Photography was initially used to capture
reality in its purest form, revealing to its audience, visual fact. Now, as
digital manipulation has become such a vital part in today’s media, fact has
the ever increasing ability to ‘morph’ into fiction.
There appears to be no limit to what can be
altered in a photograph and as a society; our perceptions of reality, beauty
and fact are becoming increasingly distorted. Click the
link below to see how the advertising media has the potential to completely
alter images!
Take the Dove ‘Real Beauty’ campaign for example:
“It’s no wonder that our perception of beauty is distorted”
Today’s top fashion magazines like Vogue,
ELLE and Bazaar all use photo-shopped images. It has even gone to the point
where images that have not been altered will specify to the public that they
are ‘unaltered’, rather than the altered images specifying their qualities.
Many Celebrity personalities are altered with Photoshop, some even going as far
as to have deals with magazine companies to make sure no un-altered images get
published.
Not all is Lost!
However, the digital age is not all bad news. Digital publishing in the
form of online photo galleries has allowed news companies to display a
multitude of photos at once. This affords retailers the opportunity to deliver maximum
visual stimulus to the consumer. The consumer needs to decide if this is
acceptable to them personally or not, remembering that whether the photograph
is photo-shopped or altered in some way the content still has to be news worthy.
So…what
makes a great photo?
Framing, focus, angle, exposure and timing all play a crucial part in
the pursuit of that perfect photograph but the real ‘piece de resistance’ is in
the capturing of the elusive moment. The Cliché that states “a picture is worth
a thousand words, rings true but if the wrong moment is captured it may only be
worth one……FAIL! In the words of award winning Finnish photographer Eetu
Silanpaa,
“A
picture has no
Meaning
at all if it
can’t
tell a story.”
‘The Golden Mean’ or the rule of thirds also plays a large
role in the capturing of the moment as a pleasant juxtaposition of scenery or
colour will attract the viewer’s gaze.
For more information on the ‘Rule
of Thirds’ – Click here
Moving Pictures encompass similar elements
of their still counterparts in order to capture the scene in contrast to
capturing the moment. The timing in moving pictures however, relies on the
artistic input of film editors opposed to the shutter speed that captures the
image in the photographic cameras.
Ultimately;
If it makes you laugh,
if it makes you cry,
if it rips out your heart,
that’s a good picture- Eddie
Adams
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