What does Sontag say about photography?
Sontag insists photography is an aggressive act which makes reality atomic, manageable, denies interconnectedness and continuity, and confers on each moment the character of a mystery. Alienating us from direct experience, the photo provides a more intense second-hand experience, an illusion of knowledge.
What was Weston’s philosophy about photography?
Coined as ‘straight photography’, Weston explained his creative philosophy: “The camera should be used for a recording of life, for rendering the very substance and quintessence of the thing itself.”
What role does photography play in culture?
Throughout histry, photography has developed to become a field that not only captures the memories of cultures and people around the world, but also helps to shape these memories.
What is Susan Sontag’s argument?
While Sontag argues that photography is a detached way of avoiding intervention in the world, I disagree. It can be, of course, but it all depends on how people put cameras (and the resulting images) to use.
Why does Sontag call her essay in Plato’s cave?
In On Photography, Sontag named her first essay “In Plato’s Cave” in reflection of the allegory of the same name by Plato. Basically Sontag is arguing a point that photography is a sort of false way of relating to the world because pictures can be so flawed, in essence, falsely interpreted.
What photography techniques did Edward Weston use?
At first, he used muslin, then white cardboard, but eventually decided on a tin funnel, which perfectly diffused light upon the pepper, and rendered it three-dimensional: “It was a bright idea, a perfect relief for the pepper and adding reflecting light to important contours.” By using an everyday object such as a …
How did Edward Weston influence abstract photography?
By creating photographs that transformed his subjects into abstractions of shapes and patterns, Weston helped bring the medium out of the Victorian age that favored pictorialist imitations of painting and into the modern era wherein photography became a celebrated medium in its own right.
What is the importance of photography in the development of culture and the arts?
The reproduction of art objects was also a key development in the use of photography; it had a profound effect on changing the visual culture of society and making art accessible to the general public, changing its perception, notion and knowledge of art, and appreciation of beauty.
What impact has photography had on society?
Photos were taken hundreds of years ago can spread information about how people lived, what nature was like, what people did and what the world around them looked like. Therefore, many people can confidently assert that photography is the most important invention since the printing press.
What is aesthetic consumerism?
Needing to have reality confirmed and experience enhanced by photographs is an aesthetic consumerism to which everyone is now addicted.
What is Plato’s cave photography?
Susan Sontag examines the relationship between photography and truth in her book “In Plato’s Cave” (1977). Sontag uses the analogy of Plato’s Cave to explain how photographs are representations of a truth and therefore can never be the full truth.
How did Edward Weston change photography?
The kind of photographs Mister Weston took are called “straight photography.” No unusual effects were used to change the image of the subject. The photographs appear to show reality in a pure and clear way. Yet, Mister Weston did not always use his camera to take pictures that way.
What did Edward Steichen contribute to photography?
Steichen began experimenting with color photography in 1904 and was one of the earliest in the United States to use the Autochrome Lumière process. In 1905, Stieglitz and Steichen created the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession, which eventually became known as the 291 Gallery after its address.
What is the importance of photography in one’s life and in the society?
Photographs play an important role in everyone’s life – they connect us to our past, they remind us of people, places, feelings, and stories. They can help us to know who we are.
How does photography impact our lives?
A photograph can inspire some, change someone’s views, shake someone’s ideals, educate, and inspire others to act, etc. They may invoke natural species ‘ innermost emotions such as fear, anxiety, etc. Not only do photographs affect personal lives.
How does photography connect us to the world?
It copies the way the mind works when something important is happening. It shows the event, and also the story and feelings behind the event. “I believe that photography can make a real connection to people,” says Griffin. In other words, we do not just see the event in a photo.