Photographer photograph their families

The traditional family album usually contains photographs of happy memories and moments that wish to be kept. They’re rarely photographs of unhappy moments or bad memories we wish to forget. Julia Margaret Cameron is a photographer that would photograph her family, but instead of capturing special memories, they would be portraits of her loved ones. In her photographs she has an imaginative use of light and focus.

'Behold, the most beautiful old man in the world!'

This is a photograph of Charles Hay Cameron who was Julia Margaret Camerons husband. In this photo the textures are soft which emphasise his withered face and hair. However even though the photo may display his age, his eyes and alert gaze show that he is intelligent.

'Devotion - Archie, My grandchild, 1865'

She also photographed her Grandson, Archie who was the first child of her eldest son. This photograph is different from the one of her husband as it is a much more intimate scene. The photograph shows the love between the two family members and isn't just seen as a photographer and her model. The photograph also has religious references of Mary and the baby Jesus. The photo is concentrated on the baby, with cameron looking as if she is more in the background and slightly out of focus. The photo is clearly an intimate family moment and something which could only be achieved by having such a relationship.





Bookstock - Julia Margaret Cameron, Joanne Lukitsh.

Documentary and photojournalism: Surveyors and surveyed

Documentary and photojournalism are used all over the world and are used to document and display events or past occurrences. Both types of photography have no clear boundaries and they cannot be defined. Photographs are a powerful tool to get a reaction and to let people have an insight into places or events that they may never see, past and present. Photojournalism and other types of photography such as fashion often respond to events happening at that time. However, even though putting a message across through a photograph might be seen as an important objective, to see what is happening in other parts of the world, faith in photographs has been somewhat lost. Photographs were initially seen as scientific and an object of evidence with truth, however with developments in editing, the relationship between photographs and reality has been somewhat compromised. This is clearly shown in fashion and magazine photography where images are heavily edited to create a unrealistic image. Documentary photography has no clear definition as it does not have a specific style. A war could be documented or a family could be documented through a family album or photos. These two examples are completely different events. Photojournalism and documentary photography are both linked in some ways as they both narrate current events and are good ways to illustrate them. Photojournalism spread quickly during the 1930's with the introduction of magazines like 'Look' and 'Life' in America, however developments with technology such as camera phones means it is slowly becoming less needed. Both types of photography claim to have an an accurate view of the world through their photographs however trust in photographs has been lost and whether they are factual is being questioned. There is now a need to make images which are in line with society so for social and commercial uses that the nature of photography is being questioned and understanding 'the real' is becoming more difficult.

The body as an object of medical research

The work of Nick Veasey, which is featured in the British journal of photography, shows images produced using an x-ray machine. This type of image is usually seen in a medical environment and not used by photographers. Veasey makes large prints of the images by stitching together a number of x-rays to create one large piece. Veasey photographs various objects, from small animals to planes.

His images are produced in the same way as any other x-ray that is produced in a hospital. Short wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation are passed through an object onto photographic film. Because the radiation passes through some objects easier than others, the film has to be exposed in different ways. For example time has to be taken into consideration depending on the object and how dense it is. The images are eventually Photoshopped to make sure they have maximum clarity.

The amount of detail on the prints makes them stand out and the harsh white of the detail against the dark black background makes them quite striking as photographs. They are clear and crisp and look like stills rather than x-rays. They also look quite graphic and like illustrations rather than photographs. Shooting humans is quite a difficult challenge as they can’t be exposed to radiation so Veasey got round this by using skeletons in rubber suits or actual corpses. The interesting thing about his images that involve humans is that the viewer wouldn’t know whether the object was living or not. In his images such as the one below they appear to be doing normal everyday things like any other person.

Although his work doesn’t use the body as an object of medical research, the way he produces his images does change the way we look at things and how much the eye can really see. His work also provides an opposite to a world that is obsessed with appearance and the way things look on the outside rather than whats on the inside and underneath an object or a persons exterior.

www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/profile/1940376/penetrating-gaze-ray-photography