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| Light Writing |
| Edward Steichen, one of the most distinguished
experts in the field of photography said: 'photography is a dynamic
process of giving form to ideas ...' |
| Indeed, photography is one of the most important
arts. But it is more than that - it is also a people's art. Satisfaction
in results can be had by a small child with an inexpensive camera, by
the adult with a complex camera and a multitude of lenses and by the
retired oldster taking family snaps. It is the most widely practised of
all of the graphic arts. In fact, it has almost become a folk art. But
photography has almost infinite flexibility and potential. Not merely a
mechanical craft but an art, it is not the camera but the person behind
the camera and in the darkroom who imagines, composes, takes, develops,
prints and thus creates art. |
But: is photography an art or a science? Creative
or mechanical. Are photographs literal reports or expressive
interpretations? Is photography easy or difficult? The answer to all of
these questions is - both. Photography is an art because it demands
sensitivity to the human need for expression and communication as do
painting and sculpture; its also a science in which the physics of light
and lenses, the chemistry of making images with light and making them
permanent are important. Significant photography is creative, much like
architecture and like architecture, has its mechanical aspects. Because
cameras record images seemingly with a minimum of human interference, we
tend to think that photography always tells 'the truth.' It does tell a
truth, certainly, because the camera reports the external appearances of
the objects on which it is focused. But if one were to see photographs
of the same subject matter taken by, say, 20 different photographers, it
would be evident that the person behind the camera determines which
aspect of 'the truth' is important. Photographers, like painters, select
the aspects of their subjects that they wish to emphasize, for no single
photograph can tell everything about anything and there are many ways of
modifying photographic images.
Photography became a practical reality only a little more than a century
ago. This is surprising in view of the fact that the ancients were
acquainted with the underlying principles: that light produces visual
images and that light alters the chemical nature of some materials.
Leonardo da Vinci explained the process and Renaissance artists and
scientists made 'camera pictures' by admitting light through a pinhole
or a lens into a completely darkened room. But not until the 1820's did
man discover how to make these pictures permanent. At first, progress
was slow, but since the end of the 19th century photography has
developed rapidly. The technique of photography (which means 'light
writing') is basically simple: focusing the light from the objects to be
recorded on a light sensitive surface in a darkened box and fixing this
image so that additional exposure to light will not produce further
change. In contemporary practice, this is much more complex. Many years
of scientific research have given us current exciting photography
trends. Probably no other graphic medium employs so many highly trained
mechanical, chemical and optical engineers. Photography is complicated.
For this reason the mechanical problems involved in making a print often
place most of the emphasis on craftmanship. |
| But photography is also a way of communicating
ideas, just as are painting, etching, engraving or any other art. When
the materials and processes of photography are handled by someone who
has something so say, photography becomes a highly expressive art.
"Modernist photographers have mostly abandoned the romanticism and
sentimentality of their predecessors, the Pictoralists, who created
soft, moody, emotionally charged images" states Migs Grove, editor
of a catalogue of photographic works by the South African photographer
Constance Stuart Larrabee, whose collection of photographs has found a
home at the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute,
Washington DC. South African photographers are at the forefront of
innovative photographic art and are challenging conventional ways of
understanding and presenting photographic reality. |
| Photographic construction was recognized as a major
art form when Lien Botha won a major national award recently.
Photographic trends are being studied carefully. Well-known
international magazines such as Art News have an "Eye on
Photography" and photographic images are fetching record prices at
Auctions. |
| Reprinted courtesy of SouthAfricanArt |
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