Past
Jacob Rii 1874-1940 Rii's is a journalist and social documentary photographer. He is known for his of his photographic skills of showing poverty in New York City. Rii's is also known as the Father of photography due to his discovery of using the flash on the camera. He wanted to expose the poverty and bad living conditions within New York to try and relieve unfairness between the poor and the middle class. Riis worked to reform the poor and help them work their way up to the middle class ranking. He fought for better housing and living conditions for the poor and encouraged the middle and upper class to contribute to transforming their communities Riis stated in his autobiography: "I am a believer in organised, systematic charity upon the evidence of my senses" |  |
Some of his images are staged and un-staged as some use the decisive moment. He uses the observational and performative mode in his photography to get the middle and upper class to prove why they should help the poor rise out of poverty. Rii's uses a powerful style of photography. The images reveal the unfairness between each class within New York and can transform the way people think to alleviate poverty.
These photos change peoples views as they become more aware of what is going on in the world. This form of photography is most popular nowadays as photos attempt to expose us to the rest of world to understand what is happening so we can prevent any means of sadness, pain, hatred or suffering in the world. The subject can be staged or unstaged but what a photojournalist can not necessarily not show is their natural true emotion which can ultimately influence the viewer immediately, making them change the way they think.
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Present
Eddie Adams - Bullet in the Head 1965-75 "The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them; but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths. ... What the photograph didn't say was, 'What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American people?' Eddie Adams is an American photojournalist who captured portraits of celebrities, politicians and reported 13 wars. The most famous collection of his photos are of the Vietnam War, reflecting the suffering, cruelty, conflict and unfairness to Vietnamese citizens. Adams had the courage to follow the U.S Marines and by following them he could relate with the troops and have a better understanding of what was going on. His photos are probably the most inspiring I have looked at as they shock and upset me to believe this fighting and pain went on. It is amazing that people like Adams illustrate his passion for photography and the lengths he was prepared to go to in order to reveal the reality of the Vietnam War.  |  Pulitzer Prize Winning Photograph  |
Future
Oliviero Toscani "There are people who, when they look at a picture, they get angry at it. But they should get angry at themselves for not having the courage to look into the problem," Toscani told CNN. "There isn't such a thing as a shocking picture," he continues, "there is shocking reality that is being reproduced through photography to the people who aren't there." Toscani an Italian photographer known for his controversial advertising campaigns and the theme of his work focuses on his curiosity of the world and how he conveys his anger towards the problems we face in society. He quotes: "I'm still here getting angry at things - you have to live everyday in a full way, you have to believe that there is nothing else in life. You have to be generous, you have to give, don't expect to get anything back but you get a lot back, if you give a lot." Toscani at times shock viewers with his style of photography to face the viewer with the problem as they are not quite civilized yet and want to accept the problems going on. Toscani states: "And there are people who, when they look at a picture, they get angry at it. But they should get angry at themselves for not having the courage to look into the problem." |  "I don't like to waste my time, I'm looking for something that's new to gain, to live for, to believe in." -Oliviero ToscaniToscani ultimately portrays a particular message in each of his photos which are connected with the issues we face in society. His creative and different aspect of photography illustrates his personal feelings towards society in order to make the viewers feel a certain emotion and to face the truth to the problems. Toscani uses simple representation within some of his advertising photos and in some he just presents the problem as it is. His photos encourage people to think about others and the problems they encounter. His style and process of photography really inspires and helps as you gain an understanding of how to present a message through image to make the viewers think. |
Toscani makes a point of how photographs are used in the media and the ways they are viewed. Photos wholly present the subject, everyone can view and interpret the image in their own individual way however they have not experienced the problem or been involved or connected with the problem. A photograph permits a first viewing then an individual reflection. People react to a photo in their own time and they can choose to accept the problem or message, to do something about it or choose whether you wish to change your outlook. Photos are their to influence and at times manipulate the audience but what Toscani makes a point of in his photography is that he wants to present his anger and his feelings towards society through advertisement. The photos are their to encourage viewers to feel differently about a certain subject and not to ignore it.
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Naomi Pink
BREAKING THE EDGE
TRUTH TO DOCUMENTARY?
Documentary can either be constructed or not depending on the style of documentary you wish to follow. Documentaries are mainly known for its truth and reality from the subject and the decisive moment. However the audience will never know whether a documentary conforms to reality. No one will ever know whether the Director and Producer has manipulated or influenced the subject in any way to suit how they want their idea to be portrayed on screen. The audience is left to question themselves to whether the documentary is real or whether the truth is completely made up. It is extremely hard to analyse and to figure out if any documentary's are true because reality itself is not always necessarily the truth. The way we visualise reality is different to every individual in society. Every person has a tendency to alter an idea to there own liking and change it to fit their views and opinions. Documentaries are there to portray issues and opinions and when it is in the Directors/Producers hands they can control the documentary and subject to how they wish. Documentaries can be completely manufactured and the audience will not know the difference. So when thinking about how to produce a documentary we can think about the way we can create a complete lie and see whether the outcome is believable.
Naomi Pink
Louis Theroux
Louis Theroux is known for his documentaries in the television series Louis Theroux's weird weekend. Theroux's documentaries are mostly shown in the participatory mode where he presents to camera. When Louis met... is a series of documentary films, where Theroux follows different british celebrities as they go about their day to day lives. Theroux had the chance to meet Sir Jimmy Saville which was voted in the top 50 documentaries by channel 4. Louis Theroux is similar to Nick Broomfield in the way his documentaries work. Throughout the documentary When Louis met...Jimmy, Theroux uses participatory mode where he really pushes boundaries when asking questions, again similar to Broomfield. Observational mode is also used where he allows Jimmy Saville to take control at some points of the interview. This is the same for most of the documentaries Theroux produces. Jessica Massey |  |
Nick Broomfield
Nick Broomfield is an English documentary film maker famous for his participation on camera and the subject. Broomfield has the boom pole and sound on him the whole time during the documentaries and shows himself in front of the camera in all his documentaries this signifies a raw style of documentary. Broomfield interviews the subject and gets involved by stimulating views and opinions from the subject.In some cases Broomfield influences his subjects by getting questions answered from a particular issue or problem. The documentaries are a self-reflexive style to gain cause an affect and to instigate an action. |  |
Driving Me Crazy (1988) was his very first documentary he appeared on screen. Broomfield follows his career by going in front of the camera and being hands on with the action. He uses strong communication with his subjects to find out as much as possible about the subject and situation the documentary is exploring/investigating. Broomfield is best known for the Kurt and Courtney documentary about the death of Kurt Cobain and Courtney's Love's involvement with the allegations.
All Broomfield's documentaries follow the participatory mode as well as the observational mode as Broomfield allows the subject to respond to the questions and have part of the control. Some of the documentaries such as Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer uses archive footage and photos as well as present footage.
With Broomfield's style of documentary we are following him through a journey and he controls the narrative of the story. In Biggy and Tupac (2002) there is a scene where Broomfield is approached by Police this shows the risks he takes to capture particular footage. In another scene he also runs in front of the camera with the camera following him in order to question a subject and instigates the subject to receive information from him. His style is challenging and shows how you can take risks and push your subjects to gain certain information. This style excites the audience as it creates a more of a build up with Broomfield involved as he enhances the drama within an action.
Naomi Pink
Susana Raab
