Regarding the Paid of Others
Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag is a compilation of articles Sontag wrote. The book was published in 2004 as a response to September 11. The book discusses the many moral questions that a photographer faces.
She discusses the following questions:
o Where photographs of war should be published?
o Is a photographer being unethical by taking pictures when they would be physically helping in the situation?
o Are photographers today waiting for the most horrible moment to make a living off of?
One of the most interesting conversations to me was the where photographs such as these should be presented. The options are in a museum setting, magazine, new paper or book format. All seem to have their complications. Magazines and newspapers will enable photographs to be seen by many eyes and addressed in a serious manner. However this setting also often requires the coupling of text and often times unassociated advertisements. Museums present the works in a professional and artistic manner. Enabling the audience to dwell upon the image and feel more empathy for the victim. Finally a book gives the photographer more control with text and presentation but a book in more isolated.
Criticizing Photography
Ch1: About Art Criticism
This chapter explored the different types of art criticism and the arguments that come with those types. In all honesty the chapter was a little dry, however there I had some important takeaways. And here they are…
First off to always touch on four critical steps when observing art: “describe the work, interpret it, evaluate and theorize.
The chapter goes on to describe the constant battle of the acceptable relationship between artist and critic. How do you find the balance between promoter and judger? A question I myself would like to ask is if you think a critic manipulates the interpretation of the artist and audience prematurely or do they allow another outlet for thoughtful investigation of a piece.
Along a similar idea- I want to ask does criticism during the process enhance the work or damage it? For myself, I feel highly self-conscious revealing an unfinished product to a group. I worry that the input of others will divert the project from what would be my own original idea and expression.
Most importantly, this chapter pointed out the need for both an artist and critic to constantly be increasing their knowledge of the photography and art world. This is something I have always lacked and know I should begin doing, and will. Barett gives us the resources to do so through photographic media and well-known critics. He pointed out photographic media like Afterimage, Aperture and Exposure, Art Forum, Art in America and ArtWeek. I want to start to follow critics such as A.D Coleman through http://www.nearbycafe.com/ and Barbara Kruger and Lucy Lippard.
Ch2: Describing Photographs
“To describe subject, form medium and style is to consider photographs as pictures made by individuals and not to mistake them for anything more or less.”
Chapter two discusses the steps in describing a photo and important of touching upon subject matter, form, medium and style. Barrett explains each step and expressing them through print. He closes out the chapter emphasizing the important tools of compare/contrast and using internal and external information.
Subject: this portion of the description explains persons, objects, and events of the photograph in a factual manner. The wording and exclusion/inclusion of characteristics by the author has influence.
Form: explains how subject is presented. Includes black and white tonal range, subject contrast, film contrast, point of view, angle and lens, frame and edge, depth of field, sharpness of grain and degree of focus.
Medium: explains what the work is made of. This could include size of film, size of print, black and white/ color, characteristics of the camera used, etc. This could also include is work was cropped and manipulated. Having this information is important because it often reveals a message or theme.
Style: resemblance among diverse art objects from an artist, movement, time period or geographic location.
Ch3: Interpreting Photographs
This chapter about interpretation held my interest more than the first two. Barett makes many interesting points about photography interpretation. He defines it as “attention beyond offering information to matters of meaning.”
One of my favorite points he made was that because of photography’s nature, being an exact replica and depiction, the audience sometimes forgets to give it the art appropriate interpretation. Barrett emphasizes that interpretation as necessary as for all other mediums. He uses a quote from Nelson Goodman which really caught my attention:
“There is no innocent eye. The eye comes always ancient to its work, obsessed by its past and by old and new insinuations of the ear, nose, tongue, fingers, heart and brain. It functions not as an instrument self-powered and alone, but as a dutiful member of a complex and capricious organism. Not only how but what it sees is regulated by need and prejudice.”
I also enjoyed Barrett’s quote “Many photographer’s allow room for their subconscious in their work and unintended meaning that it may add to the work.”
Other points the chapter touches on:
-Every interpretation should have a strong argument to back it up.
-Interpretations about one work can differ significantly (comparative, archetypal, feminist, psychoanalytical etc).
-Just because art is subjective doesn’t meant one should not be able to support their opinion.
-The photographers intent can vary and should not be considered too deeply in interpretation.
CH4: Types of Photographs
This chapter describes six different categories of photographs:
1. Descriptive Photographs: Photographs that are not meant to be more than a description. Examples of this are: identification photos, medical x-rays, photomicrographs, reproductions of artwork etc. They are produced to be interpretively and evaluative neutral. This category is useful to scientists.
2. Explanatory Photographs: Photographs that fall into this category are visual explanations that are in principle verifiable in scientific grounds. The photographs often have an angle of view, which places it in social context. An example of this is
3. Interpretive Photographs: These works are personal and subjective interpretations. Barrett describes them as “more like poetry than a scientific report.” This photos often show the worldview about the photographers; they do not offer truths in depiction but may offer truths about the world. (Uelsmann “Untitled)
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| Jerry Uelsmann "Untitled" |
4. Ethically Evaluative: These photographs make ethical judgments. For example Martin Sugarmans “God be with you: War in Croatia and Bosnia-Hertzegovina” when he condemns the war.
5. Aesthetically Evaluative: Evaluate aesthetic as opposed to social issues. This is a familiar “art” form of photography. The photographer here observes the visual form in a variety of ways. Subjects often used in this type of photograph are the nude, the landscape and the still life. An example of this would be Irving Penn’s obese nudes. (Joel Meyerowitz Cape Cod Bay/Sky).
6. Theoretical Photographs: Photographs about films, photographs, art about art, and can be considered a visual type of art criticism that uses pictures rather than words.
CH 5: Photographs and Contexts
Chapter 5 discusses the context a person should consider when criticizing photographs.
SUBJECT MATTER+ MEDIUM + FORMS + CONTEXTS= MEANINGS
The first type of context to consider is Internal Context that includes subject matter, medium, form and the relations among the three. This type of interpretation would consider only the things you see within the photo.
Original Context contains background information on the art world and the artist. It could also include what was “psychologically present to the photographer at the time of the exposure.” Knowing about the period in every way (politics, music, theatre, movements etc) will add to original context. We sometimes mention in class that a photo should “tell the story itself” but I think in many cases the viewer needs to do have a larger understanding.
External Context is the situation the photograph is presented or found. How is the manner we are viewing it changing its impression? The photograph could be shown in a gallery, museum, newspaper, magazine, billboard etc. An example of this is that when a curator positions a photograph in a certain place it has already been interpreted and presented to us in a slightly unbiased manner. Another example was Barbara Kruger’s work presented on billboards in Time Square, we can interpret this as who she was targeting as an audience.
Ch 6: Judging Photographs
This chapter addresses the best way to judge a photograph and how judgment differs from interpretation.
APPRAISALS+REASONS+CRITERIA= JUDGMENTS
Barrett points out that there are positive, negative, implied, opposing and comparative judgments. He points out that one cannot make a strong judgment unless there is reasoning, and that each judgment is based on a criterion.
“appraisals are based on reasons that are founded in criteria.”
The criteria Barrett explains are:
1. realism: attempts to mimic reality.
“The first thing the photographer learned was that photography dealth with the actual; he had not only to accept this fact, but to treasure it; unless he did photography would defeat him.” – Szarkowski
2. expressionism: concerns the individuality of the artist. Pictoralist wanted photography to be perceived as painting. Pictoralist achieved this through soft-focus, textured paper, hand touching brushes, allegorical stories, costumes and props and sometimes they were collaged images from several negatives. An example of this is Oscar C. Rejlander’s “Two Ways of Life.”
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| Oscar C Rejlander "Two Ways of Life" |
3. formalism: “art for art sake” this focused on abstraction.
“Art should not be judged for its narrative content, historical references, psychological associations, emotional connotations or imitations of objects and surfaces.”
4. instrumentalism: strive for an image which will effect social change. An example of instrumentalism is Nicholas Nixon’s “People with AIDS.”
Barrett instructs that we should choose criteria that make the work. He also mentions that reappraisal is not out of the ordinary. A perfect example of this is the revisiting of female photographers from the past. Was their work underrated because of gender? To me this was the most interest part of the chapter, how judgments of work change over time therefore revealing how society is changing.
CH 7: Photography Theory
Barrett discusses in this chapter how theory affects the teaching of photography in college that I found interesting to think about. The curriculum if formed with a theory that then determines in the department teaches art photography, photojournalism, art communications etc.
Ontological Concerns: The question of whether photography is capturing existence and reality or is it being skewed, specifically when it comes to digital images.
Epistemology Concerns: Realistic vs Conventional.
“For conventionalists, the introduction of the computer technology into photography is not alarming, but merely a continuation of practices that artists and photographers have invented and used throughout history to make expressive photographs.”
Aesthetic Concerns: Is Photography an Art? Yes it is, but this is something that has been much debated over history. Robert Cecil in the late 1800’s wrote “It is to science….that photography, the child of science, renders, and will unceasingly render, the most valuable aid… photography is never imaginative, and is never in any danger of arranging its records by the light of a pre-conceived theory.” If only Robert Cecil today could see the works of Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Robert Mapplethorpe and the other very imaginative artists, not scientists, of photography.
From there comes the debate, what kind of photography is “art?”
Modernism and Postmodernism:
Modern photography principals follow guidelines that require the art to be closest to reality. It says that creativity comes from the choice of what they are photographing. Modernists think “painterly” or “graphic” effects ruin the work.
Post-modern believes the artist must create what is in their mind. All the rules are thrown out here and postmodernism accepts the any creative resources.
Barrett ends the chapter talking about Marxists theory, Feminist Theory, Multicultural Theory, Queer Theory, Postcolonial Theory and ethical photography.
A photography and story which caught my attention was Renee Cox’s “HOT-EN-TOT.” Barrett references a disturbing story of a South African woman, Saarhite Baartman, who was brought to Europe in 1810 and put on display naked in a cage until she died. After her death her genitalia were cast in wax for studies.
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| Renee Cox "HOT-EN-TOT" |
Ch 8: Writing and Talking about Photography
This chapter was a worthwhile read; it summed up the lessons from the book and gave a cohesive tool to use for writing and talking about photography. These are the points that I found most helpful:
Tips:
-First always think about these three things when writing or reading: What do I see here? What is it about? Is it good? Is it art?
-Obtain a writers manual
-Describe the subject matter, presentational environment. Where is this work from? Why is it being shown there now? What are the statements made by the artist or curator? Why did the curator present it in that manner?
-“Quick-writes” just start by jotting down all your thoughts.
Writing a criteria statement:
Something this chapter encouraged me to do is to write my own criteria for judging photography. I have not yet figured out exactly what it is but I am thinking hard! Other examples from students that I liked were “A good photograph shall inspire internal discourse may inspire external discourse” another was “A good photograph shall communicate a difficult to describe feeling or an intellectual idea.”
Process of Writing:
· Determine whom you are writing to.
· Think of an appropriate and intriguing sequence to address description, interpretation, evaluation and theory.
· Sort and resort notes
· Just start writing
· Don’t assume your reader knows too much
· Choose which person to write in (“I” is usually the most common)
· Avoid passive voice
· Make each paragraph focus on a major point and support that point
· Make a strong clear and short conclusion
Talking About Photographs/ Studio Critique:
· Don’t jump to judgments too soon
· What do I see? What is it about? How do I know?
· Ask yourself: For whom was is created? For whom does it exist? Who is represented? What is doing the telling? Who is doing the hearing?
Conducting a Successful Critique:
· Allow Segments of silence
· Describe what you see
· Consider Subject matter
· Consider how form relates to subject matter
· Let interpretation be a communal endeavor
· Suggest the photographer be silent
· Interpret the photograph by the questions is raises
· Avoid hasty judgments
· Consider presentational environments
· Ask how the photo would want to be judged
· Consider implications
· Consider assumptions
· Be honest and open!
and that concludes my thoughts on Criticizing Photography by Terry Barrett. :) On to Susan Sontags "Regarding the pain of others".
