Terry Barrett Analysis

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.

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

The Photographer and His Camera Since the invention of the camera in 1839, photography has transformed the entire nature of art in that it brought about a great revolution of the traditional arts, pushing it from depictions of a world we already knew to expressions of inward gestures and creativity. Photography conveniently replaced with images the words that were once essential to describing a visual. These images are in fact very different in nature from the continuous action of television, as well as the timeless sculpture. Abolishing the concept of time and space, the technology of the photo is thus fabricated by the desire to give permanence to daily feelings and experience.

I am Marshall Barrett, an American in Japan during 1853. You are probably wondering how I got here. Well it was the early 1853 and I, Marshall Barrett age 26 was going with Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan. Before I came to Japan, I was living in connecticut close to the east coast. I was asked to come on the voyage because I am a sailor. I was very excited to to interact with Japan. I feel admired there much “simpler” lifestyle than people in America. I was a little annoyed when I had heard that America are now going out and making deals by force. Being a sailor, I have been to many different places, and through that I can say that I feel connected to people because although we look different, talk different, and act different, we are still

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” – Ansel Adams. There are things in this world that cannot be explained with words and only a picture can get the meaning across to someone. At times there are neither words nor pictures that explain emotion and that is where silence and listening are heard. When are looking out into a landscape and we see the colors that make up the creation we want to capture that feeling in a picture and that is what Ansel Adams attempts to accomplish.

But, it comes at a cost—a debt he must settle before he’s allowed to take his revenge.

Adams method to photography is what made his pictures so original. It is seen time and time again that the simplicity of his pictures is what makes them so great: a delicate flower on a piece of wood, a misshaped tree, the beautiful Teton Mountains. Ansel Adams truly believed and

A visual image is determined by the viewer, and this concept of user opinion is difficult to challenge. Rose continues by explaining that there are multiple sites in which the meaning of an image is made, beginning with “the site of the production of an image, the site of the image itself, and the sites where it is seen by various audiences” (Rose, 2016:16), which are followed by a set of modalities. Such modalities include; technological, compositional and social. The technological aspect refers to a visual technology as “any form of apparatus designed either to be looked at or to enhance natural vision” (Rose, 2016:17), this ultimately means the evolution of visual images from early paintings to television to the modern era of the internet. Compositional refers to the process of an image being made, such as the “spatial organization” (Rose, 2016:17), the actual content of the image and lastly the colour. The last modality explained by Rose is the social aspect, which refers to “the range of economic, social and political relations” (Rose, 2016: 17), meaning the socially constructed practices that interpret the image at face value (use and or visual). Photography is a technology that has been described as a medium of recording the world in a realistic way. There are technological effects that contribute to the construction of an image, some methods of looking at a visual image can be deemed unnecessary to be considered technologically produced, as images must be carefully analyzed. Rose writes, “the social to the production of images depend on rather more detailed analyses of particular industries which produce visual images” (Rose, 2016:21), which further explains the importance of taking into account all aspects of an image. Rose draws on the importance of an image by writing, “every image has a number of formal components” (Rose,

In John Berger’s essay “Another Way of Telling,” Berger argues that photographs contain a “third meaning.” Berger claims that the third meaning is personal and relies almost completely on the individual viewer. As a result, no photograph can convey the same message to any two people and no two photographs can convey the same message to any one person. Here, the validity of Berger’s assumption crumbles. All photographs communicate one absolute truth.

“You don 't take a photograph, you make it,” (“Ansel Adams Quotes”). This was Ansel Adams philosophy, and he lived it. He didn’t just snap photos and hope they turned out, but rather he put great effort into making sure that they passed his test: “A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words” (“Ansel Adams Quotes”). Now when one is photographing nature, it is difficult to manipulate lighting, thus the darkroom techniques of burning and dodging were developed. Techniques at which Ansel was a master of, so much so, that as he was taking a photo he could “see the image in his mind 's eye as a final print,” (“Ansel Adams”). He was so adept at creating feelings and emotions out of black and white photos, that when color began to be used in photography he was frustrated by it, finding it unreliable (Woodward). Really considering all the work and skill he put into his pieces, it is no wonder that to him photography was an art form, one that required just as deep an understanding of the elements as other forms, like painting or sculpture. Thus throughout his career he worked very hard to get society and art critics to accept photographers as artists (Esterow).

You're right, photographs aren't meant to be for everyone. Some people appreciate all photography, but some like to focus on a certain type of photography. Some people may just like the ones that stand out to them. I like how you brought up in your second paragraph, that photography is art because we want to know what is happening behind the picture. The photo of the man in the backseat is a perfect example of "hidden meaning."

“You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you loved.” —Ansel Adams. To be honest, this is my favorite quote. As a matter of fact every photographer brings part of his experiences and aesthetic to his photographs. Although I am only 16 years old and may have less experience compared to other photographers, my age is one of my advantages and it offers me a unique perspective. Among all my experiences of shooting, one of them left an indelible impression on me.

For many individuals collecting and viewing art might be thought of as a favorite hobby or past time. Individuals might be seen at a local art museum just gazing at a piece of art, exhibiting almost signs of being in a trance of deep thought as one stands front and center, not moving for what seems to be an endless amount of time. The reason for such an appreciation for art, might be what it represents. Lisa Marder writes, “Art can be thought of as a symbol of what it means to be human, manifested in physical form for others to see and interpret. It can serve as a symbol for something that is tangible, or for a thought, an emotion, a feeling, or a concept. Through peaceful means, it can convey the full spectrum of the human experience.” (Marder, 2017, para. 28). Meaning, art really has the ability to express many things and perspectives, which can also be represented in various shapes, sizes, and forms such as, drawings, sculptures, paintings, etc. With that being said, art is not only about the message that is being conveyed, but also a significance placed upon how the message is conveyed. There is a lot of thought and precision that goes into creating such art, that will enhance the message being conveyed; form and composition, material and technique, the lines, color, and texture, space and perspective, and proportion and scale.

“How does the image relate to the self?”(Jones 2006) made me think of how different artists/ photographers present and represent different things in their work, in many different ways. From things that are actually seen in the images to things like thoughts and feelings that are represented through certain aspects of the image but cannot be seen only felt. I feel like this quote helps me back that up “Representation is understood to be adequate to objects like snow, gravestones, and trees, whose very visibility can be understood as a sign of the unrepresentability of the concepts or feelings that make them worth representing.”(Elkins 2008). To help me form

In le message photographique ( Communications 1, 1961), roland barthes states that photography is a ‘message without a code’. According to him, the photographic image, as a reproduction of reality, functions, in a first and more fundamental level, according to the regime of ‘denotation’. The denotative impression that an image arouse, Barthes observes, is so intense to make any description impossible considering that ‘describing’ an image means to add to the denoted message a ‘codified’ message of second level: the verbal language. The denotation, however, does not exclude connotation, instead, it is exactly the paradox of photography: the coexistence of two messages - one without a code, the other one codified. Connotation always has an historical-cultural