Blog Post #3 and #4

“Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.” ~Duane Michals.

To a certain extent, I do agree with this quote. Photography can be done in such a way to capture images very close to the truth, but it can also be handled so that it creates illusions, obscures the truth and tricks the eye. In a sense, even these images do hold truth- for there are many ways to view and experience any single image, object, place or person- but in the end, the camera can only capture but a portion, a single frame in time of the way something is, a single facet that is part of a much larger whole. Everything has more to it than can be seen by the eye alone or expressed in a single method at any given moment in time. This is not he fault of the photographer, but rather, the inherent nature of the world.

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“If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera.” ~Lewis Hine

I disagree with this quote. As a journalist- a photojournalist at that- both words and photography are very important to me. I do not believe that a photograph alone can tell an accurate story from the viewpoint of journalism. The picture needs context in order to give it more meaning and impact- and that context can come from written words.

I believe that writing is a delicate art form that must be approached with passion and dignity. With vivid imagery and contextual information, the story of an event can seem almost real to those reading it. Words also encourage more active imagination on the part of the reader in the case of books and fiction. Look at the Great Gatsby, it did not contain images, yet anyone who reads it can feel the pain of the characters and have their own clear images of what everyone must look like.

I also believe that photography is a highly expressive as well, and it can be used to show details and emotions that may fall short when crafted through words alone. The horror seen in the old pictures and coverage of the discovery of the death camps during the Holocaust would have been almost unimaginable without the use of pictures- many people have no frame of reference for this sort of atrocity.

In truth, many stories can be told by painting images with words alone or capturing compelling images, but both elements combined make storytelling most effective.