What Is Beauty In Photography Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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).

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

The photograph is a very powerful medium. The French painter Paul Delaroche exclaimed upon seeing an early photograph “from now on, painting is dead!” (Sayre, 2000). Many critics did not take photography seriously as a legitimate art form until the 20th century. With the

question John Berger, critic of art and author of the Ways of Seeing, raised in his essay, and it is

This brings us to our discussion of the meaning behind photography, especially the difference between perceived intention and the artist’s actual intention. If someone were to consider Eads ' numerous selfies, one might assume that she has lost touch of her authentic identity and is struggling to build real relationships, as Lucie Hemmen, a Santa Cruz clinical psychologist argues in the article (qtd. in Yadegaran). It is arguable that Lucie

The paper starts with multiple definitions of what beauty is defined as and moves to what the experience of beauty is.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a Transcendentalist author, so he explored concepts beyond the scope of science. That is to say, non-empirical concepts that cannot be known through observation, the senses, or experience, without pattern. The concept of beauty is non-empirical because it cannot be fully understood by observation. While a man can see that a rose is beautiful, or feel the beauty in the weight and smoothness of a strand of pearls, he can never know that a thing is beautiful by seeing or touching it. This is why Emerson describes beauty as an “eternal fugitive” (75) in Ode to Beauty. Emerson’s philosophy can be seen as a reaction to the limitations of the Rational Movement, who rejected non-empirical

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

One can directly see the photograph without inferring or “make-believe” their own experiences into the photograph. However, it is the “automatism of photography” that calls into question the aesthetics of photography. A photograph can be created by anyone or by accident, therefore, would it still be called art? In painting and sculpture, the medium is crafted through talented individuals and given a more fulfilling experience. With photography, luck plays a vital role unless the artist can truthfully claim his or her talent created the art

“Photography can never grow up if it imitates some other medium. It has to walk alone; it has to be itself.” – Berenice Abbott.

Perception and opinions have shaped the world in very exceptional techniques. Perception is the way in which the person criticizes comments, complains or praises whether on animated or on unanimated objects. Similar positions have been portrayed in the book On Beauty by Zadie Smith. Smith uses various literary works and literary devices to develop her position into describing how animated and unanimated object shape the lives of the characters in the book. Some examples of work of art or aesthetics mentioned extensively throughout the book are Rembrandt’s art, Mozart’s painting and the Caribbean drawing of a naked lady.

Photo essays are collections of photographs used to present an argument, express ideas and evoke emotion from the viewer. The difference between this and a photoblog is that photo essays are sequenced together to tell a story over a period of time. “The genre is often used to persuade viewers to sympathize with a point of view or to take a specific action” (pg. 79). This shows that although photo essays tell stories, the genre itself has its’ own purpose. “Most photo essayists do not provide much detail in the text of their essays” (pg.80). Some essayists let the details of their photos do the talking. “The introductory images, which function like a written essay’s introduction, need to establish the subject matter and further the purpose

Because of this, words and images cannot be put together without a direct context to lead the reader; otherwise, a message would be interpreted incorrectly. Due to this, there was a crucial overlap which linked Mitchell’s work with any other photographic essay. I noticed throughout W.J.T Mitchell’s work the main theme of perspective to be emphasized. Most importantly, Mitchell, Mollison and many other photographers that depend on words and images find a way for each reader to develop a distinct idea, to understand what the writer is conveying, and to develop a relative idea to others in interpreting the image from all other perspectives.

Henry Peach Robinson, born on July 9th, 1830, was a British photographer and prominent author on photography. Known as “the King of Photographic Picture Making,” he began his life’s work as a painter but would become one of the most influential photographers of the late 19th century. He was a prolific advocate for photography as an art form and is well known for his role in “pictorialism,” which, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, is “an approach to photography that emphasizes beauty of subject matter, tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality.”

In Roger Scruton's Photography and Representation the author establishes the idea that ideal photography is not art. In the same breath he says that ideal photography is not necessarily an idea which photographers should strive, nor does it necessarily exist. Yet, he bases his argument upon the ideal. In reviewing his paper, I’ll take a look at why he painstakingly tries to make this distinction between ideal painting and ideal photography. His argument is based upon the proposition that photographs can only represent in a causal fashion, whereas painters create representational artwork via intentional relations. Scruton manages to create a solid argument, but in the end I’ll decide it is not a fair assumption to say that photographs