Exercise: The photograph as an Intersection of Gazes.

Exercise: The photograph as an Intersection of Gazes.

Before reading this article I had only considered three interested parties as being interested parties in a photograph: the subject, the photographer, and the viewer.

This article certainly challenges the way I view an image but is not the way I take an image.  The Institutional Gaze is still mine in that I carry out my own editing, cropping, and selection.  The rest is down to the viewer.

My photographs practice changes according to the circumstances and what I want the image to say.  I have obtained images both with and without the subjects permission, but I hope without exploiting them.  

The following three images were taken with a different message in mind.

The first was for the Digital Practice module of this course and was taken in Spain.  This was a set that I took to show how the financial crash had affected Spain.  The subject was a willing, and genuine, participate.  She is holding a card that roughly states she is desperate for a job and is good at domestic work.  I wanted to make her look as pathetic as possible so as to highlight the poverty that some people had fallen into so photographed her from a high and so as to diminish her.  My then tutor said I had been unkind to her but I achieved what I set out to obtain.

The second was an attempt to show how pictures can tell lies.  The scene is the main street in Canterbury, the two boys were in fact obviously students from the University.  This is a picture I took on the fly from inside my flapping coat.  The subjects were unaware.   The angle of the image, the close cropping and the fact there are three Afro Caribbean and one lounging white man give an edgy feel to the image.  This was in reality an innocent scene, but the way in which I presented it tells a different story, and is a lie.  

The last is one I took in holiday is obviously taken with the permission of the subject.  A straightforward portrait in good light with a little fill in flash.  

I, as the photographer, can only control a number of the Gaze possibilities; the rest are up to the viewer.

Project: Gaze and control.

Project: Gaze and control.

Power/Knowledge.

At the start of this piece David Green states that reading Foucault can be difficult.  I have come across his writings throughout this course and still find him difficult.  

In this piece we are asked to view power as a positive force that enables man to obtain knowledge rather than a negative influence that controls and stifles man.

The accumulation and spread of sound and true knowledge is dependent on the exercise of positive power.  Power and knowledge go together.

Truth can only be arrived at through discipline and is constraint not the product of free thinking.  Every society has it’s method of testing for the truth and those make such decisions wield power.

Disciplinary Power.

In Foucault’s Discipline and Punishment the change in penal regimes from using physical punishment to change future conduct to an attempt to change the behaviour of prisoners by observation and persuasion .  The change the soul rather that punish the body.  

People who know they are under observation react differently to those ignorant of the fact.  Thus the ‘Panopticon’, as devised by Jeremy Bentham, was a way of observing prisoners with them seeing the observer.  The idea of the unseen observer is now applied as CCTC which is employed widely both inside and out in the street.  

Foucault points out the interdependence of power and knowledge.  He claims that power does reside with with a single body in society but is exercised throughout society by the many.  A knowledge/power relationship is present in all social interactions.  

At this point I lost the will to live.

Photography and Power.

Photography became a powerful tool in the recording of, and categorising of people and was seen as a true representation of what was observed.  It allowed close scrutiny of those being observed and permitted unfair and misguided comparisons to made between the world of the observer and the world of the observed.  By isolating the subject from it’s normal surroundings context is lost and a false image can be manufactured.

According to David Green the power wielded by the photograph invites resistance, but this power is so strong as to render any meaningful resistance futile.  All one can do is find new ways of working with photography in the fields of observing, recording, and reading.

Assignment Three. Visual storytelling.

Assignment Three.

This is my second attempt at Assignment Three.  I took these pictures whilst in Australia with a mind to use them for this assignment but then went for the hat angle.

Link to pdf below.  Cut and paste to browser please.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5nvwo4D2lyvZ0VuNFBlalFNbnM

Visual story telling.

Of all the assignments, so far, this one has given me the most trouble.  I have had ideas aplenty, but few that would work as a story.  A day out seal watching with friends that ended with only five usable pictures.  The pre-Christmas visit by the grand children.  Loads of inside shots of messy kids, but the weather was so foul all the planned outside visits and therefor outside shots had to be abandoned.  A day out to Dungeness with a friend supplied some decent images, but only suitable for the Landscape Module.

In the end I fell back to my trip to Australia last year.  I had originally intended to use it as the basis for this assignment but as I only took my Canon G12 and my Canon G1X I wasn't sure there was sufficient lens variation to fit the criteria.   The holiday consisted of travel from Perth, in the south west, round to Port Douglas, in the north east, via Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and many minor place in between over a period of five weeks.  The mode of transport covered plane, train, car, and ferry.  I looked originally to pick out part of the journey and use it a the theme for the assignment but even as I took the shots I could see I was making a travelogue and that was not what I wanted.  I tried the train, The Indian Pacific, but again couldn’t make it work.  The road journey, from Adelaide to Sydney,  was fantastic but it was just that, a road journey: lots of photographs but again a travelogue.  It was only when I went back over them I found my theme: hats.  Not the usual Aussie caricature of the Akubra with corks but various hats, and their wearers, that we come across, plus the loss and replacement of a hat owned by one of travelling companions. 

The tale of a hat lost, a hat replaced and other hats.  Abandoned in favour of Trolly version below.

I’ll deal first with that hat lost.  Christine, one of our travelling companions, brought with her her white sun hat to deal with the hot and harsh Australian sun. 

The first image is of her wearing that very hat on a trip up the River Clyde at Bateman’s Bay, NSW.

The second was taken on a Quicksilver ferry on our return to Port Douglas following a day on The Great Barrier Reef.  When Christine stood up to take a picture of Crocodile Island she forgot we we travelling at about 40 knots, (46mph), and off went her hat.  

The following day a very fetching pink number was purchased to replace it.

In Perth we visited the Old Jail where a guide, Matthew, did a passable impression go prison guard in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke. 

Also in Perth we came across a very un-Australian use for a hat: begging.  I like this picture as it shows the indifference of others in the street.

I include the man in the balloon hat for no better reason that he put a smile on my face.  

The Indian Pacific train makes only two stops on it’s journey from Perth to Adelaide, one at Kalgoorlie, and one at Cook.  Kalgoorlie is the worlds largest gold mine, but unfortunately our stop was too short to pay it a visit.  Cook is a ghost town left over from when Australia had a variety of track gauges and Cook was where they all met.  The photograph is an example of Brownian Motion in action.  There is almost nothing to see but everyone is milling about aimlessly thing to find something.  Some with hats and some without, but all practicing their Aussie Salute in a bid to rid themselves of the very persistent flies.

In Adelaide we visited the Botanical Gardens where I saw this charming image of a mother and her two daughters dabbling in a hothouse pond.  Hats laid aside in the shade of the house.

In the tourist town Central Tilba NSW is Wulaga Gallery, new age shop producing, amongst other items, it’s own hand crafted jewellery.  Heather, the jeweller, always seemed to sport her woolly hat; no matter the weather, inside or out
.  

The last is a picture of old and new Australia.  Taken in Sydney's Paddy's Market it shows Old Australia, as represented by the customer, and  New Australia, as represented by the elegant stall holder.  The woven hat versus the head scarf.

Assignment Three.  Second attempt.

The Tutor notes attached to the work in my submission folder relate to the aborted first attempt. I contacted OCA to see if there was another but no other has been received.

This is my second attempt at Assignment Three.  I took these pictures whilst in Australia with a mind to use them for this assignment but then went for the hat angle.

Link to pdf below.  Cut and paste to browser please.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5nvwo4D2lyvZ0VuNFBlalFNbnM

Plain copy lo res version.

Whilst in Australia last year I spent a week in Port Douglas up in Queensland. The town had a successful early history as a gold and timber centre. It’s natural harbour made for easy transport of the timber to Cairns. The laying of a railway killed the trade and by 1960 the population had dwindled to fewer than 100. It’s fortunes changed when visits to The Great Barrier Reef started to become feasible and popular. Fast second hand Tasmanian ferries were brought in and trade flourished.

The permanent population now stands at over 3000, is solely dependent on tourism and caters for over 350,000 holiday makers each year.

In addition to the normal tourist shops there is the ubiquitous Coles Super Market.

Whether it’s the wild nature of the area or just a wish for freedom I can’t say, but the Coles trollies seem to have the wonder-lust. Having noticed their proclivity to roam I started to take pictures of them and give them life by imagining how they arrived at their new locations and what they were up to.

Some use their spare time with a bit of window shopping. A chance to see what else Port Douglas has to offer other that fresh milk and buy-one-get-one-free offers.

Others use the opportunity to hang out with their mates.

Not all such gatherings end peacefully and fights break out.

Making friends with larger relations is not unheard of as can be seen by this one cosying up to a large wheelie bin.

Many of them go feral and make their homes in road side waste areas.

There is always the temptation to find a new home and new friends.

This one seems just plain lost, without purpose and waiting for collection.

Hiding out during daylight hours seemed a good plan for some of the renegades.

Making friends with the wrong containers could end up with a ride in the back of the garbage truck.

The usual fate for the free thinking trollies is capture and a return to Coles. Here is a collection of run-aways awaiting collection by The Trolly Man.

Response to seeing-is-believing.

Response to seeing-is-believing.

Due to the lack of physical or photographic evidence regarding the death of OBL perhaps this should include hearing is believing.

When I see or hear a news item I receive the information with my ears, eyes and prejudices wide open.  I can't help it, it's what we all do   Whatever I experience in the world my human instinct makes me compare that experience to what I have encountered  before.  Hearing Kim Jon-un proclaim that the Democratic Republic of North Korea is a rich, prosperous and peace loving nation is not going to have applying for citizenship.  If on the other hand Nicola Sturgeon proclaimed her wish for an independent Scotland I believe her.  My experiences colour what I am willing to believe.  

I was a Police officer for over 30 years working in London working mainly in the field in accident reconstruction and had many a frustrating time listening to and taking statements from, for want of a better word, witnesses.  They clearly believed they had seen what they were reporting, but due to prejudice, malice, a wish to be helpful, or plain stupidity their statements could sometimes be described as at best confusing and at worst dangerous.  Too often they heard a bang, looked round and, on seeing the aftermath unconsciously made the rest up.  Perception also played a big part in their stories.  Quite often we were told, " He was travelling far too fast. Fifty or more", when upon examining skid marks and damage we found the speed to be nearer 20.  These people were not consciously lying but their perception, and possibly their interest in any prosecution, coloured their view.  

We all have built in prejudices, based mainly on past experiences, that govern how we see the world and what we are willing to believe about it.  As I said earlier, we can't help it; we learn from experience; learning what and who to trust keeps us alive.  To have someone test our beliefs and probe our prejudices is both healthy and enhancing. 

Exercise: Joan Fontcuberta-Sputnic.

Exercise: Joan Fontcuberta-Sputnic.

You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time. or so goes the old adage.  In the last post I quoted Roger Ailes, head of Fox News, on truth.  He is worth quoting again.  He said "Truth is whatever people will believe." 

The book Sputnic by Joan Fontcuberta is the proof of this . Not only did Fontcuberta use a Russian form of his own name as the eponymous hero but also used his own face.  At the Madrid Exhibition the catalog had, 'it's all fiction', on the endpapers and on the official web site the words ,'PURE FICTION', were displayed on every page.  

Despite this the Mexican magazine Luna Cornea seems to have taken the story as true, and the Soviet government got very upset by the story as it was insulting to Russia's glorious past.

There is something honest and real about black and white images that we tend not to challenge.  The use here of black and white added to the reality of the pictures and therefor the story.  Some viewers seeing the images clearly failed to see through the deception.  

In his book Fauna Fontcuberta published doctored images purporting to be of real animals.  Among them were twelve legged snakes, quadrupeds with wings and monkeys with horns.  When first published in 1988 Fontcuberto reported that opinion went, "from people who understand that it is a farce and appreciate the satire and the humour of it, to people who understand it's a farce and are angry at you for trying to fool them, to people who believe it and are angry, to people who believe it and are delighted."

These books are a nice example of the gullibility of people.  It puts a question mark on believing ones own eyes, or taking for granted the truth of an image.  People see what they want to see; the naive believe what they see, the sceptics disbelieves what they sees, while the bigots will see only what their prejudice allows them to see.

As we have seen from last few exercises, truth of a photograph lies very much within the mind of the viewer.  He will believe what he wants to believe.

Ref: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Fontcuberta#Fauna_.281987.29
[Accessed: 4th. November 2015].

Research Point: Fictional documents.

Research Point: Fictional documents.

Truth cannot be treated as an absolute.  What is seen as true today will be seen as a falsehood tomorrow.  Who now believes that the Earth is at the centre of the Universe or that Earth, Air, Fire and Water are the only four elements, and yet these 'facts' were once believed to be true.  Truth is, as Roger Ailes, head of Fox News, said, ".. whatever people will believe". 

The work of Charley Murrell dwells on this and how the modern worlds portrayal of perfection preys on the minds of young people.  Giving them a false impression as to their worth to society and position within it leads to false body image and the idolisation of poor role models.  

Murrell's altered images give an insight into the minds of these young people and the anguish that that can run, and ruin, their lives.

Starkey's images are very theatrical and clearly staged, and although thought provoking are not my path to truth.

I am more likely to use Parr's method of the juxtaposition of real objects to make a point.

Exercise: Jeff Wall. The documentary value of his work.

Exercise: Jeff Wall.  The documentary value of his work.

It wasn't until I saw the Hannah Starkey image of the small boy in front of a mirror that I understood what these photographers are trying to achieve.  They are prying into the thoughts of their subjects and giving us a glimpse of what they find.  

The boy, having played with weights, sees in his reflection the body of a powerful body when in reality he still only a small boy.

Wall's pictures are simulacrum and show us events which never occurred.  They use real people to tell false tales in the same way as does cinema.  They may be 'near documentary' in there quality but as a document is, according to the OED, .. a piece of written, printed, or electronic matter that provides information or evidence or that serves as an official record, 

they cannot be seen as truly documentary.

What they do is document the wishes, fears, and realities found in peoples minds.  The spooky image of the ventriloquist at the childrens party is a perfect example of how the children may actually view the dummy. 

Exercise: Hasan and Hussain Essop.

Exercise: Hasan and Hussain Essop.

From this short interview it would seem that these two men are confused about the world in which they live.  Their faith precludes them from certain actions that their country allows and they would like to partake in.  There is no pretence that these images record true events but they do represent actions that could take place.  Theirs is a real world upon which they project themselves in tableau.

This is in the style of established Tableau Vivant as practiced by the likes of Ryan Schude, Takayuki Nakazawa and Hiroshi Manaka but the Essops employ themselves instead of others.

Ryan Schude.

Ryan Schude.

Takayuki Nakazawa.

The practice of photomontage has been used since the earliest days of photography, often with a political message.  

John Heartfield

The Essops continue this tradition with a new twist.

Exercise: Tom Hunter.

Exercise: Tom Hunter.

Hunter freely admits that what he produces is not necessarily a true record of an action in real time but is a true representation of that action.  It may be of an action that it was not possible to record at the time but is never the less worth recording.  It represents a truth that with better lighting and a degree of direction and management is better told.  

To claim that such an image is true documentary proof of an action would be a form of perjury when what is being exhibited is a personalised memory of a true event.  

The receiving and reading of the eviction notice was a real event,  but the image, Woman reading a possession order, is a reconstruction.  

Exercise: England Uncensored by Peter Dench. Phil Coomes.

Exercise: England Uncensored by Peter Dench. Phil Coomes.

If you make a fool of yourself expect to have someone photograph it.  In the age of the camera phone the idea of privacy in a public place is very much dead.  Nothing is now too gross nor too shocking to be photographed.  Which should be, or can be, published is 

now where the ethical questions are discussed.  

By using humorous juxtapositions of objects or circumstances, in the way Dench does, leads to images that call us to both smile and, at the same time learn something about ourselves and our neighbours.  

Exercise: Martin Parr. Hypocrisy and prejudice.

Exercise: Martin Parr. Hypocrisy and prejudice.

Martin's admission of hypocrisy and prejudice seems to be based on his claim to have turned his back on his middle class upbringing, and his criticism of Thatcherism.  Leaving aside the issue of what Thatcherism did to, or for, society his choice of using holiday makers in New Brighton is not necessarily a good example of the alleged collapse of society by Thatcherism during this period.  Liverpool at this time was under the control of a hard left local council led by the marxist Derek Hatton who cared more about his political beliefs and publicity machine that he did in efficiently governing Liverpool.  Had Parr said the mess and collapse of the area was caused by Liverpool's own council I would have agreed with him, but the presence of a Conservative government had little to do with the mess that Liverpool got itself into.  

The gift that Parr has of turning issues on their head is a clever one and lifts his images out from his contemporaries.