In Roland Barthes ‘Photographic message’ he talks of how the structure of the photograph is not singular, but in direct correlation with the structure of text, be it captions or accompanying words. Both structures are separate from each other and only once both structures are fully understood i.e. the text and the image can theContinue reading “Additional reading notes Lecture 9”
Author Archives: John Boon Photography
Essay Planning
The question I chose to answer was “It is difficult to know now with certainty whether Evans recorded the America of his youth, or invented it.” (John Szarkowski). Examine the work of two social documentary photographers, paying attention to the potential of documentary to invent as well as represent. I decided to look at photographers JacobContinue reading “Essay Planning”
Additional reading notes Lecture 7
John Berger Ways of seeing chapter 3. Berger talks of how the social presence of Women is different to that of Men. The presence of a Man is dictated by their exterior and the presence of the power. This promised power could be anything, but it this that gives a man his presence and dictatesContinue reading “Additional reading notes Lecture 7”
Additional reading notes-Lecture 6
These notes are from Photography: A Cultural History Pgs 277-287. Documentary photography in America really came into its own during the great depression of the 1930’s, with many photographers showing varied responses to both the social and political aspects of the time. This early documentary photographing paved a large legacy for the medium which continuesContinue reading “Additional reading notes-Lecture 6”
Lecture 10
In Lecture 10 we looked at the essay Death of the Author and the book Camera Lucida both authored by Roland Barthes. Death of the author is a short essay which expands on what is meant in an image be it art or photography, and how it is communicated and perceived. Barthes argues thatContinue reading “Lecture 10”
seminar 5 studium and punctum
Seminar 5: Studium and Punctum – Tuesday 4th April 2017 In Camera Lucida Roland Barthes identifies two elements of the photograph – the studium and the punctum. These terms distinguish between what might be interesting about the photograph generally and what might be more significant for the individual viewer. In this session you will exploreContinue reading “seminar 5 studium and punctum”
Lecture 9- Roland Barthes- The Photographic Message
In Lecture 9 we look at two of Roland Barthes essays; The Photographic Message and The Rhetoric of the image. Barthes proposed a way of reading and understanding photographs using a theory known as Semiotics. It is a theory developed as a way of understanding language, by the likes of Charles Pierce, Ferdinand de SaussureContinue reading “Lecture 9- Roland Barthes- The Photographic Message”
Seminar 4: Denotation and Connotation.
Part one: Denotation: what is depicted (message) What is the denotation of the image (the literal/depicted content)? Give plenty of detail: A man has fallen on the floor and lost his bag, whilst a man holding a hammer stands over him. Many onlookers are watching the seen unfold, including a man pushing aContinue reading “Seminar 4: Denotation and Connotation.”
lecture 8
In lecture 8 we looked at four of the essays written by Walter Benjamin which are particularly relevant to Art and Photography. Benjamin was born into a wealthy Jewish family in Berlin in 1892. Unfortunately, he tragically ended his life after being deported back to France in 1940 whilst trying to escape to AmericaContinue reading “lecture 8”
seminar 3
Seminar 3: Theorising Photography – Tuesday 14th February 2017 Walter Benjamin was perhaps the first theorist of photography and his ideas remain influential today. Some of Benjamin’s ideas from the essay ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ were revisited by John Berger in his series Ways of Seeing. Read theContinue reading “seminar 3”
lecture 7
In lecture 7 we looked at John Berger and Susan Sontag, who are art and photography critics. Both Critics look at social and cultural contexts of image production, and the reception it receives, especially the assumptions within photography. They look at ideology and the conscious ideas that can be proposed by the dominant society,Continue reading “lecture 7”
seminar 2
In seminar 2 we looked at how men and women are portrayed in photographs and how they relate to Sontag and Bergers writings. Powerful, fit, strong, dominant, defined. Simplistic, soft, seductive, vulnerable, glorified, looks like a doll, i.e skin retouch. Male is low key lighting, and women is more High key, toContinue reading “seminar 2”
Lecture 6
In Lecture 6 we looked at early Social Documentary photography and the rise of street photography. Victorian documentary photography began almost with the invention of the daguerreotype. In the early days the whole aim of documentary photography was a philanthropic one, and it relied on the truthfulness and authenticity of both the camera and theContinue reading “Lecture 6”
Lecture 5-Additional reading notes.
These notes are based from the readings in Mary Warner Marien’s book Photography: A Cultural History. Jean-Francois Leotard wrote The Postmodern Condition in 1979,which placed Postmodernism as the next phase of Modernism. In art Postmodernism was in short a rejection of the ideals of Modernism, an anti-movement, against techniques such as abstraction. Photographers started to conform toContinue reading “Lecture 5-Additional reading notes.”
Essay Planning
I have chosen to answer question 1 “Describe the initial reactions to the invention of photography with reference to the writings of Charles Baudelaire, Elizabeth Eastlake and Francis Frith.” I have chosen this question as it is the one I find most interesting. Many of the initial reactions relate to art and how photography mayContinue reading “Essay Planning”
More than looking -session 3
Today we looked at some questions in relation to photographs we had have been looking at over the course of the term. Our group looked at the below image by Gregory Crewdson: 1:What is your first impression of the image i.e. your gut feeling or reaction? Surprise, surreal, shock, disappointment, strange, matriarchal, 2. What sensesContinue reading “More than looking -session 3”
Lecture 5- Post modernism and Photography. The crisis of the real.
In lecture 5 we looked at the post-modernism movement and how it was a reaction from those who didn’t comply or agree with the modernist way. Although it implies that the movement was after modernism, in reality it was during the same period in time, starting just after World War 2 with pop art. ItContinue reading “Lecture 5- Post modernism and Photography. The crisis of the real.”
Lecture 4- additional notes.
These notes are based on the pages I have read in Warner Mariens book, relating to the new world in Europe. The Russian revolution (1917) had a deep impact on artists and photographers in Russia at the time, in particular avant-garde. Artists started to experiment with Cubism and Futurism. Lissitzky was a committed political artist, whoContinue reading “Lecture 4- additional notes.”
lecture 3 additional notes.
Aget made made photographs of the buildings and interiors of Paris for his book ‘the art of old Paris’. He made a living selling these photographs to people, much as an artist would sell their paintings. He wasn’t choosy with his subjects, shooting virtually everything, creating over 3000 photographs during his time making the book.Continue reading “lecture 3 additional notes.”
Lecture 2 additional notes part 2
Peter Henry Emerson Emerson was all for the truthfulness of photography. He felt photography an art of science, not an art on its own. He believed the photograph should document how the eye see, using selective focus on the main subject, allowing the rest to go into slight blur. He talked of photographs being their own,Continue reading “Lecture 2 additional notes part 2”
lecture 1 additional notes part 2.
Charles Baudelaire ‘The Salon of 1859: The Modern Public and Photography’. It is clear that he isn’t overly happy with how the invention of photography is taking away from the skills that already exist such as painting, and sculpting. To him it takes away the genius of the art at the time. He sees theContinue reading “lecture 1 additional notes part 2.”
Lecture 2 additional reading notes
Art has influenced photography over the years, but even today there is a debate going on as to whether photography is art. In the early days they were very separate, with art being paintings etc, and photography being more of a science. Photographic reproduction of art works was suggested early on by Fox Talbot, andContinue reading “Lecture 2 additional reading notes”
Lecture 1 additional reading notes
Here are the notes I have created from Mary Warner-Mariens book Photography: A Cultural History. The notes are snippets of the text that I have found important and noteworthy. (P9-21) Warnier Marien History of the first photographs fit the conventional notion that invention is regular and progressive, with each experiment building successfully on the past.Continue reading “Lecture 1 additional reading notes”
Lecture 4- New and Old Worlds, Photography and Modernism
Lecture 4 looks at the end of the Pictorialist movement, and how many who where involved in the movement, started the next one: Modernism. Modernism was a global movement though it was seen very differently in America, compared to Europe. In America, Modernism was known as ‘Straight Photography’. Stieglitz was an early pioneer, despite hisContinue reading “Lecture 4- New and Old Worlds, Photography and Modernism”
Seminar 3 more than looking part 2
In todays seminar, we where introduced to the combination of images and text. At first we looked at whether images needed text to accompany them. We came to the conclusion, that it completely depends on the genre of the subject, what the photographer wishes to portray, and how much context is in the imageContinue reading “Seminar 3 more than looking part 2”
Lecture 3 – The Artist with the Camera
In the lecture we looked at Atget, a photographer from the 19th century who documented his city of residence; Paris. He made photographs of buildings both externally and internally. At the time Napoleon wanted to make Paris a grand city, so many building were destroyed and new ones erected. Many where unhappy with the process,Continue reading “Lecture 3 – The Artist with the Camera”
Seminar 2 More than Looking
Seminar 2 got us thinking about ways in which photographs can speak to us in a way other than just using our sight. Lynn wanted us to start using our other senses in order to deepen our understandings on what photographs can represent. In this seminar we looked at touch. Lynn had brought in plentyContinue reading “Seminar 2 More than Looking”
Lecture 2 – Can Photography be art?
In my opinion, Photography is art, but through out the ages this has been a hugely controversial debate. In our lecture we looked how opinions and practices had changed in regards to the question that is regularly asked. Through the centuries art has influenced photographic practices greatly. In the early days of photography there wasContinue reading “Lecture 2 – Can Photography be art?”
What is Photography?
We started looking at the different types of photography and how they relate to one another. To start with, I perhaps looked at it as black and white but as actually as we delved deeper we started to notice that in reality most types of photography overlap each other in many ways. For example, ifContinue reading “What is Photography?”
Lecture 1-The Inventions of Photography
The Inventions of Photography lecture takes us through the evolution of early day practices, and the experiments that took place by the pioneers of the medium, in order to capture and perfect the first photographs. We looked at the timeline which moved relatively quickly as the race to produce the first photograph began, showing us a directContinue reading “Lecture 1-The Inventions of Photography”