V-J Day In Times Square By Alfred Eisenstaedt

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.

According to the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs, the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” means pictures convey information more efficiently and effectively than words do. Many people believe this to be true because pictures display concrete evidence of events that happen, they are able to “see it to believe it.” They believe that since they can see it with their own eyes, everything in the photograph must be telling the true story. On the contrary, pictures can be just as biased as textual sources of information and the photographer may not be providing the viewer with the whole story. Knowing this fact, Oliver Wendell Holmes describes this phenomenon in the following way, “The photograph is an illusion

According to Gefter, “Truth-telling is the promise of a photograph” (342), where we can witness an authentic moment with our own eyes “while not actually being there”. A photograph reflects not only the divergent issues of the prevailing society, but also serves as both documentation and verification of historic events. But is it a proof of what actually happened in reality? When we see a photograph, we try to judge its veracity by the context in which 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

Another significant reason that has played a vital role in photojournalism of recent times is the emergence of imaging technologies. Imaging technologies has undoubtedly played a major part in the works of a photojournalist today. Based on earlier accounts on how photography itself is an inherent manipulation, the question is no longer directed on ‘how has imaging technologies manipulate photojournalism' but ‘how much more has imaging

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

In Freeman Patterson’s Barriers to Seeing, Patterson mentions a quote from Susan Sontag about cameras and experiences. Sontag writes, “‘A way of certifying experience, taking photographs is also a way of refusing it – by limiting the experience to a search for the photogenic, by converting into an image, a souvenir’” (Paragraph 12). Essentially, Sontag is elaborating how people are distracted from their surroundings and experiences to find a photogenic picture or to record what they think to be an experience. While the objective of photography is usually to capture an experience or feeling, many are instead obsessed with finding good lighting, searching for a good background, and are focused on taking the best picture to post on social media. In many cases this is very true, and I myself can see it in people’s photos as well as my own. In Freeman Patterson’s Barriers to Seeing,” he quotes Susan Sontag’s statement that one’s camera can be a barrier to seeing and experiencing a moment. Through other’s picture taking as well

While Postman points out the literal meaning of photography is “writing with light”; the two are from completely different universes when it comes to public discourse (p. 71). Unlike typography, photography cannot offer assertions, make propositions and offers no commentary. As long as it is not an altered photograph, it has no choice but to be true (p. 73). Thus, the photograph is only able to capture a moment in time and does not have the ability to comment on that moment. Our author contends, where language presents the world as an idea, the photographs only option is to show the world as an object (p. 72). Whereas in language, the correct context requires consideration of what is said before and after, in photography there is no before and after, only the snapshot of time. Therefore, by its very nature photography is context-free (p. 73). As photography immersed itself in the American culture author, Daniel Boorstin called this “the graphic revolution.” Postman is unequivocal on the point that the traditional forms of information, news, and even reality itself received an impairment by this new focus on images. For examples, he cites billboards, posters and advertisements. He points to magazines Life, Look and several newspapers. The picture was the focal point, and the writing was forced to take a less dominate roll and sometimes done away with altogether (p.

There is a old saying that says your eyes are they key to your soul, that saying must have came to the mind of this photographer when he say the eyes of this young lady. Even if she wasn't holding a cigarette, seeing only this girls eyes would be enough to make the most prideful of men cry their eyes out. Here eyes haunt anyone who looks at them and will make you feel sorry for her even without knowing any context around this story. The reason photographs become so iconic in our society is because you are able to capture a hole seen from one event in time, even if that event was from one hundred years ago, and still be able to have people feel so contented to this event. This photo can mean something different for every eye that sees it but the main message the author was trying to convey by taking this photo is a loss of youth and innocence.

Sontag claims that “photography is, a social rite, but it can also be a defense against anxiety and a tool of power (page 130).” She backs her claim by stating “photographs give people an imaginary possession of a past that is unreal, they also help people to take possessions of space in which they are insecure.” (Sontag page 131). In other words, having pictures allows people to tell stories that may not be exactly true. I agree with Sontag because I have witnessed and experienced how pictures can hurt someone emotionally while empowering others.

In addition, photography does it pivotal role by showing people the realities of life. One relevant example to this is photojournalism. Through photographic presentation, people are informed of the real situations of the stories about the real situations around the globe, may it be good or bad news. It is very easy to understand news or stories with photos attached to them. Therefore, photography is a powerful communication tool that embeds social happenings to the human awakening, with no other form of media can

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.

Photographs are used to document history, however selected images are chosen to do so. Often times these images graphically show the cruelty of mankind. In her book, Regarding the Pain of Others, Susan Sontag asks, "What does it mean to protest suffering, as distinct from acknowledging it?" To acknowledge suffering is just to capture it, to point it out and show somebody else that it exists. In order to protest suffering, there has to be some sort of moral decision that what is shown in the photograph is wrong, and a want from the viewer to change that.

Photography is an art form that plays with the mind. Photographs are perhaps one of the most layered and contradictory objects we can see around us. They represent reality, but yet somehow they don’t - they don’t capture the whole of reality, rather just a snapshot of it. There is always a constant battle going on between the two photographic considerations: make the photographed object look as beautiful as possible or tell the truth. What a picture finally really shows is never the exact situation as it really was, but it proves to somehow represent it. This treacherous and ambiguous relationship with reality is what makes photography interesting, yet so astounding; it raises questions about the

Photographs, drawings, cartoons and videos cover significant political matters. Photojournalists such as Lynsey Addario present critical political issues that affect the world today. In her book, It’s What I Do, she presents scenes surrounding the fall of prominent political leaders such as Muammar el-Qaddafi. The pictures on pages 4 and 5 of her book, for instance, show the struggles that the rebels went through in their quest to dethrone Qaddafi. She quotes Robert Capa, who once said, “ ‘ If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough’ ” (Lynsey 7) which shows that photographs are significant in the world of journalism. A video such as “Shouting In The Dark” reveals the heinous acts done by the government of Bahrain towards its own citizens. In the video, we see the brutal force used by the government to silence the peaceful protesters. People were beaten, shot, imprisoned, and killed.