A picture is worth a thousand words (or more), but who is to say that these words are sufficient enough to explain what the photograph means? Successful photography, like any other successful form of art, will evoke a reaction through each piece specific to the particular individual viewing the photograph therefore my explanation of Walker Evans' photograph below may differ from another individuals explanation. For instance, when I look at the photographs below, I look at it as Evans trying to illustrate how even if this town(s) has a variety of services advertised, they are not necessarily being utilized, possibly due to lack of money from the towns people to partake in aquiring any of these services. While someone else may not even see this photograph as being anything more that Evans stumbling upon a scene that appeared to be an attractive shot and because he had a camera he took advantage of the moment and snapped a quick picture.
It is not necessarily a mistake to trust a photograph, one must simply realize that what one may see in the photograph is not going to be what everyone else sees in it. One must also be aware of the fact that some people take photographs that may bend how we perceive reality, or bend how the story behind the photograph to prove a point. Photography is similar to journalism in the sense that no matter how clear an issue appears, there is always a way to manipulate it to fit a point the journalist is attempting to make; there is always a way, to take things out of context. So rather than drawing the conclusion that we have to be skeptical of each and every photograph we view i think it would be more prudent to simply keep an open mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment