Informing contexts - Interpretation
The more this module goes along the more I feel that I cannot trust images. The only thing I can guarantee is that the shutter closed at some point. You can’t even for sure say everything was in the image at that time due to post-processing. Only the photographer knows what was true at that time.
Edgar Martins caused controversy when it came to light he had been fooling everyone with his art, he had led people to believe they were unedited images. And so when it was found out he had manipulated images it called into question his entire work and also his integrity.
Pedro Meyer in an interview with Scott Rosenberg said “I’m not suggesting that a photograph cannot be trustworthy. But it isn’t trustworthy simply because it’s a picture. It is trustworthy if someone we trust made it. You’re interviewing me right now, you’re taking notes and taping the conversation, and at the end, you will sit down and edit. You won’t be able to put in everything we talked about: you’ll highlight some things over others. Somebody reading your piece in a critical sense will understand that your value judgments shape it. That’s perfectly legitimate. Turn it around: let me take a portrait of you, and suddenly people say, That’s the way he was. We don’t trust words because they are words, but we trust pictures because they’re pictures. That’s crazy. It’s our responsibility to investigate the truth, to approach images with care and caution.”So how do you interpret? A good video I saw gives a great explanation of how different people put their own stamp on things. Ted Forbes talks about interpreting different images and compares different photographers that have interpreted the same place, or person, or even style of production. Here are some images of Avedon interpreting Bresson image.
©H C Bresson © R Avedon
As when I am looking at interpreting you then need to know how you want to do that, is it with the same camera, lighting effects, focus, composition, or post process. I have noticed I tend to shoot straight with my models, that isn't a preference but a space limitation with my studio. Do you have your own style/brand? Do people know it is you? It is something I feel I have achieved to a degree, a few friends say when scrolling they can tell an image is mine with my use of textures, and contrast. My gallery for you to see.
I have noticed I do not have an outside aesthetic so something to look at. I do like and tend to go dark with my themes. One of the reasons I tend to stick to the studio. I guess in my case I tend to be very blinkered. When I came into the MA I wasn't even aware of HC Bresson never mind Barthes, and so most of interpretations are what comes out of my own imagination. Maybe put there from an old painting I once saw but can't remember who it was or where I saw it, but I feel they all play a part in how I see and what I enjoy seeing, depending on the mood I am in. I do like photographers who take nice portraits but I have never really tried to emulate them. I just do my thing which changes at times with the wind unless I am theming and post processing and then it becomes more me, my own use of self made textures and creativity add to that.
I feel I see the world in the same way too. I was Mod in my youth and although yes, it part of a culture, the reason I liked it was because it allowed me to express myself and be individual. I can at times be very independent and like what I like, but until this course I have never had to contextualise that.
http://www.wordyard.com/2009/07/08/images-are-not-a-representation-of-reality/ Accessed 10 Feb 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySeDumHunQw accessed 11 Feb 2019
