Entry 8 – Truth in Photography

“Nobody ever discovered ugliness through photographs. But many, through photographs, have discovered beauty.” – Susan Sontag

The topic of this week’s discussion was on how the digital age has influenced the authenticity of photography. I think the fundamental intention of altering photographs has a lot to do with the pursuit of beauty and perfection. Although beauty is subjective, the popular culture and mass media have taken a tremendous part in shaping our perception of the ideal beauty.

In the chapter “The Heroism of Vision” in Susan Sontag’s book On Photography, Sontag (1977) stated that “…the camera’s role in beautifying the world of photographs, rather than the world, has becoming the standard of the beautiful”. Since we have the tendency to only wanting to capture beautiful things, our concept of beauty, in return, is measured and shaped from these images.

According to Sontag (1977), people often feel anxious when being photographed due to the concern they have over their appearance on photographs. They generally wish to obtain an idealized image, to have their portrait looking at their best or more attractive. When the retouching technique on the negative was invented in the mid-1840, getting photographed had become more favored when people discovered that the camera could offer falsehood.

Aside from enforcing aesthetic, photo modification also provides other functions and benefits. With photo retouch softwares, we now can restore and add colours to damaged old photographs. Contrast and colour enhancing also come in handy for photographs that were taken under a bad lightning or wrong setting.

Finally, I want to share a few photographs of Jerry Uelsmann , a photographer who revolutionized the art of photography in the 1960’s. Way before the invention of Photoshop, Uelsmann had his approach to manipulate negatives in the darkroom to create surreal dreamlike images.

Jerry Uelsmann
Philistine's Eye, 1961

Jerry Uelsmann
Untitled, 1969

Jerry Uelsmann
Untitled, 1982

References

Duke, K. (2010). Kristen Duke Photography [Photograph]

  Retrieved from URL(http://www.theidearoom.net/2010/04/photography-with-kristen-dukephotoshop.html)

Lynch, E. (2013). Time-Lapse of the Restoration and Colorization of an Old Photo [Photograph]

  Retrieved from URL(http://laughingsquid.com/time-lapse-of-the-restoration-and-colorization-of-an-old-photo/)

President of the World. (2012, May 22). Body Evolution – Model Before and After [Video].

  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17j5QzF3kqE

Rosten, J. (2012, January 9). Fotoshop by Adobe [Video].

  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_vVUIYOmJM

Sontag, S. (1977). The Heroism of Vision . On photography. pp. 85-112. New York: Farrar, Straus an Giroux.

Uelsmann, J. (1961). Philistine's Eye [Photograph]
  Retrieved from URL(http://www.uelsmann.net/works.php)

Uelsmann, J. (1969). Untitled [Photograph]
  Retrieved from URL(http://www.uelsmann.net/works.php)

Uelsmann, J. (1982). Untitiled [Photograph]
  Retrieved from URL(http://www.uelsmann.net/works.php)