Havener - Photography After Frank: The Staged Document

The Staged Document:

Photography used to be only black and white in the 1970’s but by the middle of the 80’s color came into the picture.

Photographic Icons: Fact, Fiction, or Metaphor?

This section talks about how photographs are sometimes seen as facts, fiction or even metaphors. In newspapers and in photojournalism, photos are used, as facts to accurately show what happened whereas the photos used for advertisement are fiction. A photo used as a metaphor is defined as the truth being approximated in the renderings of a more poetics or symbolic nature. Some examples of this would be rearranging the subject matter to create an idealized scene such as Mathew Brady’s photos of the Civil War bodies. A metaphorical photo could also be representing an event by recreating it after it already occurred like the photo of Rosa Parks that was taken a year after she refused to give up her seat. A question the author poses is if doing a second-take for the photo changes the reality of the event. I think now with all of the editing we have the ability to use, it opens up the field for great photography but it also does make photos less realistic and no longer exactly how the scene was seen in the moment.

The Picnic That Never Was:

This section talks about a photographer named Beate Gutschow who would take pictures of different subjects such as trees and grass and then would construct them into one photo. Therefore each section of the photograph was authentic and a real thing she saw but the overall scene was made up. Each of her images is constructed from up to thirty different photographs. She uses her computer to create these scenes by working with the pictures she has taken rather than starting out with an ideal image in her head. Like many photographers, she is blurring the difference between artists who use photography and photographers who make art.

As Unpretty as a Picture:

This section is about the relationship between photography and painting and how it has changed over the years. Artist Eric Fischl has used the influence of photography for his paintings. To create each piece he takes thousands of photographs and then using Photshop, moves difference parts of the photos into one image. He then uses these reconstructed photographs to create his series of paintings. The subject Fischl always choses to photograph are those of the middle class which he has always found the most intriguing. His style is to depict real-life scenes where the viewer is placed in the same position the photographer would have been while also showcasing lives that are appealing and attractive but shallow.

Moments in Time, Yet Somehow in Motion:

This section focuses on photographer JoAnn Verburg who is known for her narrative diptychs and triptychs that help prolong the experience. Verburg uses her photos to the passage of time as well as exploring how to extend time through photography. One example is these photos that show then and now comparisons of boulders, trees and riverbeds. Verburg lets herself go wherever her impulses lead her and doesn’t set out with a certain idea but instead lets photos lead into other photos.

Robert Polidori: In the Studio:

This section focuses on Rober Polidori who is a photographer known for his bold, color-saturated architectural images. He says that unlike architectural photography he is interested in capturing how buildings and structures interact with the people around them versus documenting the structure itself. His work has been used for both photojournalism as well as art photography. Polidori originally fell in love with photography through cinema and started with no photography education. His process includes using negative film and then scanning the image before playing around with editing it in Photoshop. When he takes photos, for him it is not about trying to document another moment but taking them and then later discovering details he had never noticed before.

A Young Man with An Eye, and Friends Up a Tree:

Young photographer Ryan McGinley started taking photographs while still in college of his friends doing an array of different things. A visual aspect that can be seen in these photos is motion. McGinley believes that editing is just as good as shooting and his graphic design background helped him do so making his work a combination of photographic art and graphic art. A theme that is seen in many of his photos is the communal experience since many of his pieces feature his friends from different adventures they embarked on. He also tries to make his photos show spontaneity as well as a celebration of life’s beauty.