Author: Adrianne Drury

Review of ‘Post-photography; or are we past photography?’ by Andreia Alves De Oliveira,

An arguable statement made by Oliveira is that ‘photography has changed beyond recognition’ – I think this is a bland opinion which hides the fact that all visual arts evolve with time, though she goes on to question this.
She talks about William J. Mitchell’s book ‘the reconfigured eye’ – it seems this book argues for an against digital manipulation in images, though I agree with what is later written by Martha Rosler regarding an exhibition called ‘Digital Photography’. She wrote; ‘manipulation is integral to photography’ – and in this statement, we understand that photographic manipulation was not created for the use digital photography – in reference to darkroom chemical manipulation, framing, size, presentation etc… Each of these factors are manipulated by the photographer to suit their own preferences to the image.
Further in the text, the adaption of photography to the digital age is viewed as a ‘redefinition’ of photography. I think this is a better suited definition but is not completely true – despite what is written, older formats and presentation of work in hard copies are still popular choices of working methods in today’s age of photography.

Review of ‘The camera as an afterthought: defining photography’ by Allison Meier.

The choice of book in this text displays the work of many artists and photographers who have produced work from staged or found imagery.  I don’t have a quarrel with using found imagery as long as it’s referenced properly with all permission. There’s so much media out there already that is easily overlooked, uncategorised and almost doesn’t exist. Photographers often give old work a new context to re-publish; or re-publish images under one category from a diverse set of projects. One of the problems here would be redefining somebody else’s work as your own, when would it become yours? What makes it different to how it was originally made?

Photography as Activism: Images for Social Change by Michelle Bogre. This text begins by stating that documentary photography is an all-around depiction of photography in general. This is arguable but to document is to tell the honest truth and preserve it – which I think Natan Fyir has similar philosophy about. Bogre notes early in the text that ‘to some degree, all photography is documentary because all photographs document something’. Of course practically; the camera documents as that is it’s only purpose a measure of time instructed and programmed by the photographer at that moment. However the opposing argument is that the frame doesn’t always capture the full picture, also the photographer doesn’t always know the best way to express, or  know what needs to be shown and portrayed from the subject person as they don’t have an accurate insight into their life.

I believe that activism photography shares a lot of similarities with documentary photography, it is created from the same idea – but the changes capable by it in larger scale canpaifns as politics and social justice. It’s beneficial to the minorities and diversities.

The visual culture of selfies in the age of social media by Derek Conrad.
In this text the author speaks of  ‘the selfie’ and the impact of how they’re shared and why. When talking about this, Murray focuses on young women and their use of selfies on social media (in the younger generations). Murray analyses and considers feminism, and how provocative and almost-nude selfie’s of young women could actually be anti-feminist and fights against the efforts of feminist movements. Personally I think Conrad is suggests this wrongly, as the one of the reasons for feminist movements are to enable women to do as they please with their own bodies without judgement. He talks about the styles of a few infamous female photographers who’ve demonstrated feminist acts in their work. One of these photographers he mentioned was Nan Goldin, whose work i’ve studied religiously – he describes her as a ‘hero’ in reference to the importance of her selfies to the photography world.

The text altogether seemed to analyse the selfie as if it was created for the benefit of political power. Whilst educational and insightful to how the ‘selfie’ of one generation can make a political impact on the world, I think the author comes across as slightly judgemental and contradictory in areas. I like how the text ended on a positive note for women after the arguments Conrad made in this piece.

This book starts to engage its reader with information regarding Amanda de Cadenet’s life as a photographer; more accurately, how her peers in the industry pressured her to to keep a place in front of a camera rather than behind it. We’re informed that Amanda De Cadanet is the youngest woman hired to shoot for vogue – which inspired women everywhere to follow a career in photography which is dominantly a male career profession.

The inspiration from De Cadanet Inspired the idea ‘#girlgaze’, which is a project an idea to help females achieve recognition and profile for which they wouldn’t usually get due to gender stereotypes. The project benefits women from different cultural backgrounds, women with different capabilities and opportunities.

The text goes on to talk about the history of feminism, dating back to when the suffragettes first began to appeal for the women’s right to vote. The author believes that the current wave of feminism has lasted since around 2010 and relies on social media to spread information. For example, the use of a hashtag has got ‘girlgaze’ to where it is today; it is seen by many due to being so easily searched for.

The book itself is educational and insightful, and gives me the reassurance that women are working together to fight the gender stereotype of the ‘successful male photographer’.

The text begins with a comparison of the bodies of two celebrity females – to point out the differences in body shape are digitally enhanced for the current use of the celebrity’s exposure. I like the statement given under plastic and digital surgery; that our actions are focused on the image rather than the real thing. As something i’d heard quite regularly about multiple professions and lifestyle is the intention to look successful rather than be successful is what is sub-consciously focused on.
The book refers that although digital enhancement is an expected, it is not always innocent -especially in commercial use with reference to Twiggy’s Olay anti-wrinkle cream advertisement, she expressed her looks were a result of the product rather than truthfully, it was photoshop – which unethically gives a false influence to the audience, an excellent example of how photoshop can create a falsehood, primarily dependent on the delivery and use of the image.
Spoken about next is photojournalism; Fontcuberta verifies the complication of the distinction between intent and moral issues with an example of photographer Brian Walski. Walski combined two very different photographs that overall gave a false impression of something that is documented in order to enhance the tragedy seen within the photos. Fontcuberta argues that the essence of the the original and doctored photo are the sae because it is what ‘really happened’.

In my mind I am left with no conclusion excect that the morals of digital retouching and enhancement will always be argued because of the consequences of the social impact that it leaves behind.