Undermining the Truth about Photographic Image by Postmodern Notions - Essay Example

Undermining the Truth about Photographic Image by Postmodern Notions affiliation: Introduction The notion of postmodernism in photography came into being from the art par excellence; replacing painting that had dominated before the 1960s. Photography unlike painting it did not engage in a competition to outshine the previous highly ranked paintings or being in touch with art theories. Photography was basically about capturing an “Image World” as explained by Guy Debord who said that the world had become a society of the spectacle, meaning everything that was in the world could be recede into a representation. Although photography had been created to bring a revolution in ways of capturing details, critiques argue that photography is not just a mere window on the world but it has become a space for nightmares, obsessions, unconsciousness and an opening of fantasies thorough computer manipulations that stage convincing fictional images (Kostikova,2013,pp.24-28). The manipulation leads into doubts over the originality of photographs. Rather than the manipulation of photographs, other notions of postmodernism such deteriorating discipline, war photography, propaganda and political agendas can be identified to be among the causes of negativity on the truth of the photographic image. To fully understand photography, it is important to understand the origin of photography and its impact on the people of the postmodern age. The presence of photographic practice shows the ability to capture reality at a given time without any intervention by man, indicating a clear distinction from a painting that was an artistic contemplation. There had been some excitements due to the technological innovation that new gadget was capable of achieving. However, two questions were arising concerning the beautiful images produced by the camera. The first question was on the origin of the photograph image. That leads to being curious on the truth about the content of the image (Applin, 2014, pp.387-389). The second question was on the purpose of the photo image; together with the uses it can be subjected. Looking at both questions, the credibility of the photography is undermined due to the various works of art that are not original, and it becomes challenging to verifying their originality and the purpose of having reality on them. Hughes argues that, “Despite its apparent precision, perspective is a generalization about experience. It schematizes, but it does not really represent the way we see.” The argument can be borrowed into photography meaning that its ability to capture original experience of the world is limited because the photograph captures the experience encountered by the object instead of the reality of the surroundings (Roubert, 2005, pp.25). Photography in a postmodern age The emergence of an age that photographs can be manipulated has made photography an untrustworthy venture and the knowledge regarding world representation becomes questionable. An example, in investigative journalism there are honest and fearless photojournalists who put their lives on line to capture pictures in war zones so that to inform the public on the truth happening. However in the recent past journalists have been occupied by interests, and they do photography for social and economic gains that they may receive from the employers (Amstrong, 2007, pp.382-384). The rogue journalists use photographs showing images regarding destruction and deaths. The viewers always have a tendency to believe what they see, while in real sense the journalist is biased and he just gives the story for the sake of it, diverting from the true call of journalism that should entail professionalism through telling factual, unbiased and complete story(Applin,2014,pp.387-389). Furthermore, photograph editors’ gives photographic assignments, which compromise the legitimacy of the photos because they are not taken at the exact time they were supposed to be taken. Some photojournalists in contemporary photographic practice have developed a tendency to manipulate images through deception and ruthlessness to get images they need for a particular scenario. After the images have been manipulated, the text can also be edited causing the interference of the authenticity of the message and reality. The concept of a society of the spectacle by Guy Debord is based on a society characterized by sophisticated production conditions that present the life as continuous accumulation of spectacles. Spectacles cannot just be defined as excess production of visual images but they entail a worldview that is materialized to become objective to create a contemporary visual culture that represents reproductions of reproductions, photographic forms and simulacra of a reality that had not been in existence (Bennett, 2009, pp.7-27). Photographs capture the world that overflows with images full of history. Photography is not about capturing realism in the postmodern age, but they are concern with the recreation of images. From a traditional point of view, the postmodern photographers cannot be taken as photographers because they are only involved with fabrication of the hyperreal recording of a postmodern world. The 1970s photographers were exploring three issues in the discipline of photography. The first was on straight photography in documentary corollary being played out, second was the “truth” value of photography being undermined and the responsibility of the medium engaged in the creation of a complacent society (Stokoe,2014,pp.73-93). Lastly, the idea of “straight photography” could have had an impact on manipulating the society and later the permissiveness to manipulate photography as a discipline. The discipline of photography started an active participation in postmodern pastime that was put in place to devise tactics and strategies to enable an artist to be reproductive in a world that art had already been fully exploited. Postmodernism has the characteristics of a deliberate intertexuality and self-conscious which guide the photographers (Ye, 2008, pp., 626-632). History of manipulation Photography had been initially used to capture unadulterated, exact replica of the subject matter. However, an historian named Gutman Judith claimed that,” for the first time the public saw photographs of bored ministers, ungainly postures, and cunning smiles behind cigar-smoking officials.” People saw that photographs expose life in an unrehearsed and candid manner (Caruso, 2012, pp.125-127). The event made photography created by a series of events and courts embraced the argument. The result of courts agreeing meant that photographs could be manipulated from publication and production of a picture to improve the film or adjust other faults that may be present in a film. Impacts of the Photographer on the Image A photograph is full of signs, symbols, and not just the content inside the photo. When the viewer and the photographer are in certain positions, the photos have different meanings depending on the background that is not always fixed. The meaning of the images can be read as being positive or negative in a given photograph. The socio-economic and cultural perspective conveys the event. A journalist is expected to be objective while taking photographs despite the backgrounds being restrictive in conveying of messages. Having the photographer not in control of everything on the image, it does not mean that any image is free of manipulation (Godfrey, 2008, pp.251-253). For instance, many global photographers have the photographs of World Trade Centre being destroyed by a bomb on September 11, but it is very rare to find two identical photos on the same event although the elements are similar. Having no identical photographs by journalists proves that photographers always impose their instincts and understanding on the various events (Bate, 2014, pp.12-13). Although the intentions of a photographer would be to report objectively, it is inevitable to capture something that draws their attention. Hence, a photographs identity is easily associated with the identity of the photographer. Photographs for propaganda Photographs are a sure way to influence peoples’ opinions and mind on social and cultural values. They favour the photographer’s point of view meaning that the photographs are being used as tools of censorship and propaganda especially in a country like North Korea where their Supreme Leader Kim Jong-uns Photographs are the face of North Korea(Heyman,2012,pp.267-277). Another example, when Carlos Franqui, who is a Cuban activist, decided to cut ties with Fidel Castrols government his image was eliminated in a photograph he had been taken together with Castrol. Judging from the Cuba’s case, any photograph of the war or political ambition that is unattractive, it can be subjected to elimination in order to cover unattractive truth for a favorable reality. Social influence on an image The era of postmodern can be said to characterize falsehood and inhibition of truth. The two characteristics have made images conveying the death or suffering to lose their value emotionally and society wise. According to Taylor, if a person views many death images they have a tendency of being bored by what they see, and a disconnection between the message and the viewer is lost. The message is becoming almost impossible to be communicated due to western societies watching a lot of suffering movies by “strangers.” War films and documentaries have become popular resulting into loss of sensitization on bloodshed because death no longer touches the normal human deep emotional feeling (Burgin, 2009, pp.27-28). Photography has also been used in the creation of idealistic images that reflect death and war. The photojournalists focus on events that show destruction and war in relation to drama in order to appeal to the viewers and the critical message ends up being lost. Taylor expresses dissatisfaction with this type of journalism where the real events are portrayed as a form of entertainment. Image of disastrous happens as terrorism and death can soon be preceded by disinterest and people show contempt to the images. In addition, some scholars believe that seeing of horrific photographic materials makes the viewer move from a state of shock to indifference, making the viewers unable to react when real situations present themselves (Mckinley& Fahmy, 2011,pp.70-83). Taylor further gives the description of photography as a screen present in two senses. A scene that displays something that is from a distance and the other is the defense against perceived threats. The media try to offer a safe distance away from the primary circulation of images that are presented by the viewer via the screen. Photographs of death and sufferings do not carry weight that a real situation carries and the audiences prefer such cases that the lens are used as safety barriers giving the viewer a glimpse on the reality of war and terror and at the same time there is a barrier between the different worlds (Stokoe,2014,pp,73-93). Truth in Journalism In an incidence that left many viewers in a dilemma, it was a case of a journalist in NBC news crew blowing up a car to illustrate the hazards of using a certain brand of automobile. Some questions emergence on why could a journalist goes to such extreme measures in order to defame the automobile brand. The reporter may instill fear to the viewers rather than informing the audience without bias on the subject matter (Rocco, 2009, pp., 383-402). The mysterious reporter further admitted that she had created and manipulated some sources in order to make her story more interesting and convincing. The whole story could be termed as a fabrication that was characterized by malicious intensions to distort the reality and truth of a rather good story that could have been informative to the audience without using exaggerations. Truth is said to be the only thing in human beings that lasts and thus journalism should present stories with a universal appeal and at the same time capturing a reliable story that can be used for ages (Shaw, 2009, pp., 80-93). Is Photography Over? Vince Aletti argues that it looks irrational to go looking for photography in places like art fairs, museums, galleries, books, or magazines when photography seems to dominate almost all aspects of our culture meaning that there could be anxiety of erosion of the media’s tradition. Elements of photography such black-and-white print which characterized photography in the early years can be said to be on the verge of being extinct due the disappearance of photographic papers and destruction of the dark rooms (North,2006,pp,955-956). The rise of digital capture photography can be a signal of the disappearance of the long, vital history regarding the medium. Computer generated images have thrown every photograph into skepticism because of the fiction in photography and if fiction is what initially characterized photography there could be a possibility of it disappearing. The photography on the September 11, 2011 attack in America had created an appetite for photographs but bearing in mind how flawless and easy it is to manipulate an image, the question of credibility of the images captured from the scene becomes questionable (Roubert, 2005, pp., 25). Conclusion A photograph captures a moment of time and in various ways, it carries emotions that repatriate from the images captured (Segre, 2005, pp., 25-51). Depending on the photographer the qualities, meanings identity and significance of a photograph changes depending on the judgment of the photographer. In the field of photojournalism that has been characterized by deceit and dishonesty in order to act as instruments of manipulation rather instruments of truth, it can be said that postmodern era has undermined the photographic image and subjected it into negative criticism (Pollen,2013,pp,123-127). References Applin, J. (2014). Found Sculpture and Photography from Surrealism to Contemporary Art ed. by Anna Dezeuze and Julia Kelly. Modernism/modernity, 21(1), pp.387-389. Armstrong, N. (2007). The Pivot of the World: Photography and Its Nation (review). Modernism/modernity, 14(2), pp.382-384. .Bate, D. (2014) Photography: Key Concepts Berg, 54(5-3), pp.12-13. Berger J., (1972). 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Historiography of Psychology: Challenges of Postmodernism. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 40(5), pp.626-632. Read More