Concepts of Truth and Reality in Photography - Research Paper Example

Concepts of Truth and Reality in Photography Introduction There has been heated discussion on photography’s relationship with reality. This paper intends to examine the impact of the famous photographic works of Chinese photographer Yong Xu on Tiananmen Square incident that happened in 1989 in Beijing. The graphic works have received several criticisms with others claiming it is a protesting piece of book rather than a piece of art meant to remember the past. Concepts of Truth and Reality in Photography The Chinese troops violently attacked Beijing square where pro-democracy protesters who had camped there for several of weeks. This massacre left several people dead though the actual number is not known to date though it is estimated to thousands of people. The China state has covered the events that took place, thus leading to the massacre. It covered the events that occurred. On June, 3-4 tanks and heavily armed troops moved towards the square crushing those who tried to stop them. The few Protestants who had remained at the plaza choose to leave rather than face the wrath of the troops. The soldiers shot throughout the day, even though, no Protestants had remained out at that time. Yong Xu, a Chinese writer who is supposedly said to have published a controversial book that fully contained photos of the famous killings that had happened at the Tiananmen Square. The book has full images of young idealists who clamored for democracy while denouncing the communist party. Yong Xu on his part insists that his works were not by any chance political driven even after keeping hiding them for more than two decades. Yong Xu insists that his works are genuinely an art book; Yong also has other 20 photography books to his name that can be used to justify his intentions for putting the photos together. His art book, on the contrary, is more likely to be viewed as a provocation by hardliners by the current rulers of China. It is because they have tried so much to cover been up this particular event by providing scanty information on it. The Chinese official have imposed a collective amnesia on the nation by censoring photos and even news that are part of the historical records in the world at large. Yong’s book can be viewed as a brave as he had defied the potential risk. Yong puts himself given that all those who had tried taken this path had been imprisoned including his close friends who had simply shared the events photos online. One of China’s best-known civil rights lawyers, Pu Zhiqiang, is said to have been in police custody since last spring for joining a private gathering at his friend’s apartment discussing the protesters in Tiananmen Square 25 years earlier. His works can be considered to have made a breakthrough in the violently guarded secrecy of the massacre by the mighty Chinese rulers. Going back in History, a cover story from the June 12, 1989 issue that gives color and details that are at times lost, given the many demonstrations at that time in China. Tiananmen Square was described as; the heart of the middle kingdom where the students had demonstrated in 1919; Where Mao had proclaimed ‘people’s Republic’ in 1949 (Short 113). The Protestants presented embarrassing pickle for the Chinese government during the visit from the Soviet Union’s communist peer in 30 years. Given that the Chinese had scheduled a state banquet in May, as the protest raged thus the Gorbachev ended up leaving through the back door to avoid their anger. Almost 450 trucks and as many as 10,000 troops rumbled into the street overwhelming the civilians and began shooting into the crowds, some of the protesters held fast even throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails. Two soldiers are reported to have gone under torture that almost made them die by the Protestants. The civilians also covered an armored personnel carrier in banners and then set the vehicle on fire rapping the crew of about nine soldiers. This battle continued throughout the morning making the whole peaceful dream for democracy a horrible nightmare, several people died in this incident. A Goddess of Democracy is said to have been erected by the Protestants, the goddess partially resembled the Statue of Liberty. The thirty feet statue that was made from Sty foam and plaster became a symbolic monument to the pro-democracy movement. Furthermore, it was intended to be too large therefore embarrassing for the authorities to bring down, but it was crushed when the troops took the square. A man, whose whereabouts has not been revealed to date, was pictured stopping up a column of tanks on June 5, just a day after the massacre. The man was ultimately hustled to safety by his fellow protesters and quietly lost in the crowd. Only rumors of his identity exist. Some people say he was nineteen years old, a student named Wang Weilin but these has not been confirmed, others say he was a factory worker’s son and others that he looked like a provincial who had just arrived in the capital by train. When American newsmen asked Chinese leader what had happened to the Chinese symbol of freedom that had been caught by foreign camera and eventually broadcast around the world, he only replied, “I never think of death” (Balkema 74). The credibility of the pictures has been questioned given that the information the book contains has never been published not in any other form since the event occurred. Photography as a way of writing has been subjected to intensified scrutiny based on the concept of visual truth. Such has killed the hope of the world learning through photography despite reality and photography having shared a long history. Photography is considered as a less expensive way of passing information to the audience; its sincerity, however, cannot be disputed. However, it gives its writer no chance to either convince readers of what its content should be and what direction their imagination should take. Instead, the reader has the liberty to think about what they want and make their judgment using the facts at hand. Majority of people will argue that photography can never give credible information to be relied on and instead claim that the lens, image processing, where you stand, and what one chooses to include in the picture entirely changes the facts thus missing the point altogether (Humphreys and Messaris 29). Photographers are therefore left with the responsibility of bringing their audience as close to the truth as possible and also build trust with the viewer so that they may believe what you are saying. It puts the photographer in an unusual position since they often rely on to do their job. However, the human rights organization Witness has developed new software that aims to make verification of the authenticity of videos, photos, or even audio that are created and shared. A lot of photographers find that using fiction is being dishonest to his audience and, therefore, strive to make the jump to fantasies and reality. When we look at a photograph, we mostly forget that it is not an image was taken by the camera but rather a moment of living being captured and not trapped. In China, it is believed that photographs can catch the soul of an individual who may either be real or just a myth. In reality, pictures try to tell the entire story of life, happenings, misery and even joy depending on the circumstances in just one frame. Photography emerged from Europe in the early nineteenth century at a time when the concept alludes to the empirical truths can be established by visual evidences. Positivity theory believed that a photograph can never be subjective to photographer’s psychology but the viewer’s interpretation of what they see. In most cases we view images and co-relate them with ourselves, we ask how relevant it is to us. The viewer’s interpretation of photographs depends on several issues, for instance, taste, culture and education level too. Roland Barthes, a French theorist, stated that photography turns subjects into objects during the photographer only plays his surgical devices such as selection, personalizing and framing just to make it attractive which he does through technical knowledge. Going by the words of Roland, there are about two categories of giving meaning to an image; the connotative meaning of a picture. Images can denote particular truth or connote culturally specified meaning. Denotative meaning is the literal meaning or general outlook of a photo while connotative meaning depends majorly on the cultural and historical context of the image that viewers themselves have experienced and what they believe in culturally. Therefore, a photograph is just a representation of reality and invokes facts which are deeper than visible (Balkema 66). Every image, therefore, makes us think of what the hidden meaning behind it is. Photographers try to give these effects by showing certain degree of subjectivity and objectivity thereby directly hitting the conscious mind not leaving out the sub-conscious mind of the viewer. Barthes’s views are particularly applicable when examining the photographic truth, but ideology plays a significant role in how viewers perceive images. Barthes believes that ideas give viewers perception of which to view images presented to them. It is through photography that the world is formed without man’s intervention; this shows its distinction from paintings. It represents the world the world in a truthful manner and it also satisfies our obsession with realism. Though photography is seen as offering worldview, it should not be taken as a substitute for reality but our experiences exist only as the observation of reality in itself. The Tiananmen massacre would not have been known to the world if not for the photographic book that was published showing what the situation was like in that context. Just as it is said that picture never lie the credibility of these materials as evidence is high. At the time Mr. Yong had no way of corrupting what parts of the incident to capture, his intention though not known. It should be appreciated that photography gave every individual the chance to interpret the massacre and its effects both long term and short term. The Chinese officials, however, are left with very little options. If they imprison the photographic writer, then the world will be left with more question than answers given that they have covered this matter. Many people see the truth in journalism in the modern world can be disputed due to improvement in technology (Lüsted 86). In case a case was to be opened on the troops actions on demonstrators who were unarmed this photographic book might be used as evidence, the adverse aspect of the photos included can be reversed with the use of technology. The pictures tell their side of the story and leave decision making to us, whether we trust the photographer or not practically affect what we think and the meaning we give to them. The photographs can, therefore, be disputed on credibility purposes. The pictures would allow people to study the scene for more details than they would have seen when present. The event was taking place, and this is attributed to the fact that the vision of a lens is fixed while the human eye is always changing its focus. Such would allow viewers to study the situation at hand, and these also distinguish it from the other form of arts. The ability of photography as an art to persuade the audience depends on the photos originality. Photographers are used merely as tools for the intended information to reach the audience without manipulation. Therefore, they are not expected to be biased, and photography does not provide this space for photographers to air their feelings which in turn may influence readers view. Photographers also don’t get the chance to espouse their own believe in their artwork. They point out the events actual occurrence thus photography cannot be used to as a form of social persuasion by anyone not even the writer himself for their audience. Photography instead evokes the inner feelings and emotions these emotional impact by the photos can In turn influence and communicate more efficiently and even more than the spoken aspect (Peres 88). Martin Redish states that an individual’s mental process cannot be limited to reception and digestion of cold, hard theories and facts. Moreover, there is also an emotional element which is uniquely human and can be developed by non-rational forms of communication.” The type of emotive persuasion that photography arose in its audience is stronger than any other kind of rational argument, there is extremely nothing to explain to photographic audience as it pushes the right buttons to start the sound discussion within oneself. Recommendations Joseph Campbell, a mythologist notes, “ask an art what his pictures mean, and you will not soon ask such questions again since significant images render insight beyond speech, beyond the kind of meaning speech defines. And if they do not speak to you, this is because you are not ready for them. The music should be enjoyed instead of asking what the dance mean. Photographic art does not allow for arguments against or for itself, and if the audiences formulate them they are always unanswered and therefore very powerful. The emotional influence that photography carries into its realm springs from a deeper source than words maybe as deep as that of music, and it certifies the human need for understanding. In addition, the thirst to keep records of events that is deemed significant. However, if not for photography Chinese Tiananmen massacre would have been just any other baseless story that would have been impossible to believe due to lack of proves (Langley 29).Though writings are also ways of record keeping, they are more prone to biased thus less accuracy compared to photography as it is more visually accurate. Documentary photography is considered more than just a recording device. A film critic John Grierson a founding father of documentary film defined the medium as a creative treatment of the actuality. He believed that documentary could be an effective tool to providing cultural and educational enlightenment. Photojournalism should be in cooperated in the media industry fully and given the respect it deserves. Its application in message conveyance will remove the problem of blaming reports for misinformation or even deletion of valuable information (Peres 87). In some instances, the audience is to blame for misinterpretation of the facts laid down thereby causing conflict in the society. Photography also stores information in a way that it cannot be tampered with, therefore, reliable for a long period and provides reference. In conclusion, the Tiananmen massacre’s photojournalist Mr. Xu had an excellent work that has been appreciated by most scholars even though it has not taken long since its publication. It provided the most needed truthful information of what transpired in that event. His works prove the effectiveness of photography as a media for conveying information especially in situations that are controversial and sensitive in today’s society. The use of photojournalism has taken media industry the next level. Photography, therefore, has made the tremendous contribution to the world both in the education sector, security sector and also in the entertainment industry. If well used can provide the best to its users. Works Cited Balkema, Annette W. Concepts on the Move. Amsterdam [u.a.: Rodopi, 2002. Print. Humphreys, Lee, and Messaris, Paul. Digital Media: Transformations in Human Communication. New York [u.a.: Lang, 2007. Print. Langley, Andrew. Tiananmen Square: Massacre Crushes Chinas Democracy Movement. Minneapolis, Minn: Compass Point Books, 2009. Print. Lüsted, Marcia A. Tiananmen Square Protests. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub. Co, 2011. Print. Peres, Michael. The Focal encyclopedia of photography: digital imaging, theory and applications, history, and science. Waltham, Massachusetts: Focal Press, 2007. Print. Short, Maria. Context and Narrative. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Academia, 2011. Print. Read More