A LIFE IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Honestly I found this documentary to be boring, but John Szarkowski is a very interesting individual. I think his views on photography are interesting ones because I get the feeling that even he doesn't fully know what photography is or it's history. If you ask some older individual who has seen thousands of images he can probably give you a list of historical photographs, but are they really history? Are these images the ones that were supposed to be remembered or was it just decided by people in the past because they think it mattered. What happens when much better work goes unnoticed? Or perhaps great work will always be noticed one day.
I don't have a problem with documentary photography; it is just that it doesn't inspire me as much as some people I've watched. To Szarkowski the community was an important factor because it wasn't anything fancy, it is something that is always near us. Every individual has a story whether it is good, bad, interesting, or not. Every building has a tale, every city a history. Just because I choose not to focus my photography on these aspects of life doesn't mean they aren't important. To me it is sad to know that maybe certain people's stories will end with them. Some things don't last or aren't remembered and so I think photographers that choose to focus on people, buildings, and such are important because they help to make things remembered.
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Edward Burtynsky: MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES
I am not a big fan of Documentary Photography, but there are certain photographs and artists I appreciate within the genre and Edward Burtynsky is someone that interests me. His photography is something that is completely different from what I like to focus on, but it still draws me in with its deep message and its presentation.
There is something tragic and yet beautiful in each photograph he takes and his film really drew me in. I think that society does in fact develop at a rapid level and not just in China. A hundred years ago could we have imagined things like "data" that ins't physical, but it is very much real. These bits of data basically run our lives and yet the first computer wasn't invented until the 40s. Even then could we have imagined how fast society is developing with cities and such. We are constantly building newer things and in order to do that it is costing the world resources. These resources aren't infinite and so are we really helping our futures just to make our present situations a little better? How many resources should we expend before it is too late? In a world that runs on energy Oil is king, but then not everyone can get oil so they turn to coal, a much worse substitute. What else will cause people to fight and die over? In recent years it looks like it'll be water.
I think Burtynsky has the right mindset when it comes to his images. He doesn't care about an explicit message because he wants the viewer to determine it. Sometimes taking a stance can be dangerous and people need to make up their own minds when they know the story.
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5 BROKEN CAMERAS
1) I think the bad camera is a representation of the struggle going on. Through his efforts of documentation he is constantly faced with danger and that translates to us by seeing the footage of each camera and it's destruction. I believe it is a powerful tool used that aims for a larger metaphor of destruction that is going on, but at the same time it represents the strength of his friends and family. Even with all the suffering they choose not to back down just like how Emad chooses to replace the camera knowing it might get destroyed or his life taken. The point is people need to see what is going on and hopefully it will change something and that mindset is pretty much encapsulates anyone who is a documentary photographer.
2) I think certain people lived charmed lives in the United States, but at the same time you won't see this going on. However, the United States' history hasn't been clean always. Much like any country their are good and bad times and United States especially has parts that most people wouldn't be proud of. I think that living in the United States and with how much freedom our country has is definitely a good thing, but on a global scale there are countries that are faring better as well as having the opportunity of freedom.
3) People lose land by force all the time it's just not how we imagine it today. Today it is called foreclosure or eviction. Our "land" is essentially somewhere that belongs to us, but at the same time we never really owned it. People of power or banks own these things and if money stops running then they'll just find someone who can keep paying. As for our history well that is a darker part. From the Native Americans who were driven out for some European lunacy of manifest destiny to the more recent occurrence of the internment camps of the Japanese. Our country was supposed to be founded on freedom, opportunity, fighting for those who couldn't fight for themselves, and the idea that people could come together for better lives and yet all that was thrown away by locking up innocents because of fear. Then you look at the red scare and deporting people we saw as a threat. In a world were threats keep appearing can this keep going on?
4) This is possibly another metaphor for the situation just like the cameras. The chickens are meant to be put together not in a tree, but they choose to go their. This restriction is similar to the villagers situation in which they are being restricted or tormented and just want their freedom to do what they want.
5) The olive branch in many countries and religions can mean peace. When I read the Aeneid in a classical lit course virgil attributes symbolizes peace. I found it ironic that the soldiers were burning down olive trees which represent peace and taking land they didn't possess essentially showing heir dominance while throwing away any peaceful matters. Gibreel being a young and innocent boy gives an olive branch possibly as a gift of peace asking that if they were to leave, people wouldn't have to fight and die like this.
6) This is most likely a scare tactic in a psychological battle. The men choose not to back down even when shot at, but what would they do when their children are in danger. This is also a way to condition the children not to fight was is going on. If you teach them fear at an early age perhaps their spirits will be broken and they will choose not to fight was is happening. The situation in Africa is much worse because they aren't locking up children as a fear tactic, but rather taking them to teach them to kill. Child soldiers are a sad part of this world and brainwashing the children by making them feel powerful is despicable. Their situations are much worse and with genocide, disease, rape and torture occurring, adding the pain of losing your child to sociopaths only begins to break down a person's existence.
7) I sympathize with what she is saying, but at the same time she probably knows what they are doing is right. It isn't like she chooses to ignore it, but rather any normal loving person would do anything or say anything to keep the one that they love from harm. Is it wrong to not fight back? Sure, but at the same time it might be wrong to fight back only to die leaving your family to struggle further. In ethical situations like these it is difficult to determine what is truly right and wrong because people don't work that way. Again this goes with the situation which she teaches her children to fight for what is theirs. Although she doesn't want to see her family hurt she knows people must not turn away when their belongings are being stolen. People must fight back and be brave even when there doesnt seem to be hope or when fighting back means getting hurt. When Emad says his camera protects I think this is similar to many people who use a camera because in a way their mentality is that their cameras act as a shield or it gives them courage to withstand what is going on. At the same time I believe that his talk with his son is his mentality that the camera can only do so much and that the spirit of who they are really matters because tough men can endure sadness and pain and still fight back.
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RIP
Appropriation is one of those topics that can be highly debated, but truth is I'm not sure if you can say if it is a true art form or if it's all stealing. You're working in different shades of gray without any true extremes. In some cases I believe appropriation is valid such as what Girl Talk does; by resampling music he essentially creates something new. He builds from what is known to create something that was never there before.
It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by George Bernard Shaw, "Men see things as they are and ask why, I dream of things that never were and ask why not." At the same time there have been cases of appropriation in postmodern art that I think isn't good at all and blatant stealing if it wasn't for the reputations of some artists and the pretentiousness of art at time such as taking images of already existing art and calling it your own. Somewhere along the lines this isn't really stealing, but at the same time it is.
In creation we find our place in the world, whether it is music we create, art we make, or photographs we take. I believe that is why some people choose to call it stealing when something takes their stuff without any form of compensation. Our creations are our lives and stealing it can hurt deeply, but in truth they really aren't always stealing. Some people may take it, but not in spite or hate to pass off as their own, but because of the admiration they feel.
In a way it is a form of love or admiration to want to possess something from someone. I've downloaded music, but never called it my own; I've taken art work, but never said I created it. When it comes to creating something new you essentially give it a life of its own. You release it into the world and hope people accept it. I think it's okay to fight for your creations, but not to hurt others to claim complete control over it, because essentially it belongs to the people once you release it.
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