Smoke And Mirrors : Manipulated Realities

Photography gives you a small sample of reality, but these realities have been changed to what the photographer wants to present. However as Sontag stated, “Of course, photographs fill in the blanks in our mental pictures of the present and the past.” Pictures show proof that all of the history that we learn is true, but although it confirms that, pictures does not show us the entire picture of how people felt about the situation. For example, one might have a picture from WWII and show us the setting, but does that picture really show the feeling of the people? That is why we say that photography only goes as far as to how the photographer wants to show the

Untitled is freighted with untold stories. You feel the gentle breeze along with the heat of the day; the stale grass; the mute mutterings of the wind; and that moment smothered under the weight of its sheer lassitude. This portrait is somewhat less of a person or place but more of a single moment in time. He never has diminished what he sees but somehow enlarges both the trivial and the momentous. By supposing that photography is at its most vibrant when it seeks to understand not just a setting, but a single moment in time; or even just an feeling, or hard-to-place emotion, Eggleston makes the case for photography engaging on a deeper emotional level than simple aesthetics.

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

No matter it’s effect, photography was and is very pivotal throughout society. Photography can be a beautiful but yet haunting form of art. It displays an image which is characterizing

Teju Cole, in his essay “Against Neutrality,” dissected the tones behind photography- which he believes are thought of as unbiased towards the subject. The power of words and of photos is crucial to Cole’s essay. He states that images can “make a grim situation palatable” because of the photographer’s craftiness in selection (Cole 1). To anyone who isn’t an experienced photographer these tricks can be hard to see but Cole provides further insight from the historian, John Edwin Mason. Expectantly, Mason sheds light behind the misconception on photography, how the “manipulation in photography isn’t really about Photoshop or darkroom tricks”, but the style, angle and other aspects of taking photos (Cole 1).

Ever since the camera was invented in 1839, the very nature of photography has been questioned. With the increasing advent of photographic technology, photography has become an egalitarian expression of society and community. With one press of a button, an image is captured for eternity, bringing to question the inherent artistic quality of photographs. If we can so quickly capture an image, can this be deemed art? Art is to promote fantasy, and dream, to incite anger and joy. Thus, surely photography is an art, as seen through its capturing of beautiful verdant landscapes, and the horrendous

A world without photography seems merely impossible to the modern age humans. Photography is seen throughout our everyday lives, from the television, to smartphones, and on our computers, it seems impossible to avoid it. But why would we want to? Photography is a vision, a memory, a moment captured in time that makes it possible for humans to share these moments with others. But more than times than not, these moments, visions, photographs are altered, manipulated, and distorted to influence, and change the audience’s view. By analyzing the many methods the photographer’s ways of manipulating, altering, and the distortion of the truth of their works, one can conclude that not everything shown is accurate and often overlooked by the

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 the novel, the greater focus is on exploration and developments in technology which do exist in modern society. Taking the previous statement into consideration, this idea can be relayed back the way people use the internet. When posting on social media, many people’s first thought when they post a picture, tweet, or status is how their posts will make their followers feel. The ultimate goal for many is to showcase their lifestyle; this is not necessarily to make others envious, even though this is sometimes the case, but to overcompensate for the things in their lives that are not going as they wish they were. The best way to represent this point is in remembering “how important it is to show everyone the fun you’re having through pictures” in today’s age (Why Social Media is Destroying Out Social Skills). With this being the most important motive in the minds of many, social skills are ruined as individuals find it more necessary to be flashy than happy. Because of how easy it is to access each other’s lives, it is very tempting for one to feel discouraged or intimidated by another’s lifestyle. As a result of that, social platforms, especially those like Instagram, have become a place where people seem to compete to see who has the most

Art is such an eternal concept and part of our lives. It lives on through generations, transcending many periods, and can speak through many mediums. Art is a way of expression, when nothing else can capture, but is something that can be interpreted in many ways. I chose photography—that which best portrays mankind, in that it hides nothing and only shows what is there to begin with. “It is the language most readily understandable to all and our most important form of communication among nations and cultures.”(Schuneman; Koner 59-60) Two excellent representations of this is a street

In accordance with John Szarkowski’s opinion, the first lesson often learnt by photographers in the 1960s was that photography particularly dealt with actualities (Grange 4). He had to appreciate the fact that the unique world of photography is itself an art of matchless creativity, which significantly requires both supple and acute

NYC-based photographer Lucea Spinelli’s latest series titled Phōtosgraphé explores the movement of light in photography and the perception of reality. Spinelli reminds us instantly of photography’s purpose and origin. It is defined as a process of drawing with light. Its etymology implies a compound of the greek words φωτός (phōtos) “light” and γραφή (graphé) which is defined as “drawing”. The fleeting movement of the illumination becomes the paintbrush on its canvas, the film. “Like a human eye, the camera receives impressions of light reflected off the world around us. “

In the article, Why Photography Matters As Never Before, it explains how “the complexity of an image does not make its meaning more apparent to the viewer.” (Leshem & Wright p.114-115). This previous quote meaning, it does not matter how complex the image is, but it does reduce the tendency on the picture to help identify things about the pictures. As well as the article, Is Photography an Art? it argues that “The photograph is not an interpretation of reality but merely representation of it, they say”. Photographs are to be interpreted. It expresses the values of life and people have to be able to interpret this specific piece of art to fully understand what the image explains. If you look at a picture you must be able to interpret it and can put it in words to get the concept of

We’ve all heard the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words.” It’s the mere fact that an idea can be conveyed with just one single image. We come across tons of unfiltered images everyday, whether we see them in newspapers or magazines. These images move us, they have an impact on some of us, deep to our core. When a photograph directly impacts an individual, one will recount an image long after they have seen it.

From the moment when photography was discovered, it has always been used to record the world around us. Humans rely on photography so much that hardly a day goes by without seeing one. Photography is equally prevalent in literature where writers seek new ways to express themselves by using photography and exploring the various possibilities it creates. One of the presumed notions about photography is that photographs are incapable of lying. Susan Sontag (1973: 5) has written in her collection of essays On Photography that “Photographs furnish evidence“. Since photographs replicate what the photographer can see through their camera lens, it can be assumed that what is there on the photo is the truth – a genuine image of reality. However, Roland Barthes in his novel Camera Lucida would suggest otherwise. He writes that ““myself” never coincides with my image”, which would give reason to question the authority photographs have on presenting reality (Barthes 1981: 12). How much reality does photography capture?