Photography is a powerful tool that allows people to tell stories of what they are passionate about and depict their ideas. For some individuals, photography becomes an integral part of their lives and helps them overcome the difficulties they face or insecurities they have. The essay Photography Changes Who We Think We Might Be by Candice Bergen describes the author’s journey over the years and how it helped her become more confident with acting.
In summary, Photography Changes Who We Think We Might Be describes the life story of Candice Bergen. The author states that because her parents were famous, she became accustomed to being photographed, one example of which is the chronicle of her turtle’s funeral published by Saturday Evening Post. When she grew up, Bergen worked as a model and later as an actress. But because she was passionate about photography and admired figures such as Margaret Bourke-White and Robert Capa, she bought a camera and routinely took photos of people or events she thought were interesting. This led to magazines asking her to work for them, which continued until she decided to pursue acting seriously.
This essay is interesting and was chosen because Bergen is famous for her acting and not for photography, yet she clearly has a passion for this trade. The experience in working for magazines and photographing celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger or Richard Nixon is also remarkable. Hence, her passion allowed her to express herself through her photos while also showing others what she thought was important, as Bergen mentions that she covered a range of stories from presidential elections to endangered chimpanzees. Perhaps, photography allowed her to escape from acting when she did not feel that she could be a professional and allowed her to build her confidence. Regardless of the implications, the text highlights how photography can accompany a person throughout his or her life and help them develop their personalities.
The connection that the author has with this art form is remarkable, and I would argue that photography helped her become more confident over the years. It would be interesting to find out more about this question. As she mentions in the final paragraph, she wanted to be a professional actress, which forced her to stop working as a photographer. This choice raises some questions since Bergen was successfully working for a variety of famous magazines. Hence, it is interesting to find out if she no longer wanted to work on assigned stories and chose a different career to be able to use photography as an escape, as she did when filming in China.
My personal experience with photography is alike since I enjoy this art form as it helps me express myself. Similarly to Bergen, photography accompanied me throughout my life as my family enjoys taking photos. I can relate to the title Photography Changes Who We Think We Might Be because I know that art can help people share their ideas and develop beyond what they think is possible. I think that like Bergen, we can use photography to explore what we want to do and what we enjoy even if we do not master it completely. Overall, the essay Photography Changes Who We Think We Might Be depicts the life journey of Candice Bergen and the impact that photography had on her.
Henry Peach Robinson and Peter Henry Emerson were two prominent pioneers in the art of photography of the 19th century. Both of them viewed the newly created form of image capture as a medium for the expression of art, but their views on the nature of the movement were radically different. Robinson adhered to older, classical ideas while Emerson attempted to promote a simplified approach unique to photography.
Robinson viewed the new technology as an extension of the visual arts of the past. As such, he supported practices such as image combining, which allowed him to capture images that would not otherwise have been legible due to low-light scenarios. However, the approach also allowed the user to alter the contents of the photo to give them a more dramatic or exaggerated appearance. The results were similar to classical painting, where the artist could emphasize the parts he or she found interesting.
Emerson took a more naturalistic approach, claiming that photographs were a more accurate representation of reality than any other art medium due to their ability to directly project reality onto the film. As such, he opposed any form of manipulation of the resultant images, including Robinson’s preferred practice. Nevertheless, Emerson considered photography art and not a simple reproduction, as it could represent real situations that the creator considered to have artistic value.
The views of both Robinson and Emerson have continued their existence into the present day. Tools for image manipulation are potent and see widespread use, particularly in graphic design. However, when it comes to photography as art, Emerson’s opinion is prevalent, as camera operators strive to find scenes that express an emotion or message strongly and to capture them as-is to convey the impact to the viewer.
Many people claim that the word art cannot apply to contemporary artworks and photojournalism. When it comes to paintings or sculpture, it is argued that artists simply try to stand out from the rest of their peers or shock the public. Photography is regarded as a mere reflection of the reality that is created with the help of technology. This paper focuses on photography and its connection to art. It can be difficult to differentiate between photographs and pieces of art. However, Arthur Danto’s notion of interpretation as a key component of art can help in identifying artworks within the domain of photojournalism.
When considering the nature of contemporary art, Danto refers to Brillo Box by Andy Warhol (29). The art critic emphasizes that the depiction of Brillo boxes acquires an artistic value when the picture is characterized by hidden meanings and interpretations. Therefore, in order to identify a masterpiece among mere depictions, it is necessary to focus on meanings and interpretations (Danto 55). In simple terms, a photograph of a pile of boxes becomes an artwork if the viewer sees the idea behind the object. For instance, the photographer can reflect on such issues as consumerism or environmental responsibility. Importantly, although photographs can be easily reproduced, they can still be regarded as works of art as the photographer managed to capture the meaning.
In conclusion, it is necessary to stress that photography is a specific form of art that involves the use of technology. Danto’s view on artistic value helps in understanding photojournalism. Meaning and interpretation are elements of art. Hence, photographs that have hidden or explicit meanings are works of art. When people take pictures to capture memories, they use technology to reflect reality. When photographers capture meanings in the reflection of life, they create pieces of art.
Work Cited
Danto, Arthur C. What Art Is. Yale University Press, 2014.
The photographs made by Edward Weston (1886–1958) are selected for detailed analysis because this American photographer changed a traditional approach to viewing familiar natural and artificial objects. Weston’s remarkable aesthetics is grounded in representing ordinary objects and their parts as accentuated with the help of lighting and composition to make them change their initial meaning to the artistic one. In order to manipulate his images, Weston made black-and-white photographs with the help of a large-format camera, used specific lighting, and accentuated details, texture, and shapes (“Edward Weston”). Thus, Weston applied the techniques typical of a modernist style in his works. More attention should be paid to the analysis of Weston’s photographs and the comparison of their style to my photographs.
In the 1920s, Weston focused on depicting shells using a unique approach to presenting and interpreting their shape. In Shell (1927), the photographer takes a bold and high-contrast black-and-white image to accentuate the texture of a shell (“Edward Weston”). The background is deep and black to provide the frame for the shell with its emphasized gloss. Looking at the photograph, viewers pay attention to the shape and texture of the shell, and this image supports a series of Weston’s works that were discussed as representing phallic symbols and conveying erotic meanings. It is possible to agree that this photograph makes the audience interpret a familiar object from an alternative perspective, referring to one’s fantasy as it is rather difficult to recognize a shell in this photograph.
Two other photographs by Weston, Cabbage Leaf and Cabbage were made in the early part of the 1930s. The key techniques used by Weston are the same as it is in Shell (“Edward Weston”). The photographer continued to create high-contrast images where the major accent was on highlighted parts and the use of shades to accentuate the shape of cabbage and a cabbage leaf. Weston used light to make depicted objects bold and colored with reference to different shades of black presented against a deep dark background. As a result, the texture of natural cabbage was presented similarly to fabric and lace. Therefore, depicted cabbages are perceived as pieces of art or sculptures that require attention and provoke some melancholy and aesthetic satisfaction.
One of my photographs seems to imitate the style of Weston and his approach to manipulating light. The object in my black-and-white photograph looks like a kind of tubes, which texture is accentuated with the help of light, as it is in Weston’s photographs. As a result, a viewer cannot recognize the material of the object at first sight but becomes focused on its shape and the overall impression. I have learned this approach to presenting abstract things from Weston’s photographs. The use of contrasts in this photograph is similar to Weston’s technique in Cabbage Leaf (1931). However, in contrast to Weston’s photographs, the background in my work is not deeply black, but it is blurred. Thus, this technique accentuates softness of the image in comparison to boldness in Weston’s photographs. The overall mood is rather melancholic, and my photograph can mostly be associated with Weston’s Cabbage Leaf among the discussed works.
It is possible to conclude that Edward Weston was unique in representing his idea regarding abstract things through using real and well-known objects. He accentuated the beauty and subtle meanings of these objects applying black-and-white colors and light. I also chose to focus on black-and-white photography as most appropriate to emphasize some details of depicted objects while drawing viewers’ attention to them. Therefore, Weston’s works still remain influential sources of inspiration for young artists and photographers.
For this project to be carried out, eight pictures of a pool were used. Taken in the summer, the pictures represent a balance between suburbia and nature. In many ways, these pictures convey an important environmental message.
Thesis Statement
Because of the unique combination of urban background and the green elements, as well as the presence of such details as the cast iron, the change in the pictures of the pool not only shows how different an object may look in various settings and in different color casts, but also prompts a range of ideas about the frailty of nature, the notorious conflict of nature vs. nurture, and the meaning that different cultures attribute to colors.
Frailty Of Nature
Though each of the pictures was taken at a different time and from a different perspective, all of them display the delicate balance between the natural and the artificial. There is a certain touch of grace in the way that the two realms, the man-made and the natural ones, collide in these shots.
One of the most memorable pictures, the one in which the pool is viewed through an iron fence and across a gravel road displays the nature vs. nurture conflict, which has been discussed for ions and has yet not been resolved. The fence seems to represent the line drawn between the man-made world and nature. To make the metaphor even more impressive, the picture captures a small plant growing from under the gravel road.
Thus, despite concerning a change that occurred within a relatively small amount of time, the pictures under discussion make one think of a much greater change, i.e., the change that occurs to the environment as soon as the effects that the products of the civilization have on nature start taking their toll.
Comfort Of Suburbia
The pictures, however, also touch upon a range of topics apart from the environmental issues. In addition to providing a striking contrast between the realm of nature and the suburban universe, it also shows the transition from desertedness to coziness. Indeed, with all appreciation for nature, the first two pictures look very hostile, mostly because of the absence of details. The pool portrayed in the second, the third and the fifth pictures look as if it was carved from a dystopian universe and placed in the modern XXI century world.
After such elements as the fence, the sofa and the black beach beds were included, the place started taking a more hospitable form, with a few elements of a homelike atmosphere finally being introduced. In the given context, the red color may be interpreted as a transition to a warmer and a more inviting atmosphere.
Capturing Emotions
The pictures of the pool, though seemingly simple, stir an entire palette of emotions. Because of the pool being deserted in each of the shots, the spaciousness that borders emptiness creates a feeling of sadness.
The given impression is enhanced by the abundance of different shades of brown. This sadness is, however, mixed with the feeling of hope, which the blue elements, particularly, the pool and the sky, represent. Thus, the depressive urban atmosphere is mixed with the leisurely and relaxed one, thus, creating the feeling of soothing melancholy.
In some pictures, the seemingly incompatible colors create a very peculiar impression. For example, the alarmingly red sofa in the third picture might seem completely out of place when to put right next to the pool and being surrounded with pastel colors. The distractingly bright red color, however, serves a very interesting purpose in the given setting.
The contrast between the colors stresses the significance of choice between a comfortable environment and a more challenging one. One might argue that putting such a strong emphasis on the sofa is unreasonable, seeing how the given element represents a suburban and, therefore, more relaxed lifestyle. However, one might argue that the red color was used as a symbol of the danger that modern people put themselves into by taking a back seat to active struggle and indulging into the delight of suburban life.
The picture, therefore, stirs a range of very unsettling ideas about the impact that a man has on the Earth in general and on its flora and fauna in particular. While most of the pictures contribute to creating a very relaxing atmosphere because of the careful use of several shades of brown and grey colors, the given shot makes one ponder over people’s impact on the environment and, therefore, causes a feeling of anxiety in the viewer.
Conclusion
The pictures of the pool taken at a different time and from different angles help reveal some details concerning the suburbia, as well as the urban lifestyle in general. Despite the fact that the environmentalist message gets lost in the bright red color of the sofa in two of the pictures, the line between the natural and the man-made world has been drawing quite efficiently. Each of the pictures shows the two worlds in a very delicate balance and hints at the necessity to take care of both nature and the city.
Macro photography is not just a gift to see big in small things, but a kind of philosophy of life. A philosophy that makes it possible to discern in a pleasant trifle one of the eternal truths and in a subtle detail – a work of art. It is customary to call macro photography the shooting of objects comparable in size to the size of a film frame (sensor) or much smaller than it. Macro photography is no different from the usual one: here, one needs to focus in the same way, measure the exposure, set the aperture and shutter speed.
Technical and scientific photography can be an element of the research process or an illustration to it. You cannot do without macro photography when studying, say, entomology. It is safe to say that most of the scientists working in this scientific field are talented photographers (Entomology Today). Since the 1950s – 60s, such a genre of macro photography as the macro-still life has also been known. Taking photographs of curved reflective surfaces, as well as artificial and natural textures using various printing and photomontage techniques, has fascinated photographers for almost a century. Macro photography is developing in parallel with art photography and surreal photography. Art photography is infinitely far from realism. The more imagination the author puts into the depicted object, the closer he is to the genre of art photography. The attention of macro photographers to the cute little things of life is adjacent to the most insane experiments.
One should not strive for maximum increases. The most common mistake of amateur photographers is the desire to shoot larger. Experimenting in the genre of macro photography, one can feel like a theater director building a mise-en-scène. However, it should be stated that the scale of shooting should depend on the scene, not on the capabilities of your optical system.
Humanity cannot live without art, just as art is impossible without humans. Frank et al. note that “the desire to draw is as natural as desire to talk” (99). It is safe to say that humankind’s technological development and social processes are inevitably reflected in all forms and works of art. A striking example of this is the emergence of photography as a category of art after the invention of the camera.
As a phenomenon of the Art Nouveau era, it met with fierce criticism from traditional artists but was eventually accepted as an art form. Nowadays, photography is one of the most thriving and lively arts, which digital technologies and editing software have dramatically advanced. The purpose of this paper is to explain that photography is not its conceptual adversary but a continuation of traditional drawing and that the former shares a common genesis with the latter, namely the artists’ motivation.
Photography Pioneers’ Motivation
Photography was an innovative and rapidly developing technology in the late 1800s and the first half of the 20th century. It was perceived by the public and representatives of the traditional arts as just a mechanism. However, public prejudice has not stopped enthusiastic artists from using new devices to create prints. One of the functions of fine art before the Industrial Revolution was the most accurate and authentic depiction of reality.
According to Frank et al., “in the Western world especially, drawing has often been a key medium for recording events and improving skills” (97). Photography allowed artists not only to capture moments of reality without developing the skill of printmaking but also to change and supplement it in the process of photographing through lighting, posing, and exposure. The pioneers of photography, such as Alfred Stieglitz, were excited by photo cameras and saw a new meaning beyond the mechanism. Costello notes that “Stieglitz clearly believed that enlightened opinion had moved beyond this caricature by the end of the nineteen century” (6). It is what attracted photography enthusiasts at the time.
Alfred Stieglitz’s Equivalent
Alfred Stieglitz was the flagship of photographic art. The things that have always inspired him were clouds (Stanley 185). One of his best-known prints on the subject of clouds is Equivalent (Stieglitz). Through this print, he tries to convey the emotions of the moment he experienced in all its details (Stieglitz). He skillfully uses light and shadow to embellish details and the magnitude of the texture. Another technique he applies is chiaroscuro; he also manipulates value.
Through them, the artist conveys the movement of the clouds and catches the beholders’ eyes or, simply put, focuses their attention. Although his work and contribution to art now have a generally recognized status, his contemporaries criticized him back then. According to Oden, “even some of the original members of the Photo-Secession group turned against Stieglitz.” One of the reasons why the pioneers of photography have been criticized is the simplicity of the photography process compared to traditional printmaking. Taking a picture does not require advanced skills, so conservative artists did not consider photographs as objects with artistic value.
My Print and Stieglitz’s Equivalent
The Alfred Stieglitz’s Equivalent mentioned above significantly inspired the print I made. Namely, the way he depicts the complexity of the texture, the grandiose movement, and the depth of the clouds. I decided to capture their massiveness, monotony, and heaviness of snowfall. I believe I have successfully conveyed these qualities of winter clouds that I felt while taking a photo. Chiaroscuro gives volume and massiveness to the print as well as a sense of immersion for the audience. The color and value create the monotony of the print, while the focus makes the snowfall heavy in the eyes of the beholder. It can be said that, in some sense, this is my response to Stieglitz’s Equivalent. It is my gratitude to him for his contribution to the world of fine arts and photography. It is also a continuation of the Equivalent’s minor theme.
The captured clouds rush up towards the sun, but snow begins to fall, and they are thrown down with it on the ground. As I write these lines, I see parallels between these two prints and the Icarus myth.
Conclusion
This work explores the history of photography as an art, one of its pioneers, namely Alfred Stieglitz, and describes the print that was made. The reality remains the most important source of inspiration for artists. The educational background that I have and the work of Stieglitz prompted me to decide to capture the force of nature. It is winter season, and depicting snowfall is the best way to convey the beauty and power of the world around us. It was this thought process that determined the elements of the art of the print made. I believe that the photo and the self-reflection described above will help me on my path to becoming a professional artist.
Works Cited
Costello, Diarmuid. On Photography: A Philosophical Inquiry. Routledge, 2017.
Frank, Patrick, et al. Prebles’ Artforms. Pearson, 2018.
Oden, Lori. “Alfred Stieglitz.” International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum. Web.
Stanley, Kate. “Unrarified Air: Alfred Stieglitz and the Modernism of Equivalence.” Modernism/modernity, vol. 26, no. 1, 2019, pp. 185-212.
Stieglitz, Alfred. Equivalent. 1926. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The Met. Web.
Photography is one of the most expressive arts. A cleverly and skillfully taken picture is able to cause all kinds of emotions and feelings, it is able to inspire, mesmerise, captivate as well it is able to scare, depress or shock. Photography is an extremely powerful art. It has the capacity to manipulate people’s minds and opinions, put images and ideas in people’s heads, make them choose sides, have preferences, form points of views.
Photography captures the moments that are gone, portrays the reality of the past, and preserves the images that used to be real at the second when the photo was taken. This is why one of the special features photography possesses is the ability to cause nostalgia. The birth of photography happened in 1830s and immediately the opportunity of capturing the images and events of armed conflicts, battlefields and war started to be explored.1
The ability to present the photographs of reality happening at the front lines to the public and raise the social awareness of the horrifying events happening in the world was a new break through for many sphere of life such as politics, economy, mass media and public affairs.
There is a well known saying that one photograph is worth of a hundred words, and this is true, as the photos are able to communicate all the multiple layers of the reality presented in them. Photographed images strike us more deeply and more directly than any verbal descriptions. These days it is hard to imagine that there were times when the newspapers had no pictures in them and all the events were presented through long and detailed descriptions.
First time a photographer officially went to take photos of the battle fields was during the Crimean War in 1850s. It is needless to say that the equipment of the photographer of that time was very different from what modern war photographers carry with them. 1850s photo reporter was loaded with massive cameras made of wood, huge tripods of different sizes, boxes filled with glass plates and bottles filled with various chemicals, some of them very dangerous.2
All of these things were essential for a person, who intended to capture the images of the reality of their time. It also goes without saying that such heavy and inconvenient load of equipment could not possibly be carried by a human being, so the first war photographers had cars – vans that were hot and slow made the people in them perfect targets for the gunfire.
This is why initially the occupation of a war photographer was considered extremely dangerous and this is why the number of photographs capturing battlefields of that time is very small and they value is very high. There were many anonymous photographs taken at the battlefields, many people volunteered to catch the horrifying events on film during 1830s and 1840s during multiple bigger and smaller conflicts.
Officially the Crimean War was the first European conflict that was presented in large amount of photographic images. The name of one of the very first well known war photographers in our history is Roger Fenton. During the Crimean War this brave man willing to document the events of the war visited the cities of the Crimea and took many beautiful and memorable shots that are still being admired by the modern viewers.
In other words, The Crimean War was the place where the genre of War photography was born.3 To the modern eye the first photographs of wars are unimpressive and unexciting. Basically, for the contemporary audience those photos are just a pile of static images of buildings and posing soldiers or some landscapes with occasional cannon balls scattered around.
There are no photos of actions taken in the very middle of the heated battle, a military attack or dramatic explosions. This is easily explained by the exposure time available to the photographers of that time. Roger Fenton’s record was three seconds.4
Balaclava harbour by Roger Fenton.
The profession of a war photographer is hard not only in physical aspect. War photographers get to witness all kinds of horrors and shocks. Their lives are in constant danger and their bodies are under a lot of pressure. These people put everything at risk for the sake of an image, an image that will make people see the truth, the reality the way it is, and try to make the audience experience at least some small part of the huge range of emotions that the photographers experienced looking at the events through the lens of the camera.
The confessions of the war photographers strike with their drama and powerful feelings. Adam Fergusson, the war photographer who visited Afghanistan in 2009 says that being a photographer makes a person feel helpless, because after some awful bombing you see a shocking scene with many injured and dead people, suffering and crying is everywhere, soldiers are doing their job, medics are helping the people, everyone is saving someone, but only a photographer is there to take pictures. This creates a certain emotional trauma.
Fergusson says he felt sad after he won an award for the image he took at war, and his mind was rejecting the celebration caused by something tragic he had captured with his camera. The photographer Alvaro Ybarra Zavala, who went to Congo in 2008 admits that he often asks himself why he chose this occupation. His answer is that he wants to show the best and the worst faces of the humankind to the public.
Lynsey Addario, who worked in Libya during the conflict in 2011 and was taken hostage together with other photographers, says that the work of a war photographer takes a lot of talent, yet it takes even more luck. His friends were killed several weeks after he was released.
Addario mentions that when friends who also were doing the same job die, it makes you doubt your choice of a profession. Joao Silva lost his both legs after stepping on a landmine, yet he managed to capture the moment of his own explosion, the second when he was thrown up in the air. The profession of a war photographer takes a lot of passion and devotion. Silva says that most people think that photographers do it for the adrenaline, yet not many keep coming back to places like Iraq.
The photographer mentions that capturing firefights can be exciting, but photographing the consequences of a bomb dropping on a peaceful village, seeing dead children and mother crying over their bodies is horrible. War photographers have to intrude into the most private moments like that to give the world a chance to see those scenes.5
The world of photography is the world of various points of view. This is why it is very important who holds the camera. Sometimes the cleverly cropped image can be twisted to show the absolutely opposite version of the reality that was actually captured in that photo.
Photographers always have opinions, like any humans, yet they have to stay objective, they need to pull themselves together and take pictures of horrifying things, because war photographers function as the eyes of the whole world, they are the witnesses of important events the rest of the world must be able to see.
The profession of a war photographer is admirable and risky. Robert Capa, one of the first world renown war photographers, who worked during the Vietnam war and managed to document really shocking moments of battles and human sufferings, once said that the image can only be not good enough if the photographer is not standing close enough.6
The war in Vietnam has produced many striking and horrible images. Many war photographers went to document that war and all of the pictures taken there are still overwhelming for any viewer. They touch the hearts of the audience deeply and awake various emotions in them.
U. S. Marines in the Red Beach at Da Nang, 1965.
That war left not only scars on people’s bodies and souls, it also put a deep impression not only on the soldiers who fought there, but on the whole world. The work of photojournalists during that conflict has helped to demonstrated the heroism and bravery of the military workers, but also the fear and drama that happened in the families of the civilians that were touched and sucked into the merciless mechanism of war.7
A wounded soldier awaits medical evacuation in the Shau Valley.
Not many survived that tragedy, but the photos taken by the war journalists will always remind the humanity about the horrors of that time and of any war in general. Various sides of this conflict are shown in the photographs. There are executions of war prisoners, there are children and woman running away from a napalm attack, there are soldiers of various origins resting and smiling, preparing for battles, fighting, laying wounded or dead, sleeping in between the attacks, exhausted by the heat, pain and fear.
Women and children hiding from Viet Cong fire, 1966.
Looking at these photographs, I try to imagine the photographers behind that camera, what position did they take in that social group, what kind of feelings did they experience observing that scary reality, what kind of psychological or physical trauma could they end up having, how many of them did not survive the war, but managed to preserve valuable images that outlived them. It has been fifty years since the conflict began, yet the images are still shocking and painful to look at.8
War is a complicated event with many opinions and many sides, war is a horrible experience for everyone who had to face it, yet it is impossible to ignore the war, to close your eyes and pretend that it is not there. This is why the war photographers risk their lives in the middle of heated armed conflicts every day, to make the rest of the world see what they see.
An unidentified American soldier.
Reference List
An unidentified American soldier, 2013. Web.
A wounded soldier awaits medical evacuation in the Shau Valley, 2013. Web.
Photography, as a genre of art, took over Europe and the United States of America a long time ago. Famous photographers started to appear one after another as soon as photography gained its popularity. After that, various types of photography emerged, talented artists began to show and sell their most amazing works from the exhibitions.
New and new tendencies and fashion took over the generations of European and American photographers, while for the photographers of Arabic and Middle Eastern countries the art of taking pictures was still new. During the nineteen nineties, the first Arab photographers started to participate in the exhibitions and festivals of photography, yet they did not even have a category they would fit in. Arabic photography as a stream was non-existent back then. (Estrin, 2014, par. 6).
Though, according to the first findings, photography in the Arabic countries started to develop from the end of the nineteenth century. This was the time when the first photo studios began to appear. Tough the first people that were involved in this kind of business were non-Muslim. Islam did not approve of photography and the idea of taking a picture. Basically, having any artistic occupation as a profession and a source of income was considered to be not noble and embarrassing.
This is why not many young people would develop an interest in the art of learning photography. Though photography was not completely banned out of the region, the studios did exist. Back then, in Arabic countries, photography was not used as art, and it was not viewed from the esthetic point of view, it had other, more materialistic functions. For example, the salesmen would photograph their goods, the engineers or constructors would take pictures of their buildings and sites, doctors photographed bodies (Estrin 2014, par. 9).
Earlier all the photography of Arab countries, people, landscapes and buildings was taken by the travelling photographers, not by actual Arabic people. These days the situation is very different. The art of photography has taken a serious leap through the last several decades. This is why nowadays there are many talented photographers of Arabic origin, both males and females.
Arabic photographers, who specialise in taking photos of the locations and people living in the region, suggest a view from the inside of the Arabic society, the Arabic life the way no one normally sees it (Smith 2014, par. 10). On the photos by Samer Mohdad, we can see the children smiling at each other surrounded by the signs of destructions brought by the war and children gathering to learn Palestinian national dance called Debkeh.
“Children of the War”
In the modern world, there is a big interest in the development of contemporary arts in Arabic countries because there is little known about this subject (Reznik 2014, par. 4). Most of the modern Arab photographers grew up in Western Europe or the United States. This is why their works have a mixture of ideas and styles in them. These artists have more than one side – the Arabic side and the western side – due to this contradiction, their works turn out so interesting.
A great example of this type of artist is Hassan Hajjaj, who grew up in the UK, he is called Moroccan Andy Warhol for his bright patterns and unusual views, his works are recognisable because they stand out from the mass of other photographs, Hajjaj likes to play with the stereotype of an Arab person, their outfits, behaviour, locations.
“Kesh Angels”
Documentary photography is a quickly developing genre in modern Arab arts. Documentary photography is supposed to be objective, yet it always has a point of view. It is important for the Arabic countries that their stories are told to the world not from the point of view of a stranger or a newcomer, but from the point of view of an insider, someone who knows the situation closely, who have experienced it before, who is able to suggest a deeper and wiser look on the things.
In other words, in the genre of documentary photography, it is extremely important who is holding the camera (Shah 2013, par. 2). Otherwise, the scenes in the photos have a tendency to be misunderstood and misinterpreted, and the modern Middle East and the Arab world cannot allow more stereotypes and misinterpretations.
The contemporary female documentary photographers of Arabic and Middle Eastern countries took war and other women as the targets for their cameras. They offer a female approach towards war; they are looking for creation inside of the destruction. They produce sensitive and touching images of Arabic women of different kinds, ages and characters, show the sides of lives modern of Arabic ladies that the western world might still be unaware of.
“Untitled”“Alia, Beirut, Lebanon”
The western fascination towards the development of contemporary arts on the territory of Arabic countries is understandable, not much is known about the lifestyle and culture of those people, their life remains a big mystery filled with stereotypical ideas prejudices, and the more these prejudices are proven wrong, the stronger the fascination to know the truth and to learn more becomes.
Works Cited
Alia, Beirut, Lebanon, 2014. Web.
Children of the War, 2014, image. Web.
Estrin, J. 2014, An Inside View of Arab Photography. Web.
Kesh Angels, 2014, image. Web.
Reznik, E. 2014, Shining a Spotlight on Arab Artists, Fotofest Biennial Opens in Houston. Web.
Art has always been an integral part of the history of humanity. Serving as the way to express feelings and emotions, it had been developing according to new demands and methods which human beings created to practice in the art.
Photography appeared later than other known classic kinds of art, however, there is no use denying the fact. that it had obtained great importance and ability to impress people not less than some masterpieces of classical art. There are some photos which are known all over the world and which are not less popular than Mona Lisa or the Last Supper. These photos gave fame and popularity to photographs, who can be called real artists. One of such geniuses of photography was Lewis Hime.
Being born at the age of great changes and stresses, Lewis since his childhood was interested in the imprinting of some great moments of the history of American society. He had followed his dream and became one of the most outstanding American photographers of the 20th century.
Very often Lewis Hime is said to be the person who managed to document the age (The Orchard Movies). Due to his photos, people now have an idea about the erecting of the Empire State Building or the problem of child labor, or a huge wave of immigration which was peculiar for America of the 20th century.
In his works, Hime tried to show the moment and imprint the most important aspects of social life. His first works were devoted to the problem of immigration in the USA. He made photos of poor, depressed and lost people, which had nothing to eat and to wear, though hoping for a better future at least for their children.
Being not indifferent to problems of people and children, he devoted almost ten years of his lie making photos of horrible conditions under which people worked at plants. Moreover. the photo of a small girl, working at the factory has become a masterpiece which served as the manifest of the struggle with the child labor.
However, in 1920 the focus of his works changed. He showed not the conditions under which people worked. However, he tried to show the complexity and importance of the work they did. The main aim of these photos was to inspire the rest of the workers, promote the appearance of the spirit of unity and pride for their work. This idea coincided with the main aim of the majority of journals of that time. They tried to develop cooperation between workers and in this way, increase their loyalty to a firm (Seixas 400).
That is why the majority of magazines willingly printed Himes works on their pages (Brown 136). Being popular, Hime influenced the selling of these issues, is the best advertising for them. Magazines which had the work of Lewis Hime on their pages were sold out. Works of Lewis Hime could be seen everywhere and he was one of the most saleable photographs of that age.
In conclusion, it should be said, that being a brilliant photographer, Hime promoted the development of such feelings like pride and appreciation of their work among people. His works were printed in a great number of different journals, which had their own purposes. However, these journals influenced greatly increase in Lewis Himes popularity. The beginning of the 20th century is characterized by the art of Lewis Hime and to a large extent, we now have the image of this age due to his works.
Works Cited
Brown, Elspeth. The Corporate Eye: Photography and the Rationalization of American Commercial Culture, 1884-1929 (Studies in Industry and Society). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. Print.
Seixas, Peter. “Lewis Hine: From ‘Social’ to Interpretive Photographer”. American Quarterly 39.3 (1987): 381 – 409. Print
The Orchard Movies. “America and Lewis Hine”. Online video clip. YouTube. 2014. Web.
