what is a photograph? the answer to this question can be interpreted in many different ways. there is the scientific or technical way which states "a picture made using a camera, in which an image is focused on to light-sensitive material and then made visible and permanent by chemical treatment, or stored digitally" however I want to look at the more of a deep meaning. I feel that a long time ago photos were objects or artefacts of moments frozen In time however I feel as photography has progressed it has evolved to more than that as we now have photos everywhere such as Facebook and instagram and photos are used everyday now days from magazines to social media but has this took away the beauty and feel to what a photograph really is?
I feel that for a photo to be a photograph and successful it need to have some kind feeling within it needs to speak emotion especially when it involves people and that makes me think does photography have to link with beauty? conscientious photography states (march 2014) "This connects why the question “what is a photograph?” matters with the idea of beauty. Robots or machines have no concept of beauty (again, not yet). They can’t make photographs because they are unable to make decisions entirely based on their own whims (instead of relying on scripts or algorithms programmed into the memory banks), and they’re unable to make photographs because they have no concept of beauty. All they can do – right now – is to robotically record parts of the world so that humans, at whatever stage, assign value and sense to the resulting images." This piece of evidence states that camera can not fully record the world properly as now they can only record parts and place then together to create an image from their whims. I think this is trying to say that the image you take on your camera isn't actually a photograph as it is only the camera representation of the word threw their parts they have recorded I do not know if a agree so much with point as I feel a photograph can lots of beauty within even though it is not the exact representation of the world. This article argues mainly on the question of what is a photograph to mainly have a practical answer and looks at the way robots are used to create these images with all the information they record.
Another source says; Pixelated mind ( January 2013) that "People will always ask me how I made the photo. Tell you honestly, most of the time I will not remember what f-stop or shutter speed my camera was at. But I will always remember the moment when I took the shot, where I was, and the feeling it gave me right after I pressed the shutter." I feel I agree with this point as I do feel their is a deeper meaning to what a photograph is than the practical elements and I agree with this as I feel its a lot more about how the photo makes you feel how you felt when you took it and how it continue to make you feel because every photograph has some feeling it, it just depends on how the person has interpreted it. The feeling when we see something we want to take a photo of is why we take it as it intrigues us or gives us some kind of emotion for us to take the photograph otherwise what the point at just shooting something random that does connect with you in anyway.
History of photography states "Some people find that photography is a way to express our ideas instead of letting them sit in a sketchbook. It allows you to show people the world through your eyes-whether it be bad or good. For others, it is an addiction, a hobby, a way to relax when you are stressed. For them, after a stressful day, just a few minutes with a camera is therapeutic-even if they are taking a bad picture of a bad subject. It is an escape, a reason to get out and do something. It gives their days meaning to be able to capture and preserve special moments that may never happen again. It helps them to look back on those moments and smile, even if they aren't particularly happy moments." I feel his pretty much covers people opinions of what a photograph is yet all of them link to feelings and emotions and the connection of feelings so again it that saying that a photograph needs to link with feelings which makes the point above stronger.
I feel that this question does has a practical answer to it however I feel the more psychological answer is more important as I feel what really makes a photograph is emotion and feelings I feel you need to connect with a image for it to be a photograph you need to feel something when you press the shutter. The image needs to speak something. It is almost like a moment frozen in time as it captures a moment forever. It can create memories a artefact of how you felt that exact moment. I feel the more practical answer would apply more to professional photography or staged images as this is all set up and planned ahead however it can still speak emotion however they will probably not be natural unless it was candid photography. But then you could also argue the fact that you need to have people in a image to create emotion however I don't feel this is true it can also be spoken threw objects or landscapes. The practical answer pretty much states the obvious as it looks at the elements needed to create an image and looking at the way we process it. I think it is more important to look at the more psychological meaning as the practical reasoning is just to obvious.
bibliography
https://samcoran.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/a-deeper-meaning-of-photography/
http://isabellaphotographyepq.blogspot.co.uk/p/deeper-meaning-of-photography.html
http://cphmag.com/what-is-a-photograph/
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