Blog Prompt 2

#5 Give your thoughts on one or both of the following quotes.

“Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.” ~Edward Steichen




“I just think it's important to be direct and honest with people about why you're photographing them and what you're doing. After all, you are taking some of their soul.” ~Mary Ellen Mark




I agree. A photography captures a moment in someone's soul. It will forever be able to share, preserve, explain, argue, or represent that person at that exact moment. What they are feeling, who they are, and what they've been through is to me, someone's soul

#6 In your opinion, when is it beneficial, ethical, or appropriate to digitally alter photographic portraits? When do you think it is inappropriate or ethically wrong? 

I think that altering a photo afterwards can take away the mastery of the trade. It can make it easier to capture the same image in the same way without having the technical skill to do so. I can see how it would be ethical in a negative way in that sense. However, to alter a photo to help express the idea/content or otherwise totality of the photograph, I think is acceptable

#7 Pay close attention to the types and number of photographic portraits you see in one day. Where did you see them? How do you think that the content of the portrait changes based on the context in which you see the image (news, facebook, magazine, advertisement, television, youtube, etc)? In other words, what is the difference between the portraits you see on facebook vs. those on the news? What is the difference between the “viewpoint” of the photographer in each situation? What is the difference between their “intents”?


I think that it is all about the intention. The intention  of facebook photographs is to share the moment with others. the exposure, quality, perspective and lighting are all secondary to the subjects and place. The Intention of artistic leaning photographs is to express more of the concept/idea or aesthetic.  It's all about the intention of use.



Please respond to the following three quotes.

#8 “My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.” ~Richard Avedon.

It depends. If a person who is well versed in an individuals work or if an audience is looking at multiple images by one artist then sure, the portraits are more about the artist. However, more often the image contains the subject.

#9 “You don't take a photograph, you make it.” ~Ansel Adams




True. End of Story

#10 “All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this - as in other ways - they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it.” ~John Berger


I think that the painter has more interpretation as he can not successfully capture every detail, where as a camera, unaltered, captures the image how it is for what it is.

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