The reading of “ The Practices of Looking” has for the use of a pun opened my eyes in a small way. The overall point of the piece suggests that every single image has its own significant purpose or meaning, whether deliberate or not, which I already knew, not that I always go as deep into the meaning behind a composition personally, but understood the author’s point none the less.
The idea that an image can be viewed as an almost magical thing, holding a piece of time and history, I thought was a cool concept, and in a way true minus the magic part, as well as comparing a photograph to a painting in this manner, with the difference perhaps being that a painting or drawing could be of an idea from a certain time in your life, compared to a photograph showing the literal or “truth” as was mentioned in the writing.
The arguments of photographs not telling the “truth” in this modern day is also a good point. Does a photograph really supply quality evidence in current times? Awesome question, ad one I’m sure lots of people bring this up in court rooms etc., but I have always preferred my own two eyes for finding the truth in something, images can be distorted and altered as stated, and very easily I might add as a current graphic design student. The truth-value to a photograph just does not seem to exist in the modern society.
These kinds of statements makes it so one has to take in what they see in a picture as what it is and try to compare it to what they might already know about its subject matter and content and then make the choice as to whether or not they believe what they see. In context to politics a poster of a starving child with a sad face, as a black and white image might stir emotions, but in this case its not just a ploy, you know from experience that there is poverty etc. even though the image is altered in whatever way its message is believable, where as if you see a “vote for this guy” kind of poster from some kind of political campaign you might have to think twice about the imagery used and if it is all true or simply used to make you think this person is an upstanding citizen.
Some things are just not as simple as they used to be, but it also opens a door to the wide variety of artistic methods of communication, which the world is in constant use of and need. Things that stimulate the mind and make you believe in something, is something I think is safe to assume every artist no matter the medium strives for.
Enjoy the visual world we live in, but be weary of it. Whether or not you trust the next image of a ufo, or ghost siting is up to you :P.
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