The quote that really spoke to me was Milan Kundera's from "Slowness."I feel like this relates not only to photography and the making of pictures, but also the mindset I have to be in to take this course. I know sometimes I have a lot of things to do and to accomplish in a given day, and I knew going in, that this class would be fun but also have a large time commitment, and I need to realize that great things will be accomplished if I slow down. I feel like not only with knowing that the perfect moment to take a picture will come with time, and my skills will improve over time, and hopefully, with that slowness I will not only create great and lasting memories for myself, but also for others with the pictures I take. I feel like a lot of times people, including myself, miss so much by living life fast paced, and photos are a tool to remember details we never comprehended or paid attention to in the first place. I am hoping that when people look at photographs they will slow down for a moment,realize the beauty in detail and everyday life,and realize that maybe the fast paced world that we live in is just conducive to forgetting negative incidents that maybe shouldn't be forgotten. Photos are the means for documenting life... good and bad. If we just all slowed down, through photography, things would be better in our lives and the world.
The quote that I was most drawn to was Bernhard’s. Overall, I think Bernhard’s points hold a lot of truths but they are very exaggerated. I can’t believe he calls photography the greatest disaster of the 20th century—what about aids? He also calls photography the most inhumane of all arts. I think to simplify seeing photography as something inhumane is to look at it from what mass culture has created. Yes, for the most part, I think humanity (specifically the Westernized world) has transformed photography into something inhumane, especially for younger generations, but, as a whole, it is we that have made it often grotesque. In our times, I think one of the biggest examples of this is looking at the way people use photography not only to chronicle their life and form an image, but also to construct a story for themselves for the world to see, often via facebook or myspace. I think photography in the way mass culture uses it has become a tool that has allowed the “Me Generation” to emerge—that is youth that has become so overwhelmed by advertisements and media that they become followers and use the camera almost as a tool for their own creation. In other words, they not only say this is what I look like and this is how I live, they say, this is who I am.
Still, I think Bernhard’s argument that photography is “a sickness that inflicts the whole of humanity” is wrong. Photography, while also giving rise to “dolls, disfigured beyond recognition,” has allowed us to see the world even if we do not have a means of traveling. It has allowed us to see a glimpse, a moment of how other people live and look, and has also been, as mentioned in class, a tool of bringing social awareness and change. Sure not everyone who sees a picture of the crisis in Darfur is moved enough to actively help, but overall, photographs are one of the primary tools that have not only made events in the world real to us through visual means, but that have made this concept of a world outside that which we personally experience real as well. I agree that unless the person does not know you are photographing them that a photograph cannot reveal a genuine person, but I feel that no art form reveals something genuine in the sense that Bernhard speaks of. Art is a construction of a moment in time displayed as the artist chooses. And while a photographer may not be able to capture a genuine smile from his subject, if engaging with him/her, through the experience he/she may come close. And who knows, while a genuine sense of the person cannot be captured in the photo, perhaps a genuine experience can.
The quote that I really connect with is Barthes' pertaining to his search for and success in finding his mother in a photograph. My favorite photographs are candid portraits (not to say that Barthes is referring to candid photos of his mother, but his quote made me think of them). Candids have the ability to catch someone off-guard; so off-guard that they have absolutely no time to sensor themselves--the raw truth shines through, along with a tiny little bit of their soul exposed(not to sound creepy or cliche). I think it is so real when you catch a laugh or anger or contentment--in that moment this person is entirely true.
I also think Barthes' attempt to find his mother in a photograph, after her death, is something we can all relate to, whether it be in a family member or a beloved pet, or an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, or best friend. We can reconnect with a person or place or thing that we miss by looking at an image of it. Each image represents a memory, and each memory forces us to time-travel back to this moment and relive it. This is one of the reasons I think that photography is so powerful and potent. Since life consists of moment after moment--it is exciting to have an artform that helps to revisit the moments of the past.
The quote by John Berger stood out to me in particular because it reminds me that photography is an art form. In this day and age, I believe that many people forget that. Rather, people think of photography as “taking pictures” and “documenting an event”. However, John Berger points out that photography is not just a mechanical record of events—photographs include the perspectives and ideas of the photographer. Many times, I look over pictures taken at a party or event, but they do not always resemble what I remember of the event. The same people and places are there, of course, but small nuances might be “off” from what I remember. That’s because I didn’t take the photographs; someone else did. As a result, I am looking at a visual representation of their perspective, their experiences. As Berger mentioned, the photographer makes choices, including that of the subject matter, that allows us to glimpse into the mind of the photographer and see the world as he or she sees it. I believe it is important in this day and age to take a step back and remember that we see things through another’s eyes through art, such as photography—especially when so many people, especially in Western societies, focus on their own selves, how they see the world, how they interact with their environment, etc.
Additionally, Berger helps validate photography as an art form (rather than documentary device) through his comparison of photography to painting. Like the artist uses paint and brushes to create an art image, the photographer uses a camera to create an image from his or her perspectives. The photographer chooses aspects such as subject, lighting, camera speed, etc. in order to piece together and create a work of art. By considering photography as an art form, one can step back from the photograph as being a moment in time caught on paper at the sudden push of a button, but rather as an image given thought, time, effort, and creativity assembled by the photographer. This way of seeing the world forces us to take a step back from our own busy lives to see the world through someone else’s eyes—not just what we would have seen if we had been there in that moment, because we might have focused on something else entirely had we been there at that moment.
I connected with the WG Sebald quote from Austerlitz. Sebald seems to be interested in the power created by capturing and processing memories on film, and its relationship to our own struggle to preserve and understand our memories. When I take photos, it is usually during a moment I don’t want to forget, a memory that I feel needs to be documented—for example, a friend’s wild birthday party, or even something simple like a really pretty sunset. Sebald is commenting on the magic photography seems to work on us; by creating “shadows of reality,” we can revisit these memories easily and (hopefully) accurately.
I also really like how Sebald’s quote only pertains to photography that we must physically develop ourselves—we get to be a part of how these memories are preserved—something that isn’t felt when we upload digital photos. This goes back to the idea of “making pictures” rather than “taking pictures" that we discussed in class. The “exposed paper” he describes could almost be compared to a ‘memory petri dish’ in a sense, blank at first but developing vividly. Sebald expresses that he feels “especially entranced” by developing photos, and I hope I feel the same as we as a class learn to do this!
'There I was, alone in the apartment where she had died, looking at these pictures of my mother, one by one, under the lamp, gradually moving back in time with her, looking for the truth of the face I had loved, And I found it.' -Roland Barthes, the opening of the 28th section in Camera Lucida.
The fact that Barthes claims to have found truth in looking at photographs of his mother illuminates the extent to which we see photographs as actual representations of our world. It's very strange to me that people hold on to these pieces of paper as tangible memories that are almost as important--or, in some cases, as important--as the actual event or person depicted within the picture. Barthes's sentiment that he's actually moving through time with his deceased mother suggests that he attributes more power to the photographs than we usually give them; his memory of his mother may exist within the pictures, but to what extent? How does his memory of his mother differ when he isn't looking at a photograph? How would his memory alter if he were never to see another photograph of her again? Does constantly seeing reminders of his mother weaken or cheapen his actual memory of her?
The quote I found myself connected with was Jeanette Winterson's. Studying a great deal of Winterson's works, art is a prevalent theme throughout each of her stories.
"…A spirit of exploration, relationship, and involvement," this line particularly seemed to be referring to photography. Through photography we get to explore and capture what others dare to dream, as photographers, we will get to invoke in a special relationship between the photo and ourselves. It is something we get to call our own. It is something we have complete involvement and control over. It is ours.
Winterson also mentions that art restores to us creative attention. In times where everyone seems to be so busy and distracted, Winterson notes that even for a moment, you are captured by art and art restores the creative attention we had been missing. It is powerful. Without words, photography invites us to “look, listen, and feel.” It asks for nothing in return other than to be looked at. Photography is not in it for the buy-sell relationship. It just wants us to take the time to look, to listen, and to feel the message it is delivering.
“Art reconnects what the market place tries to separate.” Instead of being portrayed as art being about looking, listening, and feeling, the market place tries to break down the value and make art solely about buying and selling. We need to look past that and look at the real message of art. This quote by Winterson is extremely compelling and I agree with her thoughts completely.
Every image embodies a way of seeing. Even a photograph. For photographs are not, as is so often assumed, a mechanical record. The photographer's way of seeing is reflected in choice of subject. The painter's way of seeing is reconstituted by the marks made on the canvas or paper.
The point that John Berger makes in this passage (other than to simply legitimize photography as an art form) can be applied to almost anything. The intense variance of perspective communicated through photography, paint & canvas, and drawing/sketching is not limited to the arts. Language, body/facial expression, and music (among a plethora of others)are also mediums through which an individual is able to convey his or her unique understanding of the world.
I like that Berger uses this universality of perspective to promote photography as artistic (not mechanical) and unique in its method of portraying a photographer's perspective by comparing it to other, less recent art forms (painting, drawing). In so doing, he (from his own unique perspective) points out how photography is not completely different from these older modes of art-making in that it is a way of seeing. This is an interesting juxtaposition.
Roland Barthes quote on the opening of the 28th section in camera Lucida really stood out to me. While reading this quote it reminded me of class last week and how we talked about how we often think a picture of say our mom is actually our mom and not just an image of her. Barthes said he was looking for the truth of the face he had loved, and a photograph can capture that moment in time where a person shows their true self and emotions. Like many people I have lost loved ones both family and friends so I can really relate to Barthes quote. A photograph not only creates an image of someone or something, but it can also recreate a memory that one has shared with that person. A photograph can also remind you of a person’s personality. For example a good friend of mine died last year, and every time I would look at pictures of him, I didn’t just see an image of him, I was reminded of the good times that we had together, and how his smile and personality could light up an entire room. Its things like this that can make a photograph special and meaningful. One person can look at a photograph and feel nothing, where as another person can look at the same photograph and smile because they are reminded of good memories.
"In my photographic work I was always especially entranced, said Austerlitz, by the moment when the shadows of reality so to speak, emerge out of nothing on the exposed paper, as memories do the the middle of the night, darkening again if you try to cling to them, just like the photographic print left in the developing bath too long." -WG Sebald, from Austerlitz
This quote touched me the most because of the romanticism within it. Photography has the unique ability to capture a single moment, otherwise forgotten- that glimpse of a smile, the instant the sun tucked behind the clouds to create the perfect stream of light, the tear as it fell from your cheek... Whatever the moment, it would have otherwise been lost with out the permanence and instantaneousness of photography. I am most excited to work in the darkroom and experience these shadows "emerge." It will be like reliving these amazing moments over again, as simple shapes develop into a memory that you will hold on to forever. This quote also struck me because it questions the permanence of the image; the thought that just as quickly it is created, it can be ruined. It makes you cherish the memory, as well as the photograph even more. Just as the memory and image was created by the aligning of very specific elements, the print itself has to be created by very specific actions by the person developing it.
The quote that really spoke to me was Milan Kundera's from "Slowness."I feel like this relates not only to photography and the making of pictures, but also the mindset I have to be in to take this course. I know sometimes I have a lot of things to do and to accomplish in a given day, and I knew going in, that this class would be fun but also have a large time commitment, and I need to realize that great things will be accomplished if I slow down. I feel like not only with knowing that the perfect moment to take a picture will come with time, and my skills will improve over time, and hopefully, with that slowness I will not only create great and lasting memories for myself, but also for others with the pictures I take. I feel like a lot of times people, including myself, miss so much by living life fast paced, and photos are a tool to remember details we never comprehended or paid attention to in the first place. I am hoping that when people look at photographs they will slow down for a moment,realize the beauty in detail and everyday life,and realize that maybe the fast paced world that we live in is just conducive to forgetting negative incidents that maybe shouldn't be forgotten. Photos are the means for documenting life... good and bad. If we just all slowed down, through photography, things would be better in our lives and the world.
ReplyDeleteThe quote that I was most drawn to was Bernhard’s. Overall, I think Bernhard’s points hold a lot of truths but they are very exaggerated. I can’t believe he calls photography the greatest disaster of the 20th century—what about aids? He also calls photography the most inhumane of all arts. I think to simplify seeing photography as something inhumane is to look at it from what mass culture has created. Yes, for the most part, I think humanity (specifically the Westernized world) has transformed photography into something inhumane, especially for younger generations, but, as a whole, it is we that have made it often grotesque. In our times, I think one of the biggest examples of this is looking at the way people use photography not only to chronicle their life and form an image, but also to construct a story for themselves for the world to see, often via facebook or myspace. I think photography in the way mass culture uses it has become a tool that has allowed the “Me Generation” to emerge—that is youth that has become so overwhelmed by advertisements and media that they become followers and use the camera almost as a tool for their own creation. In other words, they not only say this is what I look like and this is how I live, they say, this is who I am.
ReplyDeleteStill, I think Bernhard’s argument that photography is “a sickness that inflicts the whole of humanity” is wrong. Photography, while also giving rise to “dolls, disfigured beyond recognition,” has allowed us to see the world even if we do not have a means of traveling. It has allowed us to see a glimpse, a moment of how other people live and look, and has also been, as mentioned in class, a tool of bringing social awareness and change. Sure not everyone who sees a picture of the crisis in Darfur is moved enough to actively help, but overall, photographs are one of the primary tools that have not only made events in the world real to us through visual means, but that have made this concept of a world outside that which we personally experience real as well. I agree that unless the person does not know you are photographing them that a photograph cannot reveal a genuine person, but I feel that no art form reveals something genuine in the sense that Bernhard speaks of. Art is a construction of a moment in time displayed as the artist chooses. And while a photographer may not be able to capture a genuine smile from his subject, if engaging with him/her, through the experience he/she may come close. And who knows, while a genuine sense of the person cannot be captured in the photo, perhaps a genuine experience can.
The quote that I really connect with is Barthes' pertaining to his search for and success in finding his mother in a photograph. My favorite photographs are candid portraits (not to say that Barthes is referring to candid photos of his mother, but his quote made me think of them). Candids have the ability to catch someone off-guard; so off-guard that they have absolutely no time to sensor themselves--the raw truth shines through, along with a tiny little bit of their soul exposed(not to sound creepy or cliche). I think it is so real when you catch a laugh or anger or contentment--in that moment this person is entirely true.
ReplyDeleteI also think Barthes' attempt to find his mother in a photograph, after her death, is something we can all relate to, whether it be in a family member or a beloved pet, or an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, or best friend. We can reconnect with a person or place or thing that we miss by looking at an image of it. Each image represents a memory, and each memory forces us to time-travel back to this moment and relive it. This is one of the reasons I think that photography is so powerful and potent. Since life consists of moment after moment--it is exciting to have an artform that helps to revisit the moments of the past.
The quote by John Berger stood out to me in particular because it reminds me that photography is an art form. In this day and age, I believe that many people forget that. Rather, people think of photography as “taking pictures” and “documenting an event”. However, John Berger points out that photography is not just a mechanical record of events—photographs include the perspectives and ideas of the photographer. Many times, I look over pictures taken at a party or event, but they do not always resemble what I remember of the event. The same people and places are there, of course, but small nuances might be “off” from what I remember. That’s because I didn’t take the photographs; someone else did. As a result, I am looking at a visual representation of their perspective, their experiences. As Berger mentioned, the photographer makes choices, including that of the subject matter, that allows us to glimpse into the mind of the photographer and see the world as he or she sees it. I believe it is important in this day and age to take a step back and remember that we see things through another’s eyes through art, such as photography—especially when so many people, especially in Western societies, focus on their own selves, how they see the world, how they interact with their environment, etc.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, Berger helps validate photography as an art form (rather than documentary device) through his comparison of photography to painting. Like the artist uses paint and brushes to create an art image, the photographer uses a camera to create an image from his or her perspectives. The photographer chooses aspects such as subject, lighting, camera speed, etc. in order to piece together and create a work of art. By considering photography as an art form, one can step back from the photograph as being a moment in time caught on paper at the sudden push of a button, but rather as an image given thought, time, effort, and creativity assembled by the photographer. This way of seeing the world forces us to take a step back from our own busy lives to see the world through someone else’s eyes—not just what we would have seen if we had been there in that moment, because we might have focused on something else entirely had we been there at that moment.
I connected with the WG Sebald quote from Austerlitz. Sebald seems to be interested in the power created by capturing and processing memories on film, and its relationship to our own struggle to preserve and understand our memories. When I take photos, it is usually during a moment I don’t want to forget, a memory that I feel needs to be documented—for example, a friend’s wild birthday party, or even something simple like a really pretty sunset. Sebald is commenting on the magic photography seems to work on us; by creating “shadows of reality,” we can revisit these memories easily and (hopefully) accurately.
ReplyDeleteI also really like how Sebald’s quote only pertains to photography that we must physically develop ourselves—we get to be a part of how these memories are preserved—something that isn’t felt when we upload digital photos. This goes back to the idea of “making pictures” rather than “taking pictures" that we discussed in class. The “exposed paper” he describes could almost be compared to a ‘memory petri dish’ in a sense, blank at first but developing vividly. Sebald expresses that he feels “especially entranced” by developing photos, and I hope I feel the same as we as a class learn to do this!
'There I was, alone in the apartment where she had died, looking at these pictures of my mother, one by one, under the lamp, gradually moving back in time with her, looking for the truth of the face I had loved, And I found it.'
ReplyDelete-Roland Barthes, the opening of the 28th section in Camera Lucida.
The fact that Barthes claims to have found truth in looking at photographs of his mother illuminates the extent to which we see photographs as actual representations of our world. It's very strange to me that people hold on to these pieces of paper as tangible memories that are almost as important--or, in some cases, as important--as the actual event or person depicted within the picture. Barthes's sentiment that he's actually moving through time with his deceased mother suggests that he attributes more power to the photographs than we usually give them; his memory of his mother may exist within the pictures, but to what extent? How does his memory of his mother differ when he isn't looking at a photograph? How would his memory alter if he were never to see another photograph of her again? Does constantly seeing reminders of his mother weaken or cheapen his actual memory of her?
The quote I found myself connected with was Jeanette Winterson's. Studying a great deal of Winterson's works, art is a prevalent theme throughout each of her stories.
ReplyDelete"…A spirit of exploration, relationship, and involvement," this line particularly seemed to be referring to photography. Through photography we get to explore and capture what others dare to dream, as photographers, we will get to invoke in a special relationship between the photo and ourselves. It is something we get to call our own. It is something we have complete involvement and control over. It is ours.
Winterson also mentions that art restores to us creative attention. In times where everyone seems to be so busy and distracted, Winterson notes that even for a moment, you are captured by art and art restores the creative attention we had been missing. It is powerful. Without words, photography invites us to “look, listen, and feel.” It asks for nothing in return other than to be looked at. Photography is not in it for the buy-sell relationship. It just wants us to take the time to look, to listen, and to feel the message it is delivering.
“Art reconnects what the market place tries to separate.” Instead of being portrayed as art being about looking, listening, and feeling, the market place tries to break down the value and make art solely about buying and selling. We need to look past that and look at the real message of art. This quote by Winterson is extremely compelling and I agree with her thoughts completely.
I enjoyed John Berger's quote:
ReplyDeleteEvery image embodies a way of seeing. Even a photograph. For photographs are not, as is so often assumed, a mechanical record. The photographer's way of seeing is reflected in choice of subject. The painter's way of seeing is reconstituted by the marks made on the canvas or paper.
The point that John Berger makes in this passage (other than to simply legitimize photography as an art form) can be applied to almost anything. The intense variance of perspective communicated through photography, paint & canvas, and drawing/sketching is not limited to the arts. Language, body/facial expression, and music (among a plethora of others)are also mediums through which an individual is able to convey his or her unique understanding of the world.
I like that Berger uses this universality of perspective to promote photography as artistic (not mechanical) and unique in its method of portraying a photographer's perspective by comparing it to other, less recent art forms (painting, drawing). In so doing, he (from his own unique perspective) points out how photography is not completely different from these older modes of art-making in that it is a way of seeing. This is an interesting juxtaposition.
Roland Barthes quote on the opening of the 28th section in camera Lucida really stood out to me. While reading this quote it reminded me of class last week and how we talked about how we often think a picture of say our mom is actually our mom and not just an image of her. Barthes said he was looking for the truth of the face he had loved, and a photograph can capture that moment in time where a person shows their true self and emotions. Like many people I have lost loved ones both family and friends so I can really relate to Barthes quote. A photograph not only creates an image of someone or something, but it can also recreate a memory that one has shared with that person. A photograph can also remind you of a person’s personality. For example a good friend of mine died last year, and every time I would look at pictures of him, I didn’t just see an image of him, I was reminded of the good times that we had together, and how his smile and personality could light up an entire room. Its things like this that can make a photograph special and meaningful. One person can look at a photograph and feel nothing, where as another person can look at the same photograph and smile because they are reminded of good memories.
ReplyDelete"In my photographic work I was always especially entranced, said Austerlitz, by the moment when the shadows of reality so to speak, emerge out of nothing on the exposed paper, as memories do the the middle of the night, darkening again if you try to cling to them, just like the photographic print left in the developing bath too long."
ReplyDelete-WG Sebald, from Austerlitz
This quote touched me the most because of the romanticism within it. Photography has the unique ability to capture a single moment, otherwise forgotten- that glimpse of a smile, the instant the sun tucked behind the clouds to create the perfect stream of light, the tear as it fell from your cheek... Whatever the moment, it would have otherwise been lost with out the permanence and instantaneousness of photography. I am most excited to work in the darkroom and experience these shadows "emerge." It will be like reliving these amazing moments over again, as simple shapes develop into a memory that you will hold on to forever.
This quote also struck me because it questions the permanence of the image; the thought that just as quickly it is created, it can be ruined. It makes you cherish the memory, as well as the photograph even more. Just as the memory and image was created by the aligning of very specific elements, the print itself has to be created by very specific actions by the person developing it.