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The Eye in the Lens

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Submitted By tonibaldock
Words 1377
Pages 6
Toni Baldock

10 October 2012

The Eye in the Lens

As a child, I loved looking at the pictures in the National Geographic magazine. I was intrigued by the cultural differences from around the world. I was amazed to see photographs of African woman bare breasted and comfortable with themselves. To me it has always been shameful for any women to be bare breasted because that was what I was raised to believe; that is the way of our culture. The magazine took me to many lands and showed me things I knew nothing about. This was when I became aware of the world around me. I realized I wanted to be a part of more than the town I lived in, the school I went to, or the people I knew. Through the eyes of documentary photographers I have seen the world from many different points of view, but I want to see the world in an intimate experience. I have a deep desire to engage with other cultures and capture moments that the rest of the world will be able to see through my photographs. I want to one day soon become a documentary photographer.

Documentary photography is an effort to create a truthful expression of lives and cultures of our world and human actions. It can only be truthful and honest if it is left unedited and captures true events as they are happening. Hans Durrer is an author and intercultural coach. He describes photography as this: “Photography is still about the eye behind the lens. It is about being a filter, and it is about recording. It is about leaving one’s home and seeing what is out there, it is about taking a look at the world that surrounds us. It is about reminding us of how things once have looked” (Durrer). I have a passion to be that filter to the rest of the world. To bring to life the reality of our earth and the diverse cultures that makes it up. Not to theorize, but to simply show fact. To capture history as it is today, so that our future generations will know where they came from and the improvements and diminishments that have been made before their time.

Documentary Photography can shape the way people think or feel about certain things. Here is a photograph of a child, with what looks like a never ending landscape of trash. (see fig. 1).

(Fig. 1. Ferreira, Jose. Trash Land. N.d. Photograph. Mozambique. Web. 3 Oct. 2012).

In this photograph, the young child is covering himself with a dirty blanket and looks like he is crying. He has on sandals, but his feet are not completely safe from punctures, scrapes, bruises, or any other form of harm that might happen to him as he walks through this wasteland. This photograph brings up feelings of fear, loneliness, shame, and compassion to me. It makes me want to ask questions and get answers. Does he have family? Is he hungry? Is this where he lives? I become very aware of the fact that I’m sitting in my warm home, with clean clothes, food in all areas of the kitchen, and a laptop on my lap to do my homework. I realize I take so much for granted simply by looking at this photograph.

In a documentary series, stories can be told. Documentary series usually consist of a collection of photographs taken by the same photographer ether in the same area or showing the same effect. They can show us the day- to-day routine of a culture different from our own, like the way a tribe in Africa prepares their meals, how they make their home, and care for their children. They can show us how different cultures celebrate rituals that are important to them. A series can express what the effects of war bring to the community around it. It also can show us a timeline, how things once looked to how they look now. A photographer can demonstrate whatever they are most passionate about through the construction of a documentary series. Here are a couple photographs from the series Guatemala-Todos Santos by Robert Leon (see fig. 2 and 3).

(Fig. 2. Leon, Robert. Mam Maya Shepherd. 2012. Photograph. La Ventosa Village, Sierra De Los Cuchumatnes, Guatemala. Web. 5 Oct. 2012).

(Fig. 3. Leon, Robert. Mam Maya Men's Sandals. 2012. Photograph. Todos Santos, Guatemala. Web. 5 Oct. 2012).

In this series, Mr. Leon has captured the Guatemalan Highland Mam Maya culture. Some of his photographs in this series consist of mothers carrying their child while wearing very colorful clothing, women walking with vases on their heads through mountain regions, shepherd boys gathering sheep, and so many more to tell us the story of the Mam Maya culture. Robert Leon is a travel/documentary photographer who was also inspired by National Geographic. When asked how he would describe his photography in F8 Magazine’s January 2011, issue he replied, “I am a travel and documentary photographer and photography is my way of contributing to other people’s appreciation and understanding of diverse cultures and their traditions. I photograph people in their environment, especially traditional and indigenous people or people with lots of character who have interesting stories.” I look up to him because he tells such beautiful stories in each of his series. He is emotional about his experiences and is appreciative to the people who allow him to see their lives in their most cherished moments.

Documentary photography is also a very respectable method to report the events that shape our history. “Presents us with the most accurate records we have of past events and the documentary photograph has been used to document pretty much everything from cataclysmic world-scale events such as war and terrorism right down to the minutiae of people's everyday lives” (Darling). Here is an example of a very famous historic photograph. (see fig. 4). (Fig. 4. Rosenthal, Joe. Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. 1941. Photograph. Iwo Jima. Web. 07 Oct. 2012). Raising the flag on Iwo Jima, as it is most commonly named, was taken in 1945 during WWII. This photograph has made a major impact in our history. Millions of posters portray it, it has been put on a U.S. postage stamp, and on the 179th anniversary of the Marine Corps, the largest bronze statue in the world was made which memorialized this photograph. Almost all U.S. citizens have seen this photograph in one form or another from children who are just learning about war history to seniors who lived through it. It is a photograph, I believe, will last forever. This type of impact is what I hope to one day bring to our society. Documentary photography is significant to me and my life because I can see things I normally have no relationship with. When I see photographs of foreign people, places, and objects it arouses me. It motivates me to learn more about the situation and drives me to comprehend the best I can. Becoming familiar with other photographers offers me additional artists to look up to and to learn from. It is through their work that I draw inspiration that will accelerate my career as a photographer. It will be through experience that I will gain real understanding of what is really out there in our world. Most importantly, it is the passion I have for learning and understanding that gives me the determination to make a difference.

Works Cited

Darling, Anne. "A History of Documentary Photography." Ann Darling Photography. annedarlingphotography. 2012. Web. 08 Oct. 2012.

Durrer, Hans. "On Documentary Photography." soundscrpe. Soundscape. 2004. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.

Ferreira, Jose. Trash Land. N.d. Photograph. behance. Mozambique. Web. 3 Oct 2012.

"History of the Flag-Raising On Iwo Jima." montney. Web. 7 Oct. 2012.

Leon, Robert. Mam Maya Men's Sandals. 2012. Photograph. robertleon. Todos Santos, Guatemala. Web. 5 Oct. 2012.

Leon, Robert. Mam Maya Shepherd. 2012. Photograph. robertleon. La Ventosa Village, Sierra De Los Cuchumatnes, Guatemala. Web. 5 Oct. 2012.

"Robert Leon Native Eyes." F8 Magazine. Jan 2011: 109-129. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.

Rosenthal, Joe. Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. 1941. Photograph. Iwojima. Iwo Jima. Web. 07 Oct. 2012.

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