Assignment 4 Virtual essay

The photographs that I choose are from Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison. They are Cloud Drift, Harbinger, Spring Arm, Summer Arm, and The Crossing.

In my opinion, Cloud Drift is describing a person standing on something in the middle of the lake. There is the reflected cloud in the lake, but you can’t see clearly if the cloud is floating or not due to the wave. Although the person doesn’t seem to be important because of his little rate in the image, the standing point of the person is just the start of those waves. That may shows small things can also make huge impact. We don’t know what the person is watching, but I can feel the persisting.

Harbinger, which is my favorite of those five images, shows a person jumping from a chair, dropping several black feathers. The wind from outside is blowing the curtains. Then I find there is something like a flying bird. The whole image is based on a blurred moment, and I think maybe he wants to fly. Even he may have a pair of black wings.

Spring Arm and Summer Arm are one series of photographs. The plants are sprouting based on an arm, which is in spring. And the flowers are blooming, attracting some butterflies, which is in summer. The difference between two arms is that some pipes under the second one which is also stronger. Nurturing lives need more and more supporting, just like those pipes. And additionally, it is us, the person, to maintain those lives growing rapidly and healthy.

The last one is named The Crossing. A person is walking on lots of tires. If I make the connection between this image and the real life, those tires would be the rough events, and we were moving hard.

There are some similarities among these five images, such as incomplete images of people, sharp contrasts between points, and the analogy. We can see people are not the most important targets of those photographs, but they are indispensable to present the mind of the author. We need him to be the center of Cloud Drift so that the cloud can be drifted. In the Harbinger, the image is actually caused by the bird, but the conclusion focuses on the person. Spring appears in the third one and summer comes from the next. However, the arms are just the grounds. And the ground supports the life. In the last one, someone is walking. We feel his arduousness by integrating him and the tires together. So, the clearest similarity is that those images are creating the processes. They are either static or dynamic through different expressions.

Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison is the husband and wife team whose photographic tableaus took the art world by storm more than six years ago. (1) From 1990 to 2003, they received numerous awards and engaged in a lot of One-Person Exhibitions and Group Exhibitions. Through their art, I can feel a lot about the nature and the relevance between people and the world. They are good at producing interesting associations from shooting and combining variable materials.

As Robert ParkeHarrison said in the foreword to his monograph, "I want to make images that have open, narrative qualities, enough to suggest ideas about human limits. I want there to be a combination of the past juxtaposed with the modern. I use nature to symbolize the search, saving a tree, watering the earth. In this fabricated world, strange clouds of smog float by; there are holes in the sky. These mythic images mirror our world, where nature is domesticated, controlled, and destroyed."

References:
1.http://www.edelmangallery.com/parke-bio.htm

Photographs:
Cloud Drift (2007) Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
Harbinger (2008) Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
Spring Arm (2007) Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
Summer Arm (2007) Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
The Crossing (2005) Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
http://www.edelmangallery.com/parke-counterpoint.htm

There are other five photographs made by Keith Carter. Keith Carter grew up in a small delta town on the Louisiana border, raised by his mother who worked as the local portrait photographer in Beaumont, Texas. Years later, Carter began his own photographic career, capturing the people and spirituality of the Southern landscape in which he was raised.(2) The first one named Dawn, It presents a man stands on the road to the house, watching some birds flying. These birds fly really low, which seems they just take off. In my opinion, the connection may be shown as the dawn is the beginning of a day. Also, the guy has more clear view to his goal. The second picture is called Darwin’s Dream. Basically, it’s a man walking behind the trees. However, the trees look dead, and there is not any life on the land. Darwin is one of the greatest naturalists, and he proposed natural selection. This photo maybe presents the relationship between plants and humans. We must respect the nature. The third one, Stairway, is a man standing on the steps. It looks like that he is confusing whether he should go or not. This stairway is shown as the corner of one’s life. Sometimes people must make choices. The next two photographs seem to be similar composition. Boy and Hawk shows that a boy puts one hand over his face toward the Hawk. He may be scared, or hurt. Phonograph is describing a man facing to the phonograph. He may be listening or helpless because the phonograph may be broken. The similarities between two artists’ photographs are the simple composition and sharp color contrast. They both shoot photo with human and life to present the comparison and relationship between static and dynamic. When we are looking at those photos, we will have many associations to our real life. The impact of Keith Carter’s art is presented more straightforward than Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison’s. Black and White style can easily describe what the key point is, and make people surprised. Using selective focus to highlight a gesture, person or place, Carter creates powerful images of international icons in a fresh and unique way that is unequaled among photographers working today.(2)However, I prefer Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison’s because they have great integration among human, nature and life.

Photos:

http://www.edelmangallery.com/carternewwork.htm

reference 2

http://www.edelmangallery.com/carter-bio.htm

Topic3: Alterations in journalistic photography

Photojournalism is developing and now it comes into the digital age. Though several technical methods, we can easily edit a photograph, adding or deleting objectives, even change the image. However, that should only be presents in personal interest or something like advertisements. The impacts of photo alterations on journalistic photography can be either positive or negative, but the alteration changes the accuracy and honesty. Have a look at the photograph in the New York Times. The photo shows soldiers in Iraq grazing at a member of a dance group. Looking carefully, we can find a microphone cord that appeared to disappear in air in the middle. Jim Wilson, who shot this photo, responded that nothing was "removed from the image nor was anything enhanced." The part of the cord is blurred because of his way of shooting photos and the dancer’s moving. In an e-mail interview about the Iraq photo, Jim Wilson said that he could not believe that so many people believed there was some sort of conspiracy involved.⁽¹⁾ Although there may be no alteration on that picture, people still doubt because the strange and inconsistency. Any alterations of objectives on journalistic photography will lead to the public’s guessing and even distrust. Additionally, photo alterations on journalistic photography may change the truth of the news story if changes are made to some main points. Thus, the reputation of a news publishing is effected.

In my opinion, it is not ethical or acceptable to alter press photographs. Alterations will cause any possible negatives, such as things said before, the fact of the press. The not-so-good news is brought to us by CBS's Watch! magazine -- the miracle Katie Couric digital diet that reduced her neck and waistline digitally to make her look about 20 pounds lighter. ⁽¹⁾ Gil Schwartz said that "this is not something that is going to happen again." As it is press photography but not art photography or advertisements, the authenticity is required. However, changing was sometimes necessary like playing mosaic on sensitive news. Some examples may include adult crimes.
The rule of ethics about alterations on press photography is more and more accurate.
The Code of Ethics in SND presents that:
As members of the Society for News Design, we have an obligation to promote the highest ethical standards for visual journalism — for all journalism — as they apply to the values of accuracy, fairness, honesty, inclusiveness, and courage.⁽²⁾
The Times has very clear guidelines in place that prohibit image manipulation without clear cause and disclosure. One sentence said:
No people or objects may be added, rearranged, reversed, distorted or removed from a scene (except for the recognized practice of cropping to omit extraneous outer portions).⁽¹⁾

1. Photojournalism in the Age of Scrutiny , Kenneth Irby
http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=110342

2.Code of Ethics
http://www.snd.org/about/code-of-ethics/

Photograph1:Jim Wilson/The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/08/27/world/27morale2.html

Photograph2&3: AP Photo/CBS, Jeffery R. Staab
http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=110342