Unit 3 Contextual and Cultural Referencing

Documentary Photography

usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle both significant and relevant to history and historical events and everyday life. It is typically covered in professional photojournalism, or real life reportage, but it may also be an amateur, artistic, or academic pursuit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_photography >[accessed 11-03-2016 @ 8.16]

To me documentary photography is about telling a story, what is happening, what’s going to happen, what has happened. It is chronological in a time, a place and a sequence of event, it tells a story which we relate back to as history. It can at times be controversial and socially incorrect, Documentary photography tell the story of what the photographer see or wants you to see, it may not be correct and can be open to interpretation. Don McCullen said “Photography lies”  McCullen is clearly relating to digital photography, but in respects this has happened in the film photography.

Don McCullin, night on superstar of the photography world speaks up and proclaims the digital domination of photography is “a totally lying experience” you have to stop and take note.

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O82679/street-gang-finsbury-park-photograph-mccullin-don/ > [accessed 12-03-16 @9.45am]

Don McCullen’s iconic image which established hi career 1958, This was a controversial image of a street gang Finley Park London, who it was believed that one of the gang had killed a policeman.

Don McCullin – Vietnam – Shell shocked Marine – McCullin has done a close up of this haunting image of the marine his eyes glaze over you he doesn’t care as McCullen “says that anyone is in front of him with a camera he’s in his own world and taken by what’s going on around him”.

(http://phogotraphy.com/2015/11/27/don-mccullin-lies/) > [Accessed 11-march-2016 @ 8.58am]

Garry Winogrand was a great photojournalists of American life, Winogrand captured America through the turbulent 1960s — from politicians and members of New York’s high society to the homeless in Santa Monica and the suburbs of New Mexico. Winogrand grew up in the Bronx and both of his parents worked in the apparel industry. serving in the United States Air Force he then went onto attend college studying painting at the City College of New York, and then onto studied in photography at Columbia University.

Winogrand Images were very much a style similar to Cartier-Bressons images a “decisive moment”, in a split second  Winograd had captured a story a which implicated there is a story to be told. His images were very much about people in conversation or looking at something, although you we are never sure of what they were look at.

http://garrywinogrand.tumblr.com/page/2 [accessed 12th March 2016 @ 10.06]

Los Angeles California. 1969 (Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco) [assessed 13/03/2016 @ 10.45am]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUuwdPkLsT0

This is a account of Garry Winogrand photos, there has been said that Winogrand is arrogant in this, but I personally think he’s just engaging in the conversation, I agree the question asked are not totally structured.