Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-06-07)

10 1 June 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Doyouhavesomethingyou’dliketogetoffyourchest?Sendusyourthoughtsinaround

500 wordstotheaddressonpage 12 andwina year’sdigitalsubscriptiontoAP,worth£79.

T

hroughouthistory,photography

hasbeenconsidereda medium

oftruth-telling.Originally

photographywasexpected

to betechnicallyperfectin orderto be

consideredtruthful.But,in 1958,Robert

Frank’sseminalwork,TheAmericans,

brokeawayfromthistradition.

Documentingthedarkersideof lifein

theUSAin the1950s,hecapturedthe

uglierpartsof Americansocietyfroman

outsider’sperspective.Hispictureswere

oftenoverlygrainy,blurryandsometimes

wonky.Hisworkwasheavilycriticisedat

thetime,notonlyforhislackof regardfor

perfectexposure,butforhowheimbued

hisimageswithquestionsandemotion.

Frank’ssubjectivephotographschallenged

hisviewersandsomearguedthathis

aestheticapproachwasat thedetriment

of representingthetruth.

Argumentsconcerningtheethicsof

subjectivityandaestheticsstillpersist

today.In 2015,WorldPressPhoto

disqualified20%of finalistsforexcessive

post-processingandstaging.In that

sameyear,thecommitteealsorevoked

thefirstplaceawardafterit wasfound

thatthewinningphotographerhad

misrepresentedthelocationof an image.

Stageddocumentary

Yetsomeof themostmemorable

photographsthroughouthistoryareoften

notexactrepresentations.Thereis the

famous‘TimesSquareKiss’.Ratherthan

capturinga spontaneousmoment,the

photographerfoundtheperfectspotto

takethephotographandthenaskedthe

sailorandnursetokiss.DorotheaLange

editedouta distractingthumbin her

infamousimageof the‘MigrantMother’.

DonMcCullindescribes,unapologetically,

howhealteredthesceneof a young

deadNorthVietnamesesoldier,taking

theman’spossessionsandturningthem

faceuptothecamera.Theseexamples

illustratehowphotographersoftenmake

decisionstointerferebeforeandafteran

imageis takenin ordertoimprovethe

aesthetics or to convey a certain feeling.

Stagedornot,canwe,orevenshould

we,everrelyuponphotographstoconvey

anunbiasedreality?Animageis thework

of humancreatorsafterall,whohave

theirownpoliticalagenda,emotional

biasandaestheticconcerns.Everything

fromwhattypeof cameraandlensa

photographeruses,towhattheydecide

toincludein theframe,tohowtheyedit

animage– allaredecisionswhichcan

potentiallydistortreality.

Manydocumentaryphotographersare

pushingthegenrein newdirections.After

thelargesteverleakof CIAdocuments,

photographerGeorgeSelleywasinspired

toreimaginethelifeof anundercover

spy.His‘Vault7’projectwasbasedupon

a documentwhichwasessentiallya

‘how-to’guideforundercoveragents

arrivingin Frankfurt.Surprisedbyits

banalityin comparisontoourHollywood-

inspiredperceptionof a spy,heplacedan

actorintostagedscenes.

Selley’sprojectis a greatexampleof

theimportanceof consideringanimage

withinitscontext.Whetherit’sonthefront

pageorin a photobook,weshouldnever

relyuponanimagealone to inform us of

thewholetruth.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE OR TI MEDIA LIMITED

©

GEORGE

SELLEY

werelyondocumentary

tographytotellthetruth,giventhat

me images are altered before/aft er?

LilyBungayis a documentaryandreportagephotographer

basedin London.Sheis alsotherecipientof Amateur

Photographer’s 2019 RisingStar Award. See more of her

workat lilybungay.com.

GeorgeSelley’s‘Vault7’projectpushes

documentary photography in a new direction

© GETT Y IMAGES

CONTENT

FOR

NEXT

WEEK

S ISSUE MAY

BESUBJECT

TO

CHANGE

PanasonicLumixFZ1000II

AudleyJarvisputsPanasonic’slatest

bridgecamerathroughitspaces

FujinonXF16mmf/2.8RWR

MichaelTophamfindsoutaboutthis

compactandlightweightX-mountlens

Onelight,threeways

Discoverhowtousethesamelightto get

diff erent results every time

AndyWestlakeexplainsthe

truthbehind 30 common

photographic myths

Biggest

myths

busted

In next week’s issue

On sale Tuesday 4 June

View point

Lily Bungay