, between its obligation for factual accuracy and intrinsic support of specific cultural values. Deepa Mehta's film Earth (1996) demonstrates the manipulation of texts to shape the meaning we derive from the past, influenced by our memory of the past, distorted by personal context. Despite delving into different historical events, each text demonstrates the complementary relationship of historical truth and memory, a constructed dynamic

War Photographer is a documentary by Christian Frei who follows American photojournalist James Nachtwey into world’s most dangerous warzones to get the first-hand experience of being a war photographer. Nachtwey is an award winning photographer who at times works on contracts for big magazines has been famous for his photos of war zones, famines and you name what. The film focuses the involvement of a photographer as a war journalist and his/her engagement with the people and the situation being photographed. The most curious technique that is used in the film is that the audience can see things from James’ point of view because of the micro camera fitted on his SLR. This immersion of the audience in the film makes it more engaging while looking

consistent throughout the years but also had the ability of showing the present as if it

It is said that “The true content of a photograph is invisible, for it derives from a play not with form but with time”. This makes me think that the real content of a picture, which is what the photographer tried to express, is not evident to perceive unless an explanatory text is provided. In fact, I believe that our perceptions of pictures changes over time as the historical context do. In addition, our opinions are never fixed as they are influenced by our environment. Therefore, when looking at a particular picture at a given time, it is certain that our perception of it will be different in the future based on what happen between the first time and second time we saw it.

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.

Photographs are also manifestations of time and records of experience. Consequently, writings on photographic theory are filled with references to representations of the past. Roland Barthes (1981, 76), for instance,

It creates an illogical connection between ‘here-now’ and the ‘there-then’. As the photograph is a means of recording a moment, it always contains ‘stupefying evidence of this is how it was’. In this way, the denoted image can naturalise the connoted image as photographs retain a ‘kind of natural being there of objects’; that is, the quality of having recorded a moment in time. Barthes stresses that as technology continues to “develop the diffusion of information (and notably of images), the more it provides the means of masking the constructed meaning under the appearance of the given meaning’ (P159-60).

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

Pictorial writing has played a significant role in today’s understanding of the past. The images painted have kept indigenous culture alive by giving today a glimpse of yesterday. It is history told through pictures. Pictorial writing is the voice of indigenous people and their lives before, during, and after European colonization. Not only do stories of simple events, time, creation, and hierarchy tell stories of indigenous time, but they also offer a glimpse of what indigenous culture valued all together. Through the stories told, the artists reveal the underlying components of indigenous culture, which creates a better understanding for humanity altogether, including oneself. Pictorial writing allows the piecing together of the culture into a better understanding of the past.