Response to Perec, Heiferman, and "What is photography to me?"
Perec - This short piece speaks volumes about the potential uses of photography. The idea that the news sensationalizes day to day life resonates with me, as I am an avid news reader. I also think it is an apt social commentary about how people are looking for an escape from the daily minutia and how the news fills that void with the "excitement" of a crash or hijacking, and also makes people feel better about their lives because they aren't facing said tragedies. I think that the ability to look at the actual, normal day to day activities in life (and through a lens) and make it meaningful is a true art form.
Heiferman - This piece delineates the potential power of photography and its unique adaptability as a medium. The thing that struck me the most was the fact that one of photographies many uses is to, "...Change[s] what we remember..." When I think of a photo, it is a sort of immutable truth. You have the picture in front of you and you see what happened through the lens...in theory. But in reality, images can be manipulated and changed to fit the narrative that he photographer, or someone else, wants to portray. The fact that photos can be used to project an idea of the past is truly astounding.
Photography for me is the idea that you can capture a single instance in a fluid world. With a photo, you are taking a snapshot of an event, but simultaneously isolating it from what happens before and after the image is taken. To me, that allows the viewer to use their imagination and recreate what they think happened, or what they want to have happened in their heads, using their own experiences to influence the events. I also think that quite simply photography allows us to capture the beauty in everything, producing emotional responses that can change perspectives, opinions, memories, and ideas.
Heiferman - This piece delineates the potential power of photography and its unique adaptability as a medium. The thing that struck me the most was the fact that one of photographies many uses is to, "...Change[s] what we remember..." When I think of a photo, it is a sort of immutable truth. You have the picture in front of you and you see what happened through the lens...in theory. But in reality, images can be manipulated and changed to fit the narrative that he photographer, or someone else, wants to portray. The fact that photos can be used to project an idea of the past is truly astounding.
Photography for me is the idea that you can capture a single instance in a fluid world. With a photo, you are taking a snapshot of an event, but simultaneously isolating it from what happens before and after the image is taken. To me, that allows the viewer to use their imagination and recreate what they think happened, or what they want to have happened in their heads, using their own experiences to influence the events. I also think that quite simply photography allows us to capture the beauty in everything, producing emotional responses that can change perspectives, opinions, memories, and ideas.
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