Photography is a medium used by all today and with the internet and various social media sites it has enabled us to connect with anyone around the world and represent ourselves in any way we choose whoever we are, which allows for a sense of equality. But the speed in which we can share an image and it existing forever is a daunting fact and comes with many potential censorship issues.
The analogy presented in this week’s presentation of a photograph being either a mirror or a window and the question of which I feel most association within my practice as posed by our Module Leader was hard to contemplate. There are elements of both, the choice of what you photograph when, where and why is indicative of the photograph being a mirror. Yet, there is also the feeling of capturing an image to share and represent something where your viewer was not present – therefore a window. But for me I believe it’s all-encompassing, and you cannot have one without the other – like positive and negative – one cannot be present without the other.
Photojournalism has brought about unity and change throughout history and one image that comes to my mind is of the burning Buddhist monk. At first you see this image and think someone has done this to the man but then you read or are told that this Buddhist set himself alight to bring about change. The image and reporting on their situation reopened discussions by the US government on his plight with the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government.
I believe that a still image can be more powerful than a moving one as your brain has time to think and feel, whilst you observe and reflect, particularly in photojournalism where videos are candid, poor quality, fast and jerky. A flow of images, people, words and sounds are pouring in front of your eyes and into your ears, you are not given the time to process without direction.
Critical Research Journal, Photography MA 