Spring 2013 History of Photography

I don’t think sleeping is an art form to be honest, seems pretty boring and nothing interesting about it. But if you add the theme was trying to bring awareness of poverty and homeless people then it does make sense. If you’re trying to bring an end to poverty you could use the technique that Sergio Clavijo did which I think was pretty smart, especially when he used the old homeless people clothes instead of using new clothes because if he would of used new clothes it would not have made any sense. But the whole thing about that actor Tilda Swinton sleeping in a glass box in MoMa was pretty weird, I don’t know how someone can take that as an art form. Seems like a crazy idea someone thinks of when they’re really bored and don’t know what else to do. I don’t really get how that is considered something that has to do with art.

I think what Jr is doing is pretty cool. I saw the trailer and noticed how they were putting the pics in different countries and even on trains, i thought that was pretty sick. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what he’s doing. I can also understand that maybe some people don’t want their faces plastered all over the world but it still is a positive movement showing that we’re all equal human beings and no one is better than another. What he’s doing is really great, he’s making all these political moves with just photos and showing people that they should help one another and even praise one another. Like when he went to Liberia, Kenya, and Sierra Leone telling the men to value their women and was posting photos of them all over their country. What I would of thought would have been a great idea would be the one he already thought of which was to post photos of people faces around Brooklyn and the other boroughs showing positivity from people who were affected by Hurricane Sandy and show that we can unite as one and overcome these certain situations.

I do believe that Capa’s photograph was staged because there is no evidence of blood in the soldier’s shirt, for me it looks very dramatic, perfectly posed. First of all, I have a huge respect for war photographers, they are very brave to risk their lives to capture the horrors of war. I also acknowledge that in the mid 1930s, cameras were still manual, and that in order to take shots like the “falling soldier” one, the photographer should of had pre-set the camera to the right settings, to capture the movement of an object. The whole scene is on focus, it is as if Capa was in the right place at the right moment. The photograph is powerful indeed, but in my personal opinion I think that staging a photograph loses the whole sentiment of it, especially in situations like in the war, because there is a difference between art photography and journalist photography. Isn’t journalist photography to capture the raw reality, to tell the truth about events? I think its authenticity matters because, a photograph is a frame of time capture in paper, so the fact that it was fake, makes me doubt the reality.

I believe that Robert Capa’s “Fallen Soldier” is a staged photograph. There is no evidence of gun shot residue or blood in the photograph that Capa took. I do believe that the photograph was staged after the soldier was killed. Captain Robert L. Franks suggestion that his curled hand already suggest that he is dead, allows me to believe this. I believe that after he was killed, Capa or another individual redressed the soldier. The soldier appears very clean for someone who was crawling through dirt and trenches. Also his clothing has no bullet holes/ wounds or turmoils from war. The photo was credited as one of the greatest war photos of all time because of the photographers credibility. At the time Capa may have wanted to publish something “vivacious”, considering there were no photographs from the war and other photographers may have not been courageous enough to get so close to the war scene. However in my opinion his evidence fell short, I am not considering Gallagher’s “lapse of memory” or other journalist opinions. Capa’s visual proof isn’t substantial.

I don’t think Robert Capas photo is staged. You can pick almost any other famous photo and speculate if its staged or not, especially if its recent. I would love to have proof that this photo is without a doubt real to stop the naysayers but that’s impossible. I do believe that if a photo is staged its harder to connect with it. If you saw a picture that you really liked and could connect with it in whatever way and then someone told you it was staged or made with CGI you’d feel a different way. The point of a photograph is to capture a moment in time if that moment is made or never existed then its harder to connect with.

By observing Capa’s photograph of the Falling Soldier is hard for me to decide whether or not the photograph was staged. Based on Mr. Frank’s explanation of the photograph and Mr. Whelan wide argument I’ve come to the conclusion that the photograph was not staged. I think there has been many times were photographs have been exaggerated and/or staged in other to provide the viewer some sort of results, to provoke an emotion and to fulfill a purpose. I honestly believe that there’s nothing wrong with exaggerating or staging a photograph as long as is not for a negative purpose. As Mr. Whelan suggest, I think is time to let Capa and Borrell rest in peace and end this argument of whether the Falling Soldier was staged or not.

Observing the photo of Robert Capa “Falling Solider” you can see that the postion the “solider” is showing while falling looks staged. With how his hands is towards the back makes you think that he is doing this to brace himself from the fall. Probably during that time viewing photos like this convinced people to think that the photo wasn’t staged and that how a solider will really look getting shot during a gun fight, which can be true but there is still clues that show that if you really look will tell you it was staged. To be marked as a fake photo is the wrong way to define this photo. I rather call it a staged photo because Capa did go through the effort to make this photo be the best war photo of all.

Based on Richard Whela’s arguments, I Believed Capa’s photograph is not staged. Whelan analysed the Failing Soldier and found that is truthfulness, and he also proved that Knightley’s arguments were inconsistent. According to Whela’s discovery, the Falling Soldier is a photograph of Federico Borrell Garcia; Captain Robert L. Franks proved the man is already dead at the moment he was captured.  These two points are strongly enough to prove Capa’s photograph is not staged. Robert Capa felt no fear on the battle field and took such a good photograph.  For my point of view, I think its authenticity doesn’t matter because photographers who taking picture on the front line are in danger of losing their life. At this point, we should at least respect their work. In fact, Capa revealed the reality of the war. So many soldiers got shot the way as similar as the one shown in the Falling Soldier. Photography is flexible and creatively. As long as the photography doesn’t causes any trouble such with misleading description. The staged photography is acceptable under such condition.

The Greatest War Photograph Robert Capa, and his famous photo “Death of a loyalist soldier”, said to be a fake and accused of fakery. In this once photo there is a lot to think about on whether this was staged or not. Truth be told does it really matter whether it was staged or not, isn’t most photographs staged? Aren’t people usually posed or place in position for the shot to seem more dramatic or interesting? This is an interesting shot, i mean the dynamic pose, the action feeling and whole crazy idea of actually catching the moment of death of a solider is highly unlikely in my opinion isn’t it? If you analyze the photo more in depth, you don’t really see a point of penetration of a bullet or any blood, which is a  question in how did this man die? Still how are regular people, citizen suppose to know the actual reaction to a bullet or something in war if we aren’t physical there. Robert Capa did something with this photo something i believe every photographer or artist in general want to do and is portray a message to everyone, and that exactly what happened when this photo was used numerous times in magazine and newpapaers on the killings of these soldiers. That is what is key in this, is the message and the impact it creates to its viewers, whether is or isn’t staged.