Lecture Notes - The Photograph as a Document

Documentation photography is a type of truth, so people tend to trust it. 

William Edward Kilburn ‘The Great Chartist Meeting At The Common’ 1848

This photo was taken within 10 years of the second invention of photography, it is a very early example of using photography as evidence. It documents a social movement (Chartist movement) amongst the Victorian working classes. By taking a photograph, the event is highlighted as a significant moment in history to be remembered. The photographer seems to be just another person in the crowd, he isn’t acknowledged in any way and nobody seems to know he is taking the photograph so we presume this is a natural, un-staged view of what was actually happening. 

Grahame Clarke (on photography as documentation).

‘In many contexts the notion of a literal and objective record of ‘history’ is a limited illusion. It ignores the entire cultural and social background against which the image was taken, just as it renders the photographer neutral, passive and invisible recorder of the scene.’

Jacob Riis, 1890 - How The Other Half Live

This is a study of New York which revealed issues of ethnicity and poverty supposedly for the purpose of social reform but he actually made a lot of money from it. The stories behind some of his photographs reveal the set up nature of them which makes you think whether photography can be a reliable source of factual documentation. For example, in the photograph below, the boys were paid in cigarettes to set up a mugging for the purpose of the photograph. Although this might be a representation of what was happening regularly, the photo didn’t capture the actual act, just a staged version. Can this photo still be classed as documentation? 

Contrasting this is a photograph by Lewis Hine who referred to himself as a sociological photographer and he didn’t exploit people’s situations for the purpose of his work. His photographs recognise each persons individuality and they retain their dignity and honour. His photography of child labourers did not play on their situation, but still sparked reform and eventual changes in the law. 

Duffer Boy, 1909

FSA - Farm Security Administration

Aimed to increase awareness of the issue of migrants. It was a response to the depression (result of the Wall Street crash - 1929) where 11 million were unemployed and people were migrating to California to look for jobs.

This photograph by Dorothea Lange portrays the nobility in poverty. She did not know any details about the people in the image, no names or backgrounds which shows how she was looking for photographs rather than stories. 

Dorothea Lange - Migrant Mother, 1939

Walker Evans focussed on objects rather than people to show his perception of America. 

Coca cola shack, 1935

Ordinary lives are documented as a way of capturing and remembering tradition and the class system in England. 

Bill Brandt - Northumberland Miner at his Evening Meal , 1937

The Magnum Group was founded by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Capa in 1947. Their aims were to document the social problems of the world. Cartier-Bresson was influence by surrealism. 

The decisive moment - capturing a specify moment in time means that this even somehow has more value and will be remembered more so than any other passing moment which can be forgotten about. 

By refusing to manipulate, crop, edit or stage photographs, the photographer is providing the honest truth of what was happening at that point in time. 

Documentary and War

Studies into this photograph have shown that it was not taken where it had been claimed to have been taken. Apparently, the real location of this image had no military action so the image must have been staged. 

Robert Capa - The Falling Soldier, 1936

George Roger has not exploited the people in the scene he is viewing. He has resisted overdramatising the horror before him and had maintained a sensitive a approach by keeping a respectful distance. 

George Roger - Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, 1945

Is it right to be photographing people of the last few seconds of their lives? Does this not strip them of their rights and dignity and exploit them even more than what they have experienced already? Robert Haeberle shouts ‘hold it!’ before they are shot to capture the terror on their faces. 

Robert Haeberle - People About to be Shot, 1969