In The Photographer’s Eyes, John Szarkowski focused on issues that encompass the art of photography. The five issues are: The Thing Itself, The Detail, The Frame, Time, and the Vantage Point. “These issues do not define discrete categories of work; on the contrary they should be regarded as interdependent aspects of a single problem…” The Photographer’s Eyes, is summed up in one line: “The history of photography has been less a journey than a growth.” Thousands of photos were being taken all over the world, “but photographs, as the man on the street put it, were taken;” they were meaningless. It took years for the art of photography to truly develop; pictures finally started to have meaning. According to the article, trivial things took
on importance because they were ‘immortalized in a picture, and made objective and permanent.’ “By the end of the century, for the first time in history, even the poor man knew what his ancestors had looked like.” The mention of the American Civil War and the Second World War stood out to me. The words that are expressed by the great war photographer Robert Capa, are very powerful to me. “The function of these pictures was not to make the story clear, it was to make it real. If your pictures aren't good enough you're not close enough.” Today, everyone thinks they are a big shot photographer because the ability to take photos is so easy. Androids and iPhones have made it easier for people to upload countless numbers of photos to social media sites in a matter of seconds. With the advancement in technology, the art of photography is slowing fading away.
The human eye is an organ that allows a person to see, the sense of sight. The eye is composed of several parts including the cornea, lens, pupil, retina, optic nerve etc. There are two portions the eye is broken into, the front third is the anterior segment and the other two thirds is the posterior segment. The anterior segment includes the lens, cornea, iris, and ciliary body. The posterior segment of the eye essentially is the back portion of the eye. In detail, the posterior segment is the portion of the eye behind the lens that includes the retina, macula, optic nerve, choroid, and vitreous humor. There are many diseases that affect the eye and those in particular affecting the posterior segment will be discussed in detail.
Johnson, Brooks. Photography Speaks: 150 Photographers on their Art.” New York: Aperture Foundation Inc., 2004. Print.
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
Fuss and Barthes, they share an interest in photography, they share an interest in the foundation and principles of photography, moreover they share an interest in photography that is deeply personal. Fuss takes the camera out of photography. Barthes takes photography out of art. Both men want to get to the essence of what a photograph is, one by thinking and writing about it, and one by doing it. In this paper I will show how Adam Fuss’ work matches up with and demonstrates the ideas of Barthes’ in Camera Lucida.
Sontag, Susan. "Essay | Photography Enhances Our Understanding of the World." BookRags. BookRags. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
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.
This book is a note written by Roland Barthes to record the dialectical way he thought about the eidos(form, essence, type, species) of Photographs. Roland Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist in his lifetime, but surprisingly he was not a photographer. As Barthes had a belief that art works consists with signs and structures, he had investigated semiotics and structuralism. However, through Camera Lucida, he realized the limitation of structuralism and the impression to analyze Photography with only semiotics and structuralism. Barthes concludes with talking about unclassifiable aspects of Photography. I could sense the direction Barthes wanted to go through the first chapter ‘Specialty of the Photograph’. He tried to define something by phenomenology
To begin with, photography appeared to me as something entertaining a simple step in which one took a camera and simply shot a photograph of oneself or a friend. When I was handed my schedule for Mrs. Jones’s class, I felt as if this class had in store a special reward for me. As the days went by, Instead of being anxious of getting out of class I had a craving for additional time in the class. The class kept my eyes glued to the screen ...
Following this path it is essential then to understand the meaning of the era that was before- modernism, which shaped the modern times and in turn led to the birth of postmodernism. Both of these phenomena were influenced by current economic and political changes and it’s meaning applies to a broad intellectual, cultural and artistic movement that generally includes art, architecture, music and literature. From the artistic perspective the main idea of those movements was to present the spirit of the new era. Both of these periods stand for different values and are often perceived as a contra dictionary to each other. Nevertheless photography was an important part of both of these movements and was used by artists as a respond to rapidly transforming world through artistic expression. According to Douglas Crimp (cited by Andy Grundberg in his essay titled “ The Crisis of the Real. Photography and postmodernism.”):
In Sontag’s On Photography, she claims photography limits our understanding of the world. Though Sontag acknowledges “photographs fill in blanks in our mental pictures”, she believes “the camera’s rendering of reality must always hide more than it discloses.” She argues photographs offer merely “a semblance of knowledge” on the real world.
What do you consider art? Paintings, sculptures, drawings, or maybe something else. I know, when I think of art, I think of photography. Photography Is used for business, science, manufacturing, art, recreational purposes, mass communication, and more. Photography is using light to do amazing things, and some people think of photography as a story that just needs to be told. Ansel Adams probably believed this. He said, “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” Photography has a long interesting history, like the fact that the word photography is made up of two greek words, photos meaning ‘light’ and graphein which is ‘to draw’ ! Photography also has some complicated techniques to get a hang of taking good photos. Have you heard of the rule of thirds? Or do you know how a camera works? Well, that will all be explained. Maybe, by the end you will take up photography too. This essay will explore the history and types of cameras and the basic rules for taking photographs.
Acquiring a good eye for photography is an ongoing process that requires an understanding of basic photography concepts, the ability to learn from your experience, a willingness to experiment, and the ability to notice the world around you. The last requirement, the ability to notice your surroundings is one of the most important skills the photographer should have. The person with a good knack for noticing things is rarely at a loss for finding great subject matter for their photos. How to Notice the World around You Most busy people with many things on their minds, merely use their eyes for navigating around. They quickly scan here and there and their brain fills in the rest.
Have you ever wondered why the sky is blue. Often times I find myself looking up on a clear day, pondering over that question? Why isn’t it green, or red or pink for even that matter. Every day, the human eye blinks more than 23,00 times. The human eye is a complicated organ that performs one of the most important tasks for our body. There are many questions about the eye however. What function do they perform? What happens if we don’t take care of them? How exactly do they work together to help us form images? Exactly how far can they human eye see?
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.
The Eye is the organ of sight. Eyes enable people to perform daily tasks and to learn about the world that surrounds them. Sight, or vision, is a rapidly occurring process that involves continuous interaction between the eye, the nervous system, and the brain. When someone looks at an object, what he/she is really seeing is the light that the object reflects, or gives off.