Documentary Photography

Documentary Photography

Documentary Photography does not lend itself to simple categorisation - it is polysemic and can be construed in many different ways. In simple terms it can be said to portray the "real world" and provide insight into lives of people at given points throughout time. Martha Rosler characterised Documentary Photography as "a practice with a past" 

The main elements of rhetoric revolving around this subject involve the amounts of truth that photographs proffer, in terms of the visual, social and psychological realities of the subject(s) portrayed. Investigating the verisimilitude of photographs calls into question the part that photographers play in the arrangement of content, however Liz Wells questions: "Cannot something arranged or set-up offer us an authentic insight into the nature of things?"

Another factor which is particularly analysed in the Documentary Photography discourse is that of the personal integrity and moralistic values of the photographer. For example, American social reformists such as Hine and Riis depicted The Other, (an unfamiliar group/society/location - that being the lower/working class in this context) in a conscious bid to evoke sympathy and compassion for them, from people of their own (upper) class. A critical view of this style of photography would suggest that it allows photographers to "position(ing) themselves within the hierarchy above The Other." (Peter Quartermine, in Wells, 1996) and thus is exploitative as it almost pedestals them and puts them on display as something to be stared or "gazed" - a sort of spectacle and thus Documentary Photography can be described as a "power" which "disciplines" or "naturalises" the frightening or the strange (Wells, 1996, P.71) These photographers could be said to be unethical due to their prying nature and invasive practice, however, the point of the photographs were to highlight poor social conditions and encourage change.

Travel photography also provided examples of The Other including depictions of 

I believe that photographs and documentary, although only depicting constructed representations, can still provide elements of truth- perhaps the beginnings of a truth- for the viewer/audience to explore further should they wish to do so. This is based on the assumption that audiences recognise photographs as mere representations and not reality. 


The Photography Reader: Liz Wells

Notes in own words

Introduction p. 252

• Documentary and Photo Journalism: Documentary Photography, according to Mayer, cited in Wells, "draws information together to make a point, just as journalists draw upon notes and interviews in order to weave a story, and documentary film-makers utilise narrative conventions and editing processes."
• Fundamental Issues according to Wells are "ethical, relating primarily not to questions of naturalistic accuracy, but to seriousness of purpose, detail and depth of research, and to the integrity of story telling." She also posits that debates on documentary also focus on authenticity.
• "The term "Documentary" was coined by Scottish film-maker, John Grierson, in 1926, to designate work based upon the 'creative interpretation of reality.'"
• Documentary-style street photography dates from the mid 1860s - Thomas Annan in Glasgow, John Thomson in London, Jacob Riis in New York
• Middle and Upper Class photographers sought images of the poor for purposes of: curiosity, philanthropy and sociology, but also policing and social control, according to Sylvia Harvey (1986: 28)

• Added to by John Tagg who ascertained that it was not a privilege to be photographed, but a means of surveillance, record and control. According to Tagg, to document the 'other' was to stigmatise them, and limit them to an arena where they could be seen but not heard. Those taking the photo's were could construct the image and produce certain meanings, dependent upon their respective intentions; thereby rendering the subject powerless once more. 
• Documentary Movements of 1930's: Humphrey Spender, Mass Observation and Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange of the Farm Security Administration.
• Giselle Freund comments that as a "reader's outlook expanded" through the increasing ability to access photographs of the other "the world began to shrink." p. 253
• Susan Sontag suggests that photographs give us an unearned sense of familiarity with and knowledge about the world (1979)
• Photographs reflect points of views and sets of attitudes.
• The codes and conventions of Photojournalism are effected by the social and political practices of news production and circulation. Perhaps this is to say that certain images are constructed in a way so as to comment on these issues, thus separating them from the discourse of Documentary Photography.
• 70's/80's Photography: concerns on representation and philosophy of subject/object, viewer/viewed and ideas of verisimilitude in documentary, as well as the impartiality of the viewer.
• The photographer seen as observer/framer of image; his creativity stemming from the recognition of the 'telling moment' or 'decisive moment', as emphasized by Cartier-Bresson, which refers to the point at which aesthetic composition and subject matter come together.
• Bill Jay maintains that photographers are willing to abandon good behaviour for the sake of an image.
• Susan Sontag compares capturing a moment in time to the "load" "aim" "shoot" method in the military, carrying forceful connotations, thus linking in with Bill Jay's notion of the photographer as an 'aggressor'
• 1970's = interested in context of creation, intentions/power of photographer, and meaning shift/change in different viewing contexts. WHO photographed who, WHAT circumstances/ways and WHY?
• 1970's = Archive photographs and documentation of taken-for-granted social histories were evidence of ways of life. Interrogated class relations due to these archive photographs. Photography projects set up to encourage people to explore locality and social relations (class/locality/gender/ethnicity) empowered the makers of these images.

John Tagg

Notes:

• Summation by Wells: Deals with photographs used as evidence/questions documentary attitudes and practices. Draws attention to uses of images as documents within government disciplinary systems. Archive photographs used to assert authority and power. Maintains that photography has  no identity but formed through play of various discourses.

Martha Rosler

Notes:

• Summation by Wells: Argues that aestheticised/marketable images have become part of the genre documentary, rather than part of a politics. Photographs of the poor and lowly subjects used more as liberal/moral rhetoric than political activism. The role and responsibilities of the photographer.

Lisa Henderson

Notes:

• Summation by Wells: "anthropology of visual communication." situation/responsibilities of photographer with regards to social interaction/hierarchy and attitude of photographer. Exploitative relations between subject/documenter dependent on class structures and context of image publishing.

John Berger

Notes:  

• Summation by Wells: 1970's debate about the status of photographs as evidence of events. Concerns of 'image fatigue' - public becomes immune to images of a distressing nature thus leading to highly explicit imagery to attract attention. John Berger proposes that violent imagery, universalizes the idea of suffering rather than drawing attention to specific events; evoking moral inadequacy rather than political proactivity.

Karin E. Becker

Notes:

• Summation by Wells: Brief historical outline of Photojournalism and focuses on context/uses of images, especially those by picture editors and art directors. Also hones in on photography in tabloid press.

Edmundo Desnoes

Notes:

• Summation by Wells: Considers images of Central America in terms of meaning, semiotic systems and materiality of signs; taking into account first world/third world perspectives. The way in which photographs reinforce ideas over all discourses (travel photography, art practices, advertising, fashion, photojournalism and documentary)