I was fascinated by today’s lecture about the importance of photography. Although I found the documentary a bit dry and difficult to take notes on, I found the commentary to be quite insightful. It really put the expression “a picture is worth a thousand words” into perspective. Seeing those photos of the dust bowl I thought were the most interesting, since The Grapes of Wrath is one of my favorite novels. Steinbeck along with Lange truthfully bring out the honesty and harsh reality associated with American poverty.
I would relate Lange and her work to Annie Leibovitz. During Christmas break I saw Leibovitz’s exhibit in London, and there was a short 30 minute documentary about how she captured American culture through photographs in the 1960’s and 70’s. Her Vogue and Rolllingstones covers exemplify the simplicity and rawness of famous celebrities, just as Lange’s work brought the candidness of rural America to the forefront.
I think that many people take photographers for granted. They assume that its nothing more than a quick click of a button, deserving of little artistic praise. To the contrary, photographers like Lange are artists because their work not only captures a moment in time, but has the power to evoke change or in the words of Lange “every human action has consequences.”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
i agree with your feeling about both the literature and the commentary. the commentary really put into formal words what i had kind of been feeling all along. i finally had a word or phrase to go with why looking at some pictures will stir up certain emotions, while others dont, and other similar matters.
ReplyDeleteI agree that many people underestimate the artistic talent of photographers. As we discussed in section and in our papers, many photographs tell stories that are not visible at first glance. As I was preparing to write my paper it took me a long time to decide on which Lange photograph to use. As I took a few minutes to look at each picture I found countless details that helped me to see the true message behind the images that Lane was tyring to convey. Before this class I had never taken the time or effort to fully analyze a photograph or piece of artwork the way we did through our Lange papers. After that experience I would say that I have a newfound respect and admiration for photography.
ReplyDelete