Abstract
Photography theory
Bates speaks about 3 different aspects of photography theory which are: identity, culture and social value he ten furthered this by speaking about 'theory of representation' and how the French philosopher 'Louis Althusser' argues that ideology was primarily communicated through images and some may find this ideology to be true and some may view them as false, but what is clear is that photographs are made up of codes and languages that all peoples differently. Another word for this 'language' is semiotics which is a system of signs that people see in a photo, one of the pioneers of semiotics was Ferdinand de Saussure who argued that language is am 'organised system of signs'.
Semiotics is also used to distinguish the photograph from the concept of the photograph, a viewer is needed to give the picture a signified meaning as they will have their own interpretation of the photo
(the concept) .
This was a photo taken by 'Richard Drew' and it was from the tragic events of 911, 'Drew' says he considers the man an unknown solider who represents everyone who had the same fate that day. To anyone who didn't know what this photo was they might see it as photoshopped or composed in a way that made it seem like he was falling, but people who know what this photo is will view it a lot differently especially people who lost loved ones in this tragic event.
This Photo from 'Nick Ut' is shot during the Vietnam was and the child without clothes had them ripped off by a soldier as they were on fire, this is another example of a photo with a deeper meaning. Bates argues that meanings are not fixed and contingent on the context as each person who views the photo will have a different interpretation on it if they didn't know the context of the photo. For example people from Vietnam may find this image disturbing as it is their culture that was affected.
This is a contact sheet of images I took is response to Bates' theory and 'Nick Ut's' work, as you can see below I have selected an image of what looks like an ordinary construction site however myself and other students at my university will see this as the end of east slope which was once and enjoyable bar that students went to, this is important for the culture of the university and would be viewed as just a construction site from an outsiders perspective.
Bates speaks about 3 different aspects of photography theory which are: identity, culture and social value he ten furthered this by speaking about 'theory of representation' and how the French philosopher 'Louis Althusser' argues that ideology was primarily communicated through images and some may find this ideology to be true and some may view them as false, but what is clear is that photographs are made up of codes and languages that all peoples differently. Another word for this 'language' is semiotics which is a system of signs that people see in a photo, one of the pioneers of semiotics was Ferdinand de Saussure who argued that language is am 'organised system of signs'.
Semiotics is also used to distinguish the photograph from the concept of the photograph, a viewer is needed to give the picture a signified meaning as they will have their own interpretation of the photo
(the concept) .
This was a photo taken by 'Richard Drew' and it was from the tragic events of 911, 'Drew' says he considers the man an unknown solider who represents everyone who had the same fate that day. To anyone who didn't know what this photo was they might see it as photoshopped or composed in a way that made it seem like he was falling, but people who know what this photo is will view it a lot differently especially people who lost loved ones in this tragic event.
This Photo from 'Nick Ut' is shot during the Vietnam was and the child without clothes had them ripped off by a soldier as they were on fire, this is another example of a photo with a deeper meaning. Bates argues that meanings are not fixed and contingent on the context as each person who views the photo will have a different interpretation on it if they didn't know the context of the photo. For example people from Vietnam may find this image disturbing as it is their culture that was affected.
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