As I end the Voices of the Land series, I'm leaving you something that I learned, something for professional and amateur photographers to think about. What are your thoughts on how photography impacts history? Do you think your photographs will contribute to our collective history?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Recording History
As I end the Voices of the Land series, I'm leaving you something that I learned, something for professional and amateur photographers to think about. What are your thoughts on how photography impacts history? Do you think your photographs will contribute to our collective history?
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7 comments:
Knoxville, this is a wonderful question. ONe of the main reasons I wanted to be a part of the City Daily Photo blogging phenomenon is because it represents -- to me -- an honest, people's history of our time. As a writer, I'm keenly aware of how words live on. But pictures freeze life as it is right now. Photos enable the future to glimpse into the truth and reality of our present world without the skew of language, with no editorializing and with no need for explanation.
I feel that in my own teeny tiny way I am a part of history and that bit by bit all these images from the information age are making a pretty glorious representation of life in the 21st century. What do you think?
Yes. The images on my blog are far more relevent than anything I am commissioned to do professionally. Museums, magazines, schools are already using my images in a historical context. I know if I continue they will certainly impact Ramsey history, if not perhaps the world. I am working on a project that could change the course of Ramsey housing policy and possibly me thrown off the island.
If it wasn't for photojournalism, not Paparazi, The Holocaust for one could still be seen as an event that didn't happen and certainly WW2 would have lasted a lot longer. The camera is at times the most powerful weapon for the truth to be told and to change the course of history.
I need wine now after all that serious stuff.
"Louis" thanks you for your comment at his Hornet post. "Louis" wanted to serve in the Navy, but was rejected because of his vision. "Louis" has Samuel Eliot Morison's "History of U.S. Navy Operations in WWII" - all 15 volumes - and he has read them all!
;-)
F
I think that for my tiny little part of the world, my photographs will. I can count the number of photos of my brother or I under the age of five on one hand. I already have hundreds of pictures of my two sons! SO at the very least, they'll have something to hang memories off.
This is a good question.
Yes, I do. Especially with the advent of worldwide Internet access. I find it amazing that when you google "molfetta photos" you get my blog...but there you go.
One of the first things I'd save in a fire would be grandmother's photo albums; they are irreplaceable. They document previous generations of our family and their way of life. When we moved into this house we were surrounded by trees. Now all that has been sold and built on so my photos provide a record of how things were...
My only concern is that with all the photoediting how will future generations know what was real..
Interesting question today KG. I hope I am making some small contribution to my city with my photographs.
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