#expanded photo

[postsforphotography]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvJUe2lY2yk)

[ben-992]

Expanded Photo Blog 1

What is Photography? For me photography is a way to capture not only what I see but how I see it. When I take a photograph I try to frame it in such a way that the viewer might experience even a fraction of what I felt and thought as I captured the image.

In Camera Lucida Roland Barthes examines the potential of photography to capture a true representation of history or the real essence of the subject being photographed. One of Barthes’s observations that I found interesting was his description of being photographed. “Once I feel myself observed by the lens, everything changes … I transform myself in advance into an image.” As someone who enjoys photographing people as naturally as possible, it made me think about how the act of photographing someone changes the way they act even if they are trying to act as though the photographer isn’t present. Barthes also mentions how photographers struggle to produce lifelike effects. “They make me pose in front of my paintbrushes, they take me outdoors, put me in front of a staircase because a group of children is playing behind me…” This made me realize that this exactly what I do when attempting to photograph someone. I try to make the subject more alive by artificially surrounding them with “life”. By recognizing the why behind this behavior I hope to avoid this type of artificial life in future works but truthfully I’m not sure that I can entirely leave it behind.

Lastly I find it interesting that a single photograph of his mother as a child was able to convey to him the essence of her being where those before it fell short. Barthes explains why this photo conveys the feelings it does. For me though the real question is why the other images don’t convey this feeling? When a photograph truly makes us feel something how much of this feeling is dependent on the viewer and is it possible for the significance of this feeling to be shared?