
A photograph meant to document something is no less capable of being a form art than any other picture. One thing that struck me while looking through Walker Evans's photographs was his use of frame within a frame techniques, to set off certain parts of the picture. Some of the photos he took seemed like spur of the moment decisions, to record something that caught his eye, but an equal number were carefully set up to portray the subject in a certain light. Often people who make photodocuments have a particular goal in mind, a feeling they want their pictures to evoke about the subject, and it takes very careful and subtle suggestions in their photographs to do so. Additionally, some documentary photos can simply be interesting to look at. The above picture documents well the grand and imposing nature of what was at the time a feat of modern engineering, yet it could easily be used today as an art photo for its unusual pattern and perspective. There is nothing that stops the ideas of "document" and "art" from overlapping, but it is a difficult feat to acheive.
Hi Logan,
ReplyDeleteI understand that you are using your "bye" for the PhotoDocument proposal, which, of course, is fine. I still need to see the PhotoBlog project that we completed in class the week before Spring Break. Please post this as soon as you are able. Today is 4/20, these posts were due 4/1.