Exercise: The Myth of Objectivity.

Exercise: The Myth of Objectivity.

Bazin v Sekula,

According to Bazin, writing in 1945, art is but an illusion; a painting of a cart is just that, not the cart but an image of it as seen by the painter.  He sees the photograph differently, as a true representation of what  was in front of the camera at the time of the exposure, “..it is without the intervention of man..”  He states that a painter cannot but help influence the image even if only in the way he applies the paint.  He said, “All the arts are based on the presence of man, only photography derives an advantage from his absence.”  Bazin seems to see the impassive lens as the true conveyor of the real image.

Writing in 1997 Sekula voiced that a photograph is but a message, but a message that has a language that must be learned to be understood.  He argues against the contention held by early photographic pioneers that the image was merely painted by light without the intervention of man.  The message in the image may be one intended by the photographer, read into it by the viewer or imposed upon it by a later user.  In this way a documentary image may, in time, be exhibited as art in a gallery or used in an advertisement campaign.  He argues further that photographs do not exist in a free state but are always attached to a discourse. 

When Dorothea Lange captured the Migrant Woman image the hand of the woman’s husband was seen holding open the canvas opening.  This hand was removed by the Roy Stryker, the FSA’s organiser, to strengthen the message of the photograph.  Would the picture in its original form have had the same impact?  The removal of the hand changed Florence Thompson from a woman being supported by her family to a woman with children alone and vulnerable.  

The photograph is always influenced by at least three things. Firstly the subject and what it or they represent; secondly the photographer and his view of the subject; thirdly the viewer of the image and how he interprets it.   One could add to this any person who later uses the image and what additional message they layer onto it.