Photography In The 21st Century 3b1qx

Photography in the 21st Century: The Art of Memories Introduction-Photography has evolved through the years as a modern art form through the participation of the people. I.Background A. Definition B. Functions C. History and Inception II.Nature and Extent A. 20th Century, World Wars and Photography B. The Use of Color Film C. Digital Photography D. The Internet and Photography III.Solution A. Functions 1. Commerce a. Advertising

b. Forensics and Crime c. Still-life (Food, Landscape and Wild-life) d. Photojournalism 2. Social Uses a. The Paparazzi b. Lomography c. The Headshot d. Stock Photography e. Photo Sharing and Editing (Blogs, Flickr Social Networks, Adobe Photoshop) Conclusion-Photography is continuously evolving into a modern art form through technology which makes its use widespread in different aspects of life.

Photography in the 21st Century: The Art of Memories Introduction With its inception in the 19th century, photography has awakened man in its dream of a technicolored world. Through the lens, the world saw new ways of thinking-to educate, record events, reflect, and show emotion and respect. Photographers and enthusiasts led society in a new form of evolution in a way that memories are considered as a tool to infer knowledge. Time flies but photography has shown to us why it is so indispensable in the process of human and social development. Emphasis is shifted from art to social value, valuing photographers not as artists but as sublimed educators. The development of commerce gave every photo a price equivalent for its purpose and photography is opened to new frontiers and markets. But with al its development, photography has evolved into a modern art form uprooted from its social origins, taking part the people who participated in its blossoming. Background Photography was coined out from the Greek word “Phos”(light) and “graphein”(to draw).Its main function is the production of a negative or positive black and white or colored record in the form of light upon a sensitive surface. The art can be pursued using a camera-a box with lens and other parts arranged to project an image of the scene to be recorded onto a sensitive film or plate.

Photography made its debut in 1839 when John Herschel made the photographic process open to the public (Grolier,p-265).Since its debut, the medium spread rapidly across Europe and America. The field is dominated by French and American artists like D.O. Hill, Gustave Le Gray, E.D. Balaus, Henri Le Becq, among others (Rosenblum). The late 19th century witnesses the work of photographers to establish photography as a branch of fine art.Before the century ended,hundreds of international societies for artistic photography started to exist.Being considered as an art,beauty for photos is favored against truth,and interpretation is emphasized (Szarkowski).In this era the power of photography was realized as a social force. The 20th century triggered dramatic changes in the field. Different historical events triggered a shift from artistic beauty to emphasis on truth. Artists accepted new roles, mainly photojournalists taking photos on different events then sending it to new groups for immediate publication (Photojournalism, 272-273).This trend benefited photographers until the 1950’s when creative initiative shifted the focus once again. Developments In technology opened photography to a wider range of audiences. New devices like the digital camera and the camera phone gave enthusiasts new ways to take photos and share them on the Internet (Gutkowski and Van).The last decades of the millennium also triggered photography to pursue new fields, including lomography, digital art, and forensics, among others.

Nature and Extent The first half of the 20th century saw disturbances in peace and the rise of the two World Wars. In the United States and other countries, the economy slumped to dramatic levels which resulted to the so-called “Great Depression”. During the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt he launched new projects to energize the economy and help people financially. Photographers also benefited from these projects, as quoted by Naomi Rosenblum: In the United states in the 1930’s, photographers, like other artists, benefited from the make-work projects of the government. Many talented photographers were employed by the Farm Security istration (FSA), Works Projects istration (WPA) and other federal agencies to record the life of rural America-its embattled farmers, poor shorecroppers, and migrant laborers (270) As the world prospers in the 50’s and 60’s, the use of color film in photography became rampant. Although the use of color was discovered years back in 1907, its development only started in 1936 when rival companies Kodak and Agfa revealed their new techniques in processing colored films. The technique uses three additive colors-red, green and blue to produce colored images during processing. These techniques were incorporated in the process until the 1970’s when the Kodachrome became the new standard instead of the

original technique by Agfa. A similar technique wad developed also by Polaroid in 1963, only making the processing of images instant. In 1983, Sony introduced the first “digital” camera called Mavica, the first camera to eliminate film in taking photos. This was followed in 1990 by the Kodak DCS 100, the first commercially available digital camera. These cameras replaced film using electronic sensors recording a set of data into disks rather than processing in through chemical means. This method allowed great manipulation of images until it is printed for distribution. Through the new technologies in photography many people became involved in the art through point-ant-shoot cameras or camera phones. Through the internet, many people grabbed the opportunity to share their photos on blogs and social networks. New software such as Adobe Photoshop also made the editing of images easier, though with both positive and negative effects. Solution As the 20th century ed photographers tried to create “niches” on different markets for different purposes. One sector that benefited for this is the advertising sector through the steady flow of talent available to promote their products and services. The advertising industry, on this way turned to photography when it discovered the photograph's power to convey the joys and benefits of consumerism. Since World War II,a tremendous flow of money is allocated for advertising, creating new jobs for new agencies and publications. Romanticism and social issues were often used as a way to make people aware of

their advocacies, using the “reason-why” principle to sell their products. (Rosenblum) The rampant crimes also attracted photographers to pursue forensic or “crime scene” photography. This type often uses black and white or infrared images to record evidences of robberies and murders. This became a great help to the police to be efficient in solving crimes. Photographers also turned to inanimate objects like food and landscape as inspiration for their works. These separate niches are often used for advertising or editorial purposes. Though the subject is inanimate, this required the photographer a great amount to skill to depict an image in a certain point-ofview. These can be considered as a part of “still-life” photography where photographers arranged inanimate elements to “make” a certain image rather than taking them. The media gained huge influenced in daily life through the use of photography, too. Photojournalism, as it was called, is a particular form of photography aimed to depict a certain story. Like normal journalists, photojournalists are also exposed to certain elements such as weather conditions and physical danger just to pursue a record of an event. The power of photojournalism to influence human thought and emotion can be reflected through a quote: Although television reportage, may have, over time, a cumulative effect (as it did in the Vietnam War), the

dramatic impact of the best pictures of photojournalism is such that these are the images that shape, for many people, their notions of the important events of recent history, as well as their ideas of the lives of the poor, the foreign, or the strange and alien. (272-273) The notion of the “paparazzi” can be inferred as a person who candidly takes pictures of celebrities, politicians and other influential and popular people. Unlike photojournalists, these photographers are oftentimes work freelance in taking photos, creating images of people that tend to be shocking or humorous. This image of the paparazzi is highlighted from the show “TMZ”, Lady Gaga’s song of the same title and even its connection with the death of Princess Diana. Lomography and Headshot Photography can be considered placed on two ends of the spectrum. Lomography, which was introduced in 1991 in Austria, emphasizes casual and snapshot taking of images to produce an over-saturated or “accidental” effect. Headshot photography, on the other hand, is a technique which uses a person’s face as a subject for photos with either glamorous or practical purposes. A new form of photography, called stock photography, is a niche where images are licensed and distributed as requirement for creative assignments. Photographers are often times paid with small royalties in order for their images to be manipulated and distributed, often times used in the advertising industry.

This technique uses a wide range of subjects from professionals to domestic animals highlighted to possess stereotypical emotions. The rise of social networking also made photo sharing and editing easier than ever. The social networking site Facebook boasts of 2.5 billion s of photos every month from their 350 million active s. Another site, called Flickr, a photo ing tool for sharing and manipulation of images now holds 4 billion images as of October 2009. The software called Adobe Photoshop is also very popular for its immense editing capabilities. As the 21st century es more and more people discover the power of photography to influence daily living. Technology has given the art a new form of context, discovering new applications for practical situations. From in its inception until now, photography has served as a gateway to promote changes and instill change. With this photography will remain as a social force, an art uprooted on its social beginnings and heading towards a more socially knit world.

Works Cited Adams, Ansel. The Camera. United States, 1981. Butkowski, Joel, and Van, Kemper. Using Digital Cameras. United States, 1981. Crowen, George. How Photography Works. United States, 1986. Mc Cary, Terry. “Shooting Stars”. Time Style, 2005. Monheim.Fabian. Lomo: Don't Think, Just Shoot. United States, 2007. Rosenblum, Naomi. A World History of Photography. United States, 1997. Szarkowski, John. Photography until Now. United States, 1992. “Photography”. Academic American Encyclopedia. Grolier International, 1998. “History and Art of Photography”. Academic American Encyclopedia. Grolier International, 1998 “Photojournslism”. Academic American Encyclopedia. Grolier International, 1998