I remember reading “On Photography” when we were studying photography on Foundation. It completely blew me away at the time. Re-reading parts of it now I’m not always convinced by her arguments, but it’s definitely a seminal critical text on photography. It’s short and easy to read, but contains a wealth of ideas on the processes of making and reading phtographic images (it’s a must read for anyone interested in either). Her new book sounds similarly interesting.
I think I have a slight issue with photography of war and suffering. In my opinion I think suffering shouldn’t be glamourised or made beautiful in any way. It should be seen for all its ugliness so that maybe humankind does something about it rather than just gawping at some remarkable pictures.
Stuart, many “war” photographs depict war in less-than-glamorous or beautiful terms. The best convey the ugliness and despair that conflict brings to humanity.
Like Don McCullin’s photographs. He had a good piece in The Guardian recently on the subject of war photography, here. This quote sums up his view on the matter: “Photography is not just about photographs; it’s about communication. It’s not about you. It’s not about art. You’re there to record. Sometimes, all too rarely, what you record is acts of human decency, of kindness and compassion – I have seen men cradling dying comrades and weeping. But that’s the only side of war you will see that is beautiful.”
1:21 pm on 11 March 2003 :::
Stu Says:I remember reading “On Photography” when we were studying photography on Foundation. It completely blew me away at the time. Re-reading parts of it now I’m not always convinced by her arguments, but it’s definitely a seminal critical text on photography. It’s short and easy to read, but contains a wealth of ideas on the processes of making and reading phtographic images (it’s a must read for anyone interested in either). Her new book sounds similarly interesting.
2:38 pm on 11 March 2003 :::
Stuart Says:I think I have a slight issue with photography of war and suffering. In my opinion I think suffering shouldn’t be glamourised or made beautiful in any way. It should be seen for all its ugliness so that maybe humankind does something about it rather than just gawping at some remarkable pictures.
4:49 pm on 11 March 2003 :::
Jeff Says:Stuart, many “war” photographs depict war in less-than-glamorous or beautiful terms. The best convey the ugliness and despair that conflict brings to humanity.
5:12 am on 12 March 2003 :::
Stu Says:Like Don McCullin’s photographs. He had a good piece in The Guardian recently on the subject of war photography, here. This quote sums up his view on the matter: “Photography is not just about photographs; it’s about communication. It’s not about you. It’s not about art. You’re there to record. Sometimes, all too rarely, what you record is acts of human decency, of kindness and compassion – I have seen men cradling dying comrades and weeping. But that’s the only side of war you will see that is beautiful.”