Assignment #6 - Presentation

Chosen Topic -
'Photography and Narrative'.

Photographers -
Tracy Moffatt
Gregory Crewsdon
Anna Gaskell

I chose to photography and narrative because i like the idea of a single image being able to tell an entire story. I will look at the practice of Moffatt, Crewsdon and Gaskell and analise how they can 'fake' a seemingly documentary style image. Also i will look at the differences between being in the right place for real documentary situations and constructing them for dramatic effect.

http://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artists/26/Tracey_Moffatt/60/

http://www.artnet.com/artists/gregory-crewdson/artworks-for-sale

http://www.artnet.com/artists/anna-gaskell/

http://deanjohnsoncontemporaryphotograp.blogspot.com/2011/04/narrative-photography-assignment-4.html

Photography and the Environment

I think photography can definitely do a lot for helping environmental conservation campaigns. Most people might not get a chance to go to the depths of Tasmania or places similar and therefore they can not fully understand the beauty of the nature in such places. This does not mean they don't care. The use of photography i believe is paramount in reaching people with the 'out of sight, out of mind" attitude. By advertising in media such as newspapers and tv the awareness of such devastation as wood chipping is unavoidable.

Ultimately beauty and pity are going to be the deal breakers for people thinking about donating or voting for a particular party. Showing a breathtaking endangered landscape or a ruined habitat/injured wildlife is, to a point, always going to move anyone from nature lovers to corporate bigwigs. Facts or tag lines also can do a great job in complimenting the images such as "Would you vote for a party that would destroy this?" from Peter Dombrovskis Rock Island Bend image or the factual interactive slide show of the Stynx Valley on the Greenpeace website. One problem i find with the effectiveness of photography in conservation is that images can become overbearing. If every day there is a multitude of images crammed into the faces of citizens, eventually they will begin to just tune out and disregard the campaigns as 'just another advertisement'.

In Tim Bonyhady's "When a picture packs a punch", the main issue raised is that there is a lack of photographers who are able to represent nature in such a way as Peter Dombrovski. He claims Dombrovski's mastery of large format cameras allowed him to capture unparalleled images in terms of clarity and composition. To a point this might be true, but as photographers become more concerned and cameras become more advanced, there is nothing stopping the other people capturing scenes just as moving.