Photography in Context: Post

On The Road

A look at the last 25 years to the 1970s.

Joseph Rosenthal (1911-2006) was an American photographer, who received the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War 11 photograph raising the flag on Iwo Jima, taken during the battle of Iowa Jima.

The flag raising over Iwo Jima was taken in February 1945 and depicts 4 marines lifting a large flag onto a shell-strewn hilltop. The flag raising was actually the second flag raised over Iwo Jima when a commander decided to use a larger flag. As the photograph of the flag raising over Iwo Jima circulated more widely and became an iconic symbol, showcasing the sacrifices and bravery of the USA armed forces, a few people started to question the authenticity of the photograph. Was it staged? This accusation is one that haunted Rosenthal till his death.

George Rodger (1908-1995) was a British photojournalist noted for his work in Africa and taking the first photographs of the death camps at Bergen-Belsen at the end of the Second World War.

Rodger’s had a strong desire to chronicle the Second World War, and through his photographs of ‘The Blitz’ gained a job as a war correspondent for ‘Life’ magazine. Rodger was the first photographer to enter the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen in 1945. His photographs of the few survivors and piles of corpses were published in ‘Life’ and ‘Time’ magazine and were highly influential in showing the reality of the death camps. Rodgers recalled that after several hours at the camp, he was disgusted with himself when he realised he’d spent most of the time looking for graphically pleasing compositions of the piles of bodies lying among the trees and buildings. This traumatic experience put Rodgers off working as a war correspondent, instead he travelled throughout Africa and the Middle East, documenting wildlife and people.

concentration camp photos

photographing the 'Blitz'

After the Second World War, existentialist became a well-known and significant philosophical and cultural movement, mainly through the public prominence of two French writers, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, who wrote best- selling novels, plays and widely read journalism as well as theoretical texts.

The tern is the philosophical and cultural movement which holds that the starting point of philosophical thinking must be the experiences of the individual. Moral and scientific thinking together do not suffice to understand human existence, so a further set of categories, governed by “authenticity”, is necessary to understand human existence. Existentialism began in the mid-19^th Century as a reaction against the dominant systematic philosophies.

From left to right, top to bottom: Kierkegaard, Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche, and Sartre

Robert Frank - born November 9, 1924, to a wealthy Jewish family in Zurich, is an important figure in American photography and film. His 1958 photo book entitled ‘The Americans’, was influential and earned Frank comparisons to a modern day de Tocqueville for his fresh and sceptical outsider’s view of American society. Frank later expanded into film and video and experimented with manipulating photographs and photomontage. His initial optimism for the United States after the war soon changed when he was confronted with the fast pace of American life and what he saw as an overemphasis on money. He now saw America as an often bleak and lonely place, a perspective that became evident in his later photography.

Garry Winogrand – was a street photographer known for his portrayal of America in the mid-20^th Century. He concerned himself with the social issues of his time and in the role of media in shaping attitudes. His pictures frequently appeared as if they were driven by the energy of the events he was witnessing.

Ten things learnt from Garry

Shoot a lot

Follow your instinct and gut feeling

Smile

Never photograph waist height

Never crop your photographs

Emotionally detach yourself from the photograph

Be influenced by great photographs

Concentrate on form and content

Become inspired by everything!!

Love your life.

The events of the 60s including war and social change, seened destined to continue in the 70s. Major trends included a growing disillusionment of government, advances in civil rights, increased influence of the women's movement, a heightened concern of the environment and increased space exploration. Many "radical" ideas gained wider acceptance in America and across Europe. Amid war, social realignment and racial oppression it was an era that florished. Indeed the events of the times were reflected in and became the inspiration for much of the music, literature, entertainment, fashion and of course photography.

Queen crowned in 1953

carry on films 1958

David Bailey - Mike Jagger
Before the 60s it was wealth that determined your status in life, what connections you had etc. After and during the 1960s it was the 'Talent' that bought you wealth.