Photography as a form of communication has its own vocabulary and visual language. The pictorial language of photography is often complex. In meta-language an image can never act in isolation, it is always juxtaposed on other contributed texts and signs. We have to learn how to read images. Semiology is the uncovering of what lies beneath images photographs therefore the meaning and messages in photos is always questioned. An example would be the structured image of a street child or a wildlife photograph.
Written texts and photographs influence each other within their context. We constantly engage with new media popular culture. A photograph in newspaper may have a straightforward caption; texts accompany an image in an advertisement may be sensationalist or a photo essay may rely on object texts.
A more emotional engagement to photography is Disquieting Images. These photographs demand a
response to viewer; however they are unsettling and never pleasant or comfortable. Diane Arbus and Robert Mapplethorpe have caused great debate and controversy with their art. Diane photographs were regarded “freakish” as she photographed dwarfs, homosexuals, mental patients and transvestites.
Robert focused on explicit photographs of homosexual sex and child nudity. He made self-portraits wearing horns and his death from AID’s.
Such photographers need to gain the confidence and trust of their subjects before pictures can be
taken.
“In looking there is always something missing which is not seen, not because it is perceived as missing… but because it does not belong to the visible” – Victor Burgin.
4 comments:
Photography plays an important role in how people identify with both themselves and their surroundings. These disquieting images may provoke the viewer as the images are not those that are commonly seen. These images allow the viewer to see the unpleasant truth about the world and what lies in it.
We all need to deal with issues such as homosexuality and child nudity as these issues need to be addressed and not be hidden. Once people have accepted that such conditions exist around the world they can then identify with themselves (what they feel about such images) and with what is seen in the disquieting images.
I am impressed that you were brave enough to speak about such images because most people tend to avoid them. Well Done!
YES, I AGREE. PHOTOGRAPHY DOES PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN HOW PEOPLE IDENTIFY WITH THEMSELVES AND ISSUES CONCERNING THEM AND THE SOCIETY.disqueiting images provokes the viewer to bring out a response and emotion e.g homosexuality, nude pictures and umages from a war that will evoke some kind of emotions in the viewer.
this is a good post because most people don't know what certain images mean and jump to conclusions.
my experiences with photographs are not that good. i hate taking photos beacuse they just never seem to come out the way i wanted them to. i am the leats photogenic person in the world. i hate this because i really believe that a picture is worth a million words and that pictures freeze time forever. what frustrates me is that i am never in any picture, and i don't have any pictures of my own.this worries me because one day i am not going to be around and so what will my loved ones remember me by? yes memories will always stay in your heart but as humans we need something tangable that we can see to help us remember.
A photograph can always be viewed as an objective representation of the world we live in, hence people tend to trust them. But, they don't know that the photographer chooses certain parts of society that they want to represent. They don't give a full picture of the world.
In print media (tabloits) photographs help to tell the story better.
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