110 likes | 311 Views
DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY. refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle significant and historical events typically covered in professional photojournalism, but it may also be an amateur , artistic, or academic pursuit
E N D
refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle significant and historical events • typically covered in professional photojournalism, but it may also be an amateur, artistic, or academic pursuit • photographer attempts to produce truthful, objective, and usually candid photography of a particular subject, most often pictures of people WHAT IS DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY?
Photographs that were meant to accurately describe otherwise unknown/hidden/forbidden/ difficult-to-access places or circumstances date to early surveys of the ruins of the Near East, Egypt, and the American wilderness areas (1850’s) • In the United States, documentary photographers traced the progress of the American Civil War (1861-1865) • This resulted in a major archive of photographs ranging from dry records of battle sites to harrowing images of the dead by Timothy O'Sullivan and evocative images by George N. Barnard. HISTORY OF DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY
TIMOTHY H. O’SULLIVAN "The Harvest of Death": Union dead on the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, photographed July 5–6, 1863, by Timothy O'Sullivan
GEORGE N. BARNARD“The ‘Hell Hole’ New Hope Church, GA.” 1866albumen print, 1866, 10" x 14".
Important feature of documentary photography: the production of an archive of historical significance, and the distribution to a wide audience through publication. • The US Government published Survey photographs in the annual Reports, as well as portfolios designed to encourage continued funding of scientific surveys • 1880’s to 1920’s: development of new reproduction methods for photography resulted in shift from landscape subjects to that of the city and its crises • low cost mass-reproduction in newspapers, magazines and books was made possible HISTORY OF DOCUMENTARY PHOTGRAPHY (cont.)
Bandit's Roost (1888) by Jacob Riis, from How the Other Half Lives. This image is Bandit's Roost at 59½ Mulberry Street, considered the most crime-ridden, dangerous part of New York City. JACOB RIIS
In the 1930s, the Great Depression brought a new wave of documentary, both of rural and urban conditions. • This generation of documentary photographers is generally credited for arousing the public commitment to social change • During the wartime and postwar eras, documentary photography increasingly became more personal, evocative, and complex HISTORY OF DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY (cont.)
In the 1970s and 1980s, a spirited attack on traditional documentary was mounted by historians, critics, and photographers • subject matter became philosophically more intense and left-wing in its politics (left-wing generally refers to support for social change to create a more equal society; a concern for those in society who are disadvantaged) • Since the late 1970s, documentary photography has increasingly been accorded a place in art galleries alongside fine art photography Acceptance by the art world HISTORY OF DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY (cont.)