"Photographs . . . are inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and fantasy."
(Sontag 23)
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Prior to taking this course, photography for me has been about capturing what I perceive as beautiful. I have always loved taking my camera out and photographing beauty in angles or points of view that we don't normally capture with our eye while we go about out lives. The aim was to produce a photo that was aesthetically pleasing and that offered a new point of view on what we see every day. That was the extent of it.
Having been in this course for eight weeks and having been exposed to the work of professional photographers, artists and even my classmates, my photographic aim has a new perspective and angle of its own. The quote above from Susan Sontag's chapter In Plato's Cave, sums up this change. Now when I set out to take pictures I am thinking of the discussion that will surround my final product. What reactions, misinterpretations, arguments, insights, fantasies, etc. will result in my photos being viewed. My idea of photography now extends beyond the photo itself and into the world in which it now exists. Who will view this photo? What will they think? What will they say? The photo as an invitation is my new photographic aim, and it is from that perspective that I now point and shoot.
I once heard a comedian say "Take a picture, it'll last longer!" I think that this is so true. In reference to "Plato's Cave", the thing that stuck out most to me is the fact that even though technology has changed considerably (movies, videos, etc...), photography is something that has been around for hundreds of years, which documents real history(date, time, situation and place). A movie can only depict what may have been. Besides, it is a lot cheaper to take and process a picture and they last forever, unless something destroys the image.
ReplyDeleteA picture, as we have heard over the years, is worth a thousand words. Pictures are something that we can cherish for years. We can share memories with loved ones of a younger generation and so forth. However, photos of images are not always pleasant. The book mentions images of suffering. Although situation not so pleasant, it his a documentation of history. It gives a realistic view of this world that we live in, which is what I believe the ultimate intent of photography.