4. After the events of any disaster, photographs of the destruction and the people always circulate one way or another. How the arts react to the disaster will depend on the artist or the perspective/motive they are trying to fulfill. In Pablo Figueroa’s “Subversion and nostalgia in art photography of the Fukushima nuclear disaster”, he states that the meaning of a photograph is created by cultural context, and can be understood as texts that gain sense in the broader photographic discourse. According to Figueroa, after the Fukushima earthquake, most of the images published nationally were representations pertaining to photojournalism. International photojournalists covered 3.11, but views sustained by domestic and foreign media were dissimilar. Japanese critics pointed out how foreign presses went after the “photographic effect”—creation of images that accentuate tragedy and fear—to display the disaster. Susan Sontag argued that no photographer could determine the meaning of a …show more content…
Furthermore, meanings behind or found in photographs can be determined by cultural definition and are manifestations of interest. Looking at the Fukushima disaster, overwhelming sense of loss and anger among those who were affected can view the images differently than those who had not experienced the disaster or weren’t as affected as others. Figueroa looks at Toshiya Watanabe’s photo book, 18 months. Born and raised in the Fukushima Prefecture, residents of the town he was born in had to evacuate and the town was declared off-limits. The images in his photo book presented a before and after of the town, how the town changed three
Having such an image before our eyes, often we fail to recognize the message it is trying to display from a certain point of view. Through Clark’s statement, it is evident that a photograph holds a graphic message, which mirrors the representation of our way of thinking with the world sights, which therefore engages other
As the camera’s popularity grew, the use of it shifted from an art form into a social rite, a statement of authority and security. The act of taking photographs, and the photos produced, act as mementos or proof of the past. Photographs summarize an event all within itself, creating an immortal piece, allowing the people to grasp onto the ownership of area in which they feel insecure. On the other hand, Sontag states that the deed of taking photographs occupies the same need for “cosmopolitans […] as it does for lower-middle-class [citizens]”(177). With that being said, how can there be any power at all in photography, but a fake sensation we created from the act of photography to fill our insecurities. By tapping into the insecurities of the readers, Sontag forces them to connect with the words and consider their actions relating to photography more
Photography allows us to maintain memories and relish them whenever we desire. Although some advocates might argue that people are no longer enjoying experiences instead taking more pictures, in the essay, “Why We Take Pictures”, by Susan Sontag, she conflates that photography can be used as a defense against anxiety and a tool of empowerment. I agree with Sontag on the significance of photographs and how it allows us to store a part of our extended relatives so we are able to hold on the memories of family. Therefore, we must appreciate how photography allows us to manage anxiety, express feelings and remember our loved ones.
Despite the similarities in the two texts presented by the authors and photographers, their work is presented in two various ways. Agee and Evans project was done after living with three tenant families and Evans photographs are completely separate from Agees text. There are not any captions or names and they do not tell us where the photos are taken or who the people in the pictures are. Lange and Taylor’s project on the other hand is written in a way that helps us read the photographs and it is easier to see the connections between the text and pictures. The captions underneath the photos are based on words formulated by the people in the picture. However, the photos that do not have any people in them still have captions, but in this case we can assume that someone has told the photographer or author what to write for each photo. By this method the true meaning of how the turmoil during this period affected the people in question is more precisely illustrated because it includes the words uttered by the people thems...
... the catastrophic event into an opportunity for the future. Even though the tsunami of December 2004 ended in a huge death toll, ongoing trauma and homelessness of millions of Asians, still they can recuperate from this entire horrific event. If any good at all is to come from this adversity on a human scale, it will certainly be considered by the compassion and generosity that the world reveals to the survivors. I must admit that I find very difficult to let it sink in my brain the fact that it can happen to all of us anywhere and any time around the globe. It might not be a tsunami that these citizens have experienced, but there are other natural disasters we can stumble upon as well. Surely, it has been a great experience for me to write this paper and to discover the truth about the tsunami and the total effects of what these people have to deal with.
I am interested in the role of visual rhetoric in maintaining this "war of position" between military, environmental, arms-control, pacifist, industrial, scientific and federal interests [in post-Cold War culture]. Issues in this research include the nature of verbal and visual codes in nuclear representations (e.g., in critical disagreement over the success of nuclear landscape photography in evoking viewer knowledge of the deadly, invisible radiation which "really" suffuses its depicted objects), the uses to which images are put in various social contexts (e.g., in museum exhibits commemorating the Japanese atomic bombings), and the consequences of images for existing power relations between nuclear authorities and citizens (e.g., in legitimating the "accelerated" -- and arguably incomplete -- cleanup of contaminated nuclear weapons plants by federal agencies and their contractors) . . .
The mass media carries with it unparalleled opportunities to impart information, but also opportunities to deceive the public, by misrepresenting an event. While usually thought of as falsifying or stretching facts and figures, manipulation can just as easily be done in the use of photography and images. These manipulations may be even more serious – and subtle – than written manipulations, since they may not be discovered for years, if ever, and can have an indelible and lasting impact on the viewer, as it is often said, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. One of the most significant images of Twentieth Century America was the photograph of a migrant mother holding her child. The photograph was taken during the Great Depression by photographer Dorothea Lange, and has remained an enduring symbol of the hardship and struggle faced by many families during the Depression Era. This image was also an example of the manipulation of photography, however, for it used two major forms of manipulation that remain a problem in journalistic photography.
The media has critical impact in Sontag 's article. She demonstrates her argument when she states, “Parked in front of the little screens-television, computer, palmtop- we can surf to images and brief reports of disasters throughout the world” (437). Individuals regularly decide to overlook pictures of others anguish. People decide to envision that others don 't suffer, and would rather keep on living in ignorance of other third-world nations.
A picture is more than just a piece of time captured within a light-sensitive emulsion, it is an experience one has whose story is told through an enchanting image. I photograph the world in the ways I see it. Every curious angle, vibrant color, and abnormal subject makes me think, and want to spark someone else’s thought process. The photographs in this work were not chosen by me, but by the reactions each image received when looked at. If a photo was merely glanced at or given a casual compliment, then I didn’t feel it was strong enough a work, but if one was to stop somebody, and be studied in curiosity, or question, then the picture was right to be chosen.
Critically analyzing of visual media artifact investigates visual culture. An analysis entails image interpretation of image equally applicable to genres of photographs as form of advertisement. In this paper, I will critically examine photographs. According to Barrett (2011) he suggested that critic starts with description that involves developing a list of facts concerning the subject matter within the image. Description is a data gathering process of photograph (p. 17). It’s also establishing a typology of the photograph’s content matter. Similarly Bathes’ (1977) suggest that “all images are polysemous” (p. 38) because of the subject matter, hence creation of complexity for visual reader in making decision what aspect to read, pay attention or ignore of the photograph. The paper will discuss the wunderkammer series that contains nine photographs.
Butler in “Torture and the Ethics of Photography” is largely concerned with how our understanding of perceptible reality and our response to the suffering of others are controlled by military and governmental authorities, who by allowing “embedded reporting”, that is, to allow the journalists and photographers to report only from the persp...
The conditions of the earthquake depicts an image of hell. The images of collapsing buildings and the chaos of destruction associates with the fires and chaos of hell. Jeronomo’s experience of the earthquake represents the earthquake as creating hell on earth by the amount of casualties. For example, “there the flame, flashing in clouds of smoke curled out, of every gable and drove him, terrified, into another street” (Kleist, 124). The image of flames and clouds of smoke in this piece relates to the image of the fires of hell in apocalyptic literature. The flames from the earthquake presents this sense of the end of the world. Jeronimo's experience of the obstacles of smoke and fire illustrates a common perception of fires association wi...
A life without meaning is one without happiness. In Haruki Murakami’s after the quake, all of the short stories have a lot to say about human beings and their need to find the meaning in life. The short stories in this collection are written as a perspective of those that have experienced or know of the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan. Many characters are seen talking about the earthquake and discussing the effects that it had on them or people that they know. Each story deals with new characters and describes a different struggle that characters have.
Photojournalism plays a critical role in the way we capture and understand the reality of a particular moment in time. As a way of documenting history, the ability to create meaning through images contributes to a transparent media through exacting the truth of a moment. By capturing the surreal world and presenting it in a narrative that is relatable to its audience, allows the image to create a fair and accurate representation of reality.
Photography has created an outlet for the masses to story tell. It has a way of speaking without words like most art forms and is a manner of expression in itself. To eradicate photography from humans would be equivalent to taking away a limb from humankind. Our society has grown an immense amount of dependency on it. Photography has become almost a daily menial task such as brushing your teeth; where we must take pictures of the things we deem important or equally unimportant, even more so with the invention of social media outlets such as Instagram and Snapchat, where photography is the main source of communication between people who use them. Susan Sontag offers the basis of what taking pictures can undertake in both our daily lives and moments that are not part of our daily lives, such as travel. Traveling to places where one is not accustomed can flare pent up anxiety. A way to subdue that anxiety could be through taking pictures, since it’s the only factor that we have total control over in a space where we don’t have much, or, any control of our surrounding environment. On the other hand, taking photos can also be a tool of power in the same sense as it allows for it to be a defense against anxiety. With the camera in our hands, we have the power to decide who, what, where, when, and why we take a picture. This in turn also gives the person who took the picture power over those who later analyze the photos, letting them decide the meaning of the photo individually, despite the intended or true meaning.