'the most beautiful colours laid on without order, will not give one the same pleasure as a simple black and white sketch of a portrait’ Aristotle
1 2
3 4
5
6
‘Candid shots that catch us unaware, and thus more naturally, often end up being less resonant with our inner picture of ourselves, so we may reject them as being only someone else’s accident’.1
5
6
‘Candid shots that catch us unaware, and thus more naturally, often end up being less resonant with our inner picture of ourselves, so we may reject them as being only someone else’s accident’.1
‘Now, once I feel myself observed by the lens, everything changes: I constitute myself in the process of “posing,” I instantaneously make another body for myself, I transform myself in advance into an image’.2
I have been considering what it is that attracts me to photographs and feel it is the potential for a narrative to take place. The moment when the shutter is depressed a fleeting second of something that has past is captured; the scene will continue but the photograph is a document of a moment gone by. I am drawn to black and white imagery within photography; the image or narrative is not distracted by colour as everything in the scene is treated as equal and in its raw state. I have chosen to use black and white for the portrait assignments not only because I find the images to be more aesthetically pleasing but because it reflects my minimalist sensibility. For example the equality in the photograph allows the viewer to focus more on the content of the image rather than be distracted by a colourful irrelevant object in the background. I also feel it is because I have an admiration and respect for the photographer in the primitive age of film photography when everything was black and white. When I look at old photographs I marvel at how each detail must have been meticulously worked out so as to avoid mistakes and get it right first time. Nowadays, however, with digital cameras it is easy to take thousands of pictures and edit unwanted details in Photoshop. A combination of these opposing methods, black and white but digital photography is what I have decided to use.
Roland Barthes in his famous book ‘Camera Lucida’ states that he ‘always feels (un-important what actually occurs) that in the same way, colour is a coating applied later on to the original truth of the black and white photograph. For me colour is an artifice, a cosmetic (like the kind used to paint corpses)’3. An interesting thought that somehow the black and white photograph is seen as more truthful than a coloured one. Perhaps this was more relevant when the book was published in the 1980s when most newspaper or documentary photographs supposedly representing the truth would have been printed in black and white. It is, however, a sentiment that I believe to be true, black and white photographs still seem, to me anyway, more truthful than coloured ones, more representative of the scene and more believable.
In his book Barthes describes what he calls the ‘punctum’ of an image as being ‘the element which rises from the scene, shoots out of it like an arrow, and pierces me…A photographs punctum is that accident which pricks me (but also bruises me, is poignant to me)’4. So, as the photographer of these images I am drawn to question whether I can intentionally place punctums within an image. I believe the answer to be no! as I believe the it is something that the viewer brings to the image something from their own experiences. I believe it is subjective. Barthes continues ‘Certain details may “prick” me. If they do not, it is doubtless because the photographer has put them there intentionally…the deliberate (not to say, rhetorical) contrast produces no effect on me, except perhaps one of irritation’5. Therefore he suggests that an interesting facet of the photograph may be something overlooked or unconsidered by the photographer. He finally says of the punctum ‘whether or not it is triggered, it is an addition: it is what I add to the photograph and what is nonetheless already there’6.
Susan Sontag in her book ‘On Photography’ suggests ‘there is something on people’s faces when they don’t know they are being observed that never appears when they do’6. This idea is something that attracted me to capture people engaged in everyday activities, I hoped I could portray genuine emotion rather than a more considered or staged portrait. I also attempted to take the shots in non arranged environments so as to add to the unintentional potential for a viewer to observe ‘punctum’ within the image. The premise of this assignment was that I would take photographs of people that support me and in this case I chose family members. These are the people that know me really well and who would trust me to capture them in their daily setting without the pre-empted need for permission (I later asked them for permission to use the images and they all agreed). I didn’t stage any of the photographs but the subjects were aware of my presence. This obviously draws me back to Sontag’s quote about people showing different emotions when unaware that they are being photographed which, in turn, questions my photograph’s validities. However, in this setting it would have been difficult for me to photograph my subjects from a long distance and retain the intimacy of the indoor environment. Conversely, whilst it might have been interesting I would have felt quite uncomfortable with the approach of spying paparazzi style on my family members. I may also add that the awareness of the photographer’s presence hasn’t tarnished the power of images by Dianne Arbus for example, her subjects are however, ‘encouraged to be awkward’7 so the power of her images may come from that contrasting idea of posing her subjects to reveal truths about themselves through an unspoken dialogue with the photographer.
I proceeded with my concept and am really happy with the final outcomes. Although I mentioned earlier that I didn’t feel I could read punctum in my own images I was potentially mistaken. Some unintended things did occur, image number (5) for example, wasn’t staged but at the time I didn’t notice the title of the book ‘in your dreams’ and the possible subconscious sign of two fingers essentially telling me to ‘go away’. I do believe that I have captured something of a genuine emotion and simultaneous reflection of the individual’s personalities in the images. Image number (1) of my Mum probably organising something for a family member, number (2) my Dad chopping wood to provide warmth for the household, image (3) of my Sister, I feel, reflects her shy attitude and constant placing of barriers in her own path and image (5) of my Brother in his room playing on the x box, engaged in the fictional realm of a game but displaying unequivocal emotion.
I believe each individual supports me in different and equal ways and therefore I believe it inappropriate to place the photographs into some form of order. I wouldn’t be comfortable with ordering my families support, even if I had chosen to use friends for this project I would still find it equally invasive. Therefore with image (6) I have taken a different approach and placed them in a circle surrounding me. I feel I can go to each individual for support in a different way and I know that they are there when I need them. This arrangement suits me much better as it doesn’t necessitate a start or an end point. I think that this much better assess the way in which I value my families support and doesn’t feel disparaging of the people who know me best.
1. Weiser, J. Phototherapy Techniques: Exploring the Secrets of Personal Snapshots and Family Albums. USA
2. Barthes, R. Camera Lucida, Reflections on Photography. Trans. Howard, R. USA
3. Barthes, R. Camera Lucida, Reflections on Photography. Trans. Howard, R. USA
4. Barthes, R. Camera Lucida, Reflections on Photography. Trans. Howard, R. USA
5. Barthes, R. Camera Lucida, Reflections on Photography. Trans. Howard, R. USA
6. Sontag, S. On Photography. England
7. Sontag, S. On Photography. England
No comments:
Post a Comment