This lecture, we learnt about picture stories. How they are
everywhere, and have been since yonks ago. Graffiti is a picture story, as are
French cave paintings from 15 000 B.C, and even grainy photos of a 3-year-old me
looking demonesque in my hideously unflattering togs.
HOT.
I didn’t really find it surprising that the first photo in a
newspaper was an advertisement, or that “faux-tography” – pretty self
explanatory – is abundant too. I’m now considering hiring a crack team of
makeup artists to fix me before I leave the house, and to run in front of me
with electric fans wherever I go. I don’t think it’s too much to ask in such
modern times.
Taken from the short film Evolution, a Dove advertisement. Find it HERE.
I was already aware that framing, focus, angle, point of
view, exposure and timing are essential in capturing both effective photographs
and film, with the added dimension of sound for video (needless to say, my
analytical essay on the filming techniques of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
was fairly depressing).
We were also presented with footage of Hitler, in which he
stated:
“We want to
see no more class divisions.”
Soz Addy, you’re doing it wrong.
By and large, I’m still on the fence about photojournalism.
While I appreciate see the appeal, I don’t think even amazing photos can fully
translate a story. No matter how stirring your Kodak moment of a bunch of
distraught relatives at a funeral is, if you caption it with, “Family
devastated at their horribly unattractive genes” it’s going to lose its
meaning. Text has that influence. Good images are often dependant on good
writing, while effective text can exist alone, I believe.