Entry 6 – Memory in Photography

The subject of today’s lecture was Memory. Memory, put it simply, is something one sensed and remembered. As expected, here we are talking about the memory of sight.

When Duane Michals’s This Photograph is My Proof came up from my instructor’s presentation, I was somewhat puzzled. If the theme of this photograph is memory, then this image certainly represents the visual memory of the person who took the photograph and not Michals’s, who himself was in the picture. Unless this was a self-timer photograph in which Michals’s memory of that moment was later constructed by the sight of this image.

My thoughts on the subject of documenting memory led me to a recollection of a documentary trailer I saw which discussed about a street photographer – Vivian Maier. Perhaps you have heard the story of a 1950’s nanny’s secret interest in photography surfaced when her life’s work of negatives was discovered after her death. That nanny was Vivian Maier.

In 2007, John Maloof, a Chicago real estate agent and historical hobbyist, bought a box of undeveloped negative films at his local auction house. As John began to develop this unknown photographer’s photographs, many professionals suggested that he might be uncovering the works of the most important street photographer of the 20^th century; therefore, he set out the journey to Finding Vivian Maier.

Maier was extremely reserved, private, and considerably mysterious, therefore, we do not know much about her. However, through her photographs, we now are able to observe a part of her memory that was hidden but has remained. For me, looking at Maier’s photographs is as if I traveled back in time and was seeing the common happenings of Chicago through her eyes.

References

Maier, V., (n.d.) Portfolios [photographs]

  Retrieved from URL (http://www.vivianmaier.com/gallery/street-1/)

Nessy, M., (2013) Found at Auction: The Unseen Photographs of a Legend that never Was

  Retrived from February 27, 2014, from http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/02/18/found-at-auction-the-unseen-photographs-of-a-legend-that-never-was/

Vivian Maier. (n.d.) In Wikipedia. 

  Retrived from February 27, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Maier

VivianMaierFilm. (2013, February 15). Finding Vivian Maier – Official Movie Trailer [Video]

  Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o2nBhQ67Zc

Entry 5 – Photojournalism

Since the rise of photography in the1880s, news has been presented more vividly through real life images. Other than the purpose of informing local events and supporting storytelling in news, I had never given more thoughts to photojournalism until September last year. I accompanied a friend to the World Press 2013 Photo Contest exhibition, which turned out to be an eye-opening experience for me.

I not only discovered that there were many categories to photojournalism, but I also realized that a picture is really worth a thousand words or even more. It was the last day of the exhibition, and the showroom was filled with spectators. I could hardly hear any conversations, because each and every one of us was stunned by the graphics and the captions which detailed how these images came about.

As I was walking through the crowd from a display stand to another, a cluster of photographs captivated my attention. They were portrait images of two severely disfigured people. At first, I thought they were war victims, but after a scrutiny on the caption, it revealed that they were victims of love – only it was the wrong kind of affection.

Ebrahim Noroozi

Victims of Forced Love, 2012

Although there were other photographs of sport, nature and daily lives at the showing, but none of them marked me as much as the images of man-caused injuries and deaths. Most of the photographs appeared to be disturbing, but inexplicably I find some of them beautiful even though they are accompanied with deep sadness.

Dominic Nahr

Sudan Border Wars, 2012

I finally recognized the significance of photojournalism after attending this exhibition. They uncover the realities of humanity, despite good or bad, and share them to the world. They tell stories and raise consciousness of the happenings and issues that we do not often see nor think about in the advanced counties.

Javier Manzano

Siege of Aleppo, 2012

References
Manzano, J. (2012). Siege of Aleppo [Photograph]
  Retrieved from URL (http://www.worldpressphoto.org/photo/2013-javier-manzano-sns3-ll?gallery=6096)

Nahr, D. (2012) Sudan Border Wars [Photograph]
  Retrieved from URL (http://www.worldpressphoto.org/awards/2013/general-news/dominic-nahr?gallery=6096)

Noroozi, E. (2012) Victims of Forced Love [Photograph]
  Retrieved from URL (http://www.worldpressphoto.org/awards/2013/observed-portraits/ebrahim-noroozi/05?gallery=6096)

Entry 4 – Documentary Photography

The subject of this week’s class was ‘Identity through Photography’. Within the photographs that were shown during the lecture, Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian series stood out to me. Curtis’s photographs reminded me of another photographer, Jimmy Nelson, who also embarked on a journey of documenting the lives of indigenous people.

Similar to Curtis, who recorded the Native Americans, Nelson captured the figures of indigenous people on a bigger scale – around the world. Nelson went on 13 trips to 44 countries and used his 50-year-old plate camera to complete his series of Before They Pass Away. He traveled to the hidden corners and inaccessible places to expose and preserve the appearances of these beautiful cultures before they no longer remain.

Unlike Curtis, Nelson had kept glimpses of modern objects, such as guns, buckets, and other industrial made household tools in his photographs. However, he intentionally shaped his subject matters in some of his photographs to meet the imageries he desired to produce. For instance, in some cases, he would ask the indigenous people to dress in their traditional outfits in which they perhaps rarely adopt nowadays. In other cases, he would persuade some groups of native people to travel to the nearest landmarks or uncommon places and asked them to pose in front of these sceneries for his photographs. 

I understand his intention of wanting to deliver something appealing, and his photographs are unquestionably stunning and sensational. But are these traces of reality all authentic? And I question if they are truly about the identities of these near extinct cultures? Upon the discovery of the making of Before They Pass Away, it changed how I initially regarded these photographs. I am not saying that Nelson’s photographs are in any way deceiving, but I personally think that they might be more about portraying what the world wanted to see then about how these indigenous people truly lived.

On a side note, a Native American descendent photographer, Matika Wilbur, is walking in the footsteps of Curtis. But this time, after a hundred years, her Project 562 is about capturing the truth and telling the stories of the “disappearing” race in America.

References
Nelson, J. (2011) Before They Pass Away [photographs]
  Retrieved from URL (http://www.beforethey.com/)

Wilbur, M. (2014, January 27). Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America [Video]

  Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JrRBQEQr3o