Photography - Truth or Fiction? Documentary Photography vs Propaganda

1. Photography - Truth or Fiction? Documentary Photography vs Propaganda

2. Documentary Documentary photography is a category intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record or evidence of some event. http://www.seoulartfiend.com/2010/06/28/walker-evans-at-the-hanmi-photography-museum/

3. Propaganda Propaganda is a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of the community toward some cause or position, by presenting only one side of an argument. Propaganda statements may be partly false and partly true. Advertising is commercial propaganda wikipedia

4. The truth is the best picture, the best propaganda - Robert Capa

5. Walker Evans and the Farm Security Administration Walker Evans was one of the most dedicated realists in the history of photography. His work defines the category of Documentary Photography Evans was one of the photographers working for the Farm Security Administration, an agency of President Roosevelt’s New Deal that sought to improve the conditions in the country.

6. Walker Evans, Roadside stand near Birmingham, 1936 http://www.seoulartfiend.com/2010/06/28/walker-evans-at-the-hanmi-photography-museum/

7. Walker Evans, Cherokee Parts, 1936

8. Walker Evans, Farmhouse, Westchester County, New York, 1936

9. Walker Evans, Barber Shop, New Orleans 1935

10. Walker Evans, Studio 1935

11. He spent some time with a poor rural family in the South, capturing their hard life but also their humanity. Walker Evans, Allie Mae Burroughs, 1936 http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/node/1530

12. Walker Evans, Allie Mae Burroughs, 1936 http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/node/1530

13. Dorothea Lange Contrast Walker Evan’s neutral gaze with the emotional pull of Dorothea Lange’s photo of another poor rural woman. Lange was also shooting for the Farm Security Administration. This photograph became its most successful image. This print, mounted on an index card, is the actual version that editors saw in Washington. Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936 http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/node/1530

14. Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936 http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/node/1530

15. Raphael, Madonna and Child, c1503 Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936 http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/node/1530

16. Dorothea Lange in the 1930s Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936 http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/node/1530

17. Dorothea Lange, Peapickersin camp, 1936 Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936 http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/node/1530

18. Dorothea Lange, Peapickersin camp, 1936 http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/node/1530

19. Dorothea Lange, Peapickersin camp, 1936 http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/node/1530

20. This later print of Migrant Mother was sold in 2012 at Christies auction house for $35,000 Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936

21. Florence Thompson in 1979 'I wish she hadn't taken my picture. I can't get a penny out of it. She didn't ask my name. She said she wouldn't sell the pictures. She said she'd send me a copy. She never did.’ Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936

22. Florence Thompson and children in 1979 Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936

23. Robert CapaIf your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough

24. Robert Capa in the 1940s Robert Capa is the most famous war photographer ever. He photographed conflict in the Spanish Civil War, The Chinese Civil War, World War II, and the Vietnam War. His most famous photoraph was Falling Soldier, taken in the Spanish Civil War in 1936, when he was 23 years old.

25. Robert Capa, Falling Soldier, 1936

26. The French magazine VU was the first to publish the photograph in September 1936

27. The British News Chronicle newspaper ran a special issue on the Spanish Civil War in 1938

28. Death in the Making, book published in 1938

29. Life Magazine, July 1937 ‘Death in Spain: The Civil War has taken 500,000 lives in one year’

31. The two versions published in VU magazine, 1936

32. After decades of research, some problems have arisen about the photograph’s authenticity: There is a good chance the photo was staged. Capa admitted to staging photos sometimes.The second photo appears to show a different soldier, although this is not certain.The soldier is not the individual originally named.The location is different from the place originally named.

34. In support of authenticity, Capa’s biographer showed it to a police medical expert:The fact that the fingers are somewhat curled toward the palm clearly indicates that the man’s muscles have gone limp and that he is already dead. Hardly anyone faking death would ever know that such a hand position was necessary in order to make the photograph realistic. It is nearly impossible for any conscious person to resist the reflex impulse to brace his fall by flexing his hand strongly backward at the wrist and extending his fingers out straight.

35. Robert Capa, Falling Soldier, 1936

36. Robert Capa took this photograph the same day

37. Researcher Manuel Sussperegui took this photo in 2007 at the same location, to prove the original location was incorrectly named

38. Robert Capa on D-Day, Normandy, June 6, 1944

39. Robert Capa, D-Day 1944, Omaha Beach, Normandy

40. Robert Capa, D-Day 1944, Omaha Beach, Normandy A young lab technician under pressure from his boss closed the door of the film dryer, leaving the heater to melt the film. Only eleven out of 144 frames survived.

42. A book published soon after D-Day with Capa’s photographs.

43. Saving Private Ryan, directed by Stephen Spielberg, 1998

44. Saving Private Ryan, directed by Stephen Spielberg, 1998

45. The Adventure of a Photograph: how a straight news photo can become a tool for propagandaJoe Rosenthal and the Iwo Jima image, 1945

46. The Iwo Jima photograph is a record of the raising of the US flag on the island of Iwo Jima, in the Pacific War of 1945It is an example of a mythical photograph, one that takes on meanings outside of what is depicted, acquiring an aura of significance, like a religious icon.The image is unique in the history of photography for its amazing transformation into other art forms.

47. But there was another flag raising a few hours before, on the same spot:February 23, 1945, 10.20amStaff Sergeant Louis R. Lowery, a US Marines photographer, captures the raising of the US flag on top of Mount Suribachi.The flag was too small to be seen at a distance, so another one was brought up from a ship.

48. February 23, 1945 at 2.35pmJoe Rosenthal, an Associated Press photographer with the Marines, photographs the raising of the US flag. This shot will become the iconic Iwo Jima image.

49. February 23, 1945 at 2.35pmJoe Rosenthal, an Associated Press photographer with the Marines, photographs the raising of the US flag. This shot will become the iconic Iwo Jima image. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLCupx1UExg

50. 1945 Joe Rosenthal wins the Pulitzer Prize for Photography