Political photography in contemporary media and society

Political Photography

The objective of this work is to answer the question of how changing shutter speeds and lenses on cameras through the 19th and 20th centuries affect use of photography in American public media or political photography? Toward this end, this work will conduct an extensive review of literature in this area of study including peer-reviewed academic and professional literature in this area of study.

Development of Cameras

During the 1840s and 1850s the daguerreotype "was the preferred choice of commercial portraiture..." (Oxford University Press: Landscape Photography, 2005) and the calotype was used primarily for landscape photography. The cost of lenses and chemicals were high for the calotype. The use of the 'wet-plate' process became more popular as the decade progressed. The work entitled: "Photography and Society in the 20th Century" states that one can hardly imagine "a technology that had more impact on 20th century life than photography, yet in day-to-day terms, photography was truly the most pervasive." (Garner, nd, p.1)

There are four distinct areas stated to have affected 20th century society: (1) Amateur photography;

(2) Advertising photography; (3) Journalistic/editorial photography; and (4) Document photography. (Garner, nd) Garner additionally states that cameras "...during the 19th century...were mainly in the hands of professionals or self-educated entrepreneurs who tried photography as a trade." (p.1) It is interesting to note that photography has no professional licensing requirements or guild membership other than an unsuccessful attempt by Talbot to sell licenses following his invention. Amateur photography represents a vast wealth of photographic contributions during the 19th and 20th centuries.

II. Camera Shutter Speeds and Advances in Photography

The majority of modern cameras have exposure shutter speeds of approximately 1/1000 second and it is reported that American engineer, Harold E. Edgerton, developed an electronic strobe light in 1931 which produced flashes of 1/500,000 second which enabled a photograph to be taken of a bullet in flight. It is reported that the use of flashes in series and the progression of an object while in motion can be achieved through use of a photocell which triggers the strobe light. The photocell is arranged to receive illumination by a light beam that is then interrupted by the object which is moving fast as it comes into the viewing field of the camera. (Photography: History.com, 2009, p.1)

Rodd (1993) writes that the oldest existing photograph was taken in 1827 and that it took eight hours to expose. Photography, according to Rodd (1993) did not begin "until 1839 when the world heard about something startling. Louis Daguerre had invented a way to permanently reproduce a fleeting image on a metal plate. It took 30 minutes to expose, not eight hours." (Rodd, 1993) The work of Hughes (2009) states that different shutter mechanisms have been "used over time to help photographers control the exposure of their images." Early shutters are stated to have been "as simple as a cap being removed from the front of the lens and replaced at the appropriate time." (Hughes, 2009)

Hughes relates that there was a "sharp increase in the speed of film which made exposure control even more critical and led to the development of new techniques to more accurately control the amount of light which entered the camera. Several methods were used during this period, mainly utilizing the tension of springs or elastic bands to control the light exposure, but the biggest breakthrough came with the development of a pneumatic timer, which was far more accurate and drove the technology for some time." (Hughes, 2009) Stated differently, the shorter the time the shutter is open the sharper and crisper the photograph will be. Bartlett (2009) relates that the aperture priority mode is used for enabling error-free exposures of the image that the photographer has envisioned in quickly setting accurate exposures in almost all photographic situations allowing more time for the photographer to focus on priority elements of composition instead of camera settings.

III. The Use of Cameras

It is reported that American Progressivism (1890-1920) "as marked by an optimistic belief that informed citizens could reform social evils through the democratic process. In the hands of the reform pioneers Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine, the camera played a major consciousness-raising role in the passage of progressive legislation that altered cities and regulated children's employment, and transformed the understanding of photography's social and educational potential." (Oxford University Press, 2009, p.1)

Documentary photography is stated to be defined as "a depiction of the real world by a photographer whose intent is to communicate something of importance -- to make a comment -- that will be understood by the viewer'." (Oxford University Press, 2009) There are three phases of development over time including: (1) Conveying visual reality; (2) Conveying social reality; and (3) Conveying psychological reality. (Oxford University Press, 2009, p.1)

Wells (2000) writes in the work entitled: "Photography: A Critical Introduction" that rather than simply seeing a break between the 'old' chemical technology and the 'new' electronic and digital one" it is argued that "both are shaped and developed by powerful social and cultural forces which run through nineteenth- and twentieth-century Western culture." Motz (1989) writes in the work entitled: "Visual Autobiography: Photograph Albums of Turn-of-the-Century Midwestern Women" that faster shutter speeds served to "...free the subjects of photographs from the solemn, stiff poses" that were required in earlier studio photographs. (p.9)

IV. Photography in the 19th Century

Harper (nd) writes that the camera in the 19th century "became part of the revolution in seeing and understanding...that which was the scientific revolution." (p.2) Harper states that "different social classes and groups, of course, use photography differently." (p.3) Harper also reports that "it became possible...by the end of the 19th century...to link individual frames of film together, giving a succession of images a verisimilitude the still image could never achieve. Suddenly it seemed that the process of life itself could be recorded." (nd, p.3)

The camera enabled readers of the daily news to see the pictures that went along with stories including those on sporting events, wars, natural disasters, celebrities, fashion, food; all of this never before seen by the mass population. In fact these images were used for advertising from the middle of the 1800s and advertisers are stated to have "begun to use a repertoire of visual practices, decorative display type, engraved images of products and illustrations that progressively took over the space available from the printed world -- and the public's attention was increasingly captured through visual rather than textual strategies." (Harper, nd, p.7)

V. Photography and Politics

Zelizer (2006) writes in the work entitled: "What's Untransportable About the Transport of Photographic Images?" that "a reliance on images has been intertwined with the political domain for as long as images have been in existence." (p.9) In fact, Zelizer (2006) writes that the visualization of political concepts "went beyond everyday life...images came to be used to stimulate public debate, demystify power and encourage the involvement of ordinary people with affairs of state." (p.9) It is reported that one of the most frequently addressed aspects of images and politics has been the study of propaganda." (Zelizer, 2006, p.10) Zelizer (2006) reports that discussions of photographs in politics "have focused on the implications of visual deception, by which an extensive history of practices of staging, editing, selectivity, mislabeling and alteration undercut the images' indexical power." (p.10) The role of indexicality "in the intersection linking photography and politics" has been linked with the ability to gain support collectively and ensuring the "workability of political power." (p.11)

VI. Photojournalism

In the area of journalism it is reported by Zelizer (2006) that news photographs "have played a critical role in upholding the status and stature of accurate news recording. However, the claims to the photographic verisimilitude that are wrapped within a photograph's use have far outweighed the actual uses to which images are put as a part of journalism." (Zelizer, 2006, p.12)

The work of Peter Burke (2001) offers four strategies that can be used in considering the photographic image and those are stated as follows: (1) To understand the image in terms not of the social world directly but of its own contemporary views of that world; (2) To place the image in a series of contexts, including representational conventions, the interests of those involved, and the intended function of the image; (3) To regard series of images as more reliable than individual images; (4) to read between the lines of what is depicted using even absences as significant clues to information. (Zelizer, 2006, p.12)