The course, titled Seeing Through Photographs, has the aim of giving a baseline for understanding photographs by introducing a diversity of ideas, approaches, and technologies.
I found the course very interesting,....as I have never studied the history of Photography, the course really gave me an interesting overview of different techniques, photography fields, etc. I have to admit that the examples taken to explain one or the other approach are mostly from USA photographers...I missed a little all the European tradition, especially the French photographers.
The modules are those below:
- Introduction
- One Subject, Many Perspectives
- Documentary Photography
- Pictures of People
- Constructing Narratives & Challenging Histories
- Ocean of Images: Photography & Contemporary Culture
Each module has a final quiz (multiple choice questions) and at the end there is a project final assignment where the student is required to describe which module she/he liked the most, and to select a photograph or a series of photographs made by an artist she/he didn’t know to describe her/his work and to fit this in a module.
Well, I have not taken an unknown photographer, ...I wanted to analyse a photo of Henri Cartier-Bresson and I decided to go for it, even if this may give me negative mark...but, well, I am not at the University, and my idea is to follow my passions and interests when I am not tied by job requirements....
So, here it is...enjoy my small rebellion! ;)
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The module which interested me the most is the one on Documentary Photography.
What I like in
this field of photography is the subjectivity given by the photographer: as
clearly stated by Sarah Meister in her interview, citing as examples the works
of Arbus, Winogrand, Friedlander, there is not a clear connection between
photographs and reality, as the own personality of the photographer and the
choices that he/she makes, result in the photographs to be different from what
is photographed. The results are photos which express more the authors’
personal ideas and which may also serve as metaphor of social conditions or
stereotypes.
Another point
that I liked is the idea of project/story, which recurs also in other modules
of the course. This concept is very inspiring in my work as amateur
photographer, as I am more focused in photos of single moments/ single subjects:
the idea of writing a story through a series of selected photos and being able
of passing a message is indeed enriching. I am thinking for example at the work
of Gordon Parks, titled 'Harlem Gang Leader', and to the message that he wanted
to pass (message which was unfortunately skewed by the journal’s editor). Last but not least, I liked the intimacy that the author can create with the subject: the camera is not anymore a filter between the photographer and the subject, but is the mean which allows the photographer to arrive closer to the subjects, investigate the environment, and being accepted (i.e.: Susan Meiselas in 'CarnivalStrippers').
Said that, the
photo that I am going to analyse is not from an unknown artist, but let me
give a personal interpretation of the assignment and reflect my main
interest.
The photo is 'Haifa, Israel, 1967' from Henri Cartier-Bresson, which I had the pleasure to see at the retrospective of the photographer in Rome, Italy, for the 10th anniversary of his death.
The photo is 'Haifa, Israel, 1967' from Henri Cartier-Bresson, which I had the pleasure to see at the retrospective of the photographer in Rome, Italy, for the 10th anniversary of his death.
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| Haifa, Israele, 1967. © Henri Cartier-Bresson:Magnum Photos-Courtesy Fondation HCB |
I have been
attracted by this photo, as it was the one which closed the exhibition, was printed
in a big format, and did not have neither the plate with the title and year: it
was how if the curator wanted to let the visitor the possibility of
interpreting this photo as summary of what he/she had seen and felt up there. I
found the name of the photo in internet.
In the 60’s
Bresson was still working on documentary photography, a phase began in 1948
with the photos on Gandhi’s funeral, but now performed with a more meditative
and quieter approach. Far from the research of the Decisive Moment and from the
photos documenting moments of sport, dance, or gathering crowds, he prefers now
looking longer and deeper to his subjects (i.e.: reportage 'Vive La France'
1968-1970), also introducing social and physiological elements (this phase is known
as 'Visual Anthropology').
And 'Haifa, Israel, 1967' is from this period and reflects this
attitude.
1967 is a war year for Israel: during the Six Days War (5-11 June 1967), Israel occupies the entire Palestine, the Sinai and the Golan Heights. 200.000 new Palestinian refugees leave the occupied territories, other 200.000 will follow thereafter. At the end of the war, the United Nations oblige Israel to readmit all the refugees that require this, but Israel allows only 14.000 to enter, before closing the borders.
Until 1967 Haifa had the largest Palestinian
population in Israel, and still today it is one of the five cities in Israel
with mixed population. Nowadays, 9% of the population is registered as
Palestinian.1967 is a war year for Israel: during the Six Days War (5-11 June 1967), Israel occupies the entire Palestine, the Sinai and the Golan Heights. 200.000 new Palestinian refugees leave the occupied territories, other 200.000 will follow thereafter. At the end of the war, the United Nations oblige Israel to readmit all the refugees that require this, but Israel allows only 14.000 to enter, before closing the borders.
I could not find in Internet who were the three children of the photo: were they Jewish? were they Palestinian? But this does not really matter at the end, as for me what it matters is the social/political message that Bresson wanted to pass. These were children of the War.
There is the oldest one who covers with a shirt the other two, as for protecting them from the photographer, and metaphorically from the World. His gaze is serious and deep, not very different from the gaze of the 'Migrant Mother' of Dorothea Lang, of 1936. Both of the main characters of the two photos seem to hold the weight of the dramatic situation. And also the figures and the setting of Bresson’s photo resemble in their whole those of Lange’s photo: a poor environment where the characters wait patiently and closely knit, with two of them hiding from the camera.
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| Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, 1936 © Dorothea Lang |
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| "The Hat", Hamburg, West Germany, December 1952-January 19543. © Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photos |
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| "Univermag", State Department store, Leningrad, Soviet Union, 1954.© Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photos |
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| "Foley's Department Store", Texas. Houston. USA, 1957 © Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photos |
In 'Haifa, Israel, 1967' he delicately enters in the World of the three children and shows their fear and the prematurely acquired responsibility.
With this photo, Bresson once again takes masterfully the role of documentary photographer, in its wider and recognized meaning.
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