The Power of Documentary Photography
At one time I was an art history major and frequently visited sites like Fifty Crows, which promotes the use of documentary photography to bring about social and political change. Across the banner menu, you may gather information through various modalities: concerned blogs written by the site’s staff, the beautifully sublime photo essays from dozens of talented photographers, and digital video of photographers discussing their works.
A short summary of the documented subjects accompanies each photographic essay as well as a list of links relevant to the topic. Sometimes the photographer decides to add a bit of textual commentary, which enriches the documentary photography even more. The site’s creators and contributors wish to bring attention to certain important issues in the world that generally go unnoticed. They maintain that images consistently inspire people to act, as demonstrated during the Vietnam War as well as shots of Ground Zero following 9/11. The digital videos featured in the hypertext link under TV/New Media are powerful because they incorporate the artist’s voice and passion about an otherwise avoided problem, such as JB Russell’s piece on depleted uranium. The rhetoric here is almost all about visual images and relies on the power of photography to move us to action. Typically the action they are expecting is a donation, membership (through a fee of $35), or the purchase of a print. Usually I’m highly skeptical of any website that asks for money, but I appreciate this one for its combination of earnestness and high drama.
A short summary of the documented subjects accompanies each photographic essay as well as a list of links relevant to the topic. Sometimes the photographer decides to add a bit of textual commentary, which enriches the documentary photography even more. The site’s creators and contributors wish to bring attention to certain important issues in the world that generally go unnoticed. They maintain that images consistently inspire people to act, as demonstrated during the Vietnam War as well as shots of Ground Zero following 9/11. The digital videos featured in the hypertext link under TV/New Media are powerful because they incorporate the artist’s voice and passion about an otherwise avoided problem, such as JB Russell’s piece on depleted uranium. The rhetoric here is almost all about visual images and relies on the power of photography to move us to action. Typically the action they are expecting is a donation, membership (through a fee of $35), or the purchase of a print. Usually I’m highly skeptical of any website that asks for money, but I appreciate this one for its combination of earnestness and high drama.
posted by erin yano at 7:00 PM
1 Comments:
This is an insightful and sensitive analysis of a wonderful site. The emphasis on photography makes the visual image a dominant mode on this site, but you point out how the verbal-textual mode enhances and extends the messages contained in the stunning photographs. It's also interesting that the photo essays use animation, in some cases with beautiful "bleeds" or "dissolves" from one image to the next, to unfold the implied narrative or argument of the series of images.
It's also great that you noted that the site is asking for money, but that you don't mind this appeal because of the ethos of site, which corresponds in some way (I'm assuming) with your own values and your own appreciation for the social and political potential of documentary photography.
As in the 10x10 site Alan discusses, the Fifty Crows site draws upon kairos to add power to the rhetoric of the images it showcases. Many of the documentary projects involve current events, some of which, as you point out, are not on "on the radar" of conventional news and information channels.
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