Preview

Dziga Vertov's Man With A Movie Camera

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1883 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dziga Vertov's Man With A Movie Camera
This is an investigation into the photographers subjectivity, and how the photographers relationship between the subject and themselves becomes a collaboration to convey some sort of special significants. The photographer is tied to the facts of the subject and he/she has to define the truth, the photographer is able to add a coherent narrative by isolating a fragment of the subject and by doing so claiming some sort of rich context, that holds an extraordinary value of intelligence and a convincing narrative. The investigation will have a general look up on the remarks of photography then specifying on photographic fields and examining them more closer. The photographic fields that we consider closest to reality we generalise with common teams …show more content…
Part of the horror of such memorable coups of contemporary photojournalism as the pictures of a Vietnamese bonze reaching for the gasoline can, of a Bengali guerrilla in the act of bayoneting a trussed-up collaborator, comes from the awareness of how plausible it has become, in situations where the photographer has the choice between a photograph and a life, to choose the photograph. The person who intervenes cannot record; the person who is recording cannot intervene. Dziga Vertov’s great film, Man with a Movie Camera (1929), gives the ideal image of the photographer as someone in perpetual movement, someone moving through a panorama of disparate events with such agility and speed that any intervention is out of the question. Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) gives the complementary image: the photographer played by James Stewart has an intensified relation to one event, through his camera, precisely because he has a broken leg and is confined to a wheelchair; being temporarily immobilized prevents him from acting on what he sees, and makes it even more important to take pictures. Even if incompatible with intervention in a physical sense, using a camera is still a form of participation. Although the camera is an observation

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    In this paper we have to analysis one of Ansel Adams photographs in order to identify the visual argument that Ansel Adams is trying to portray through his photograph. We are trying to pull out key details in the photograph to truly understand what Adams wants us to really know about this historical event and why this photograph was shot the way it was. The photograph that I choose to take a deeper look at was "Line Crew at Work in Manzanar". I choose this photograph because I felt that it had the most details that I could pull out to come up with my final thesis statement.…

    • 1822 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Photography is not just used to show an event; photography is used to capture the details, feelings, and thoughts of something – it provides a compelling representation of the author’s view. All this is done by Jacob Riis’s How the Other Half Lives, where the reader is informed about the hideous conditions that the poor had to face in New York City. Riis uses detailed images, facts with statistics, and examples to create an image to the reader of what these people go through in their everyday lives. Using this process, Riis is able to create an important image, which allows the reader to imagine the conditions of these people, make a change to help these poor people, and to promote and inform the public of these conditions, which allows for…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Guillermo Verdecchia’s play, American Borders/Fronteras Americanas, he talks about the postcolonial effect on the world. Verdecchia talks about the use of lenses to see the different view points of society. For example, in the play he says, “I check into the Hotel de Don Tito, listed on page 302 of your Fodor’s as a moderate, small hotel with six suites, eight twins, eight singles, bar, homey atmosphere, and it’s located on one of the main streets in Santiago on Huérfanos at Huérfanos 578” (38-39). He shows how his Fodor, a well known and renounced travel guide, talks about how homey and ‘safe’ Hotel Don Tito is. However, in reality, this so called in depth perception of a culture and country by a travel magazine is not as important or relevant as how it is seen to be first hand.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the 1950’s film Rear Window, director Alfred Hitchcock sets his entire work looking through a man, L.B. Jeffries’ rear window. Because of his broken leg, Jeffries is confined to his apartment, and even to his wheelchair. It is here, in his apartment, that the protagonist watches, or even spies on his neighbors. He draws conclusions on these people, but from a distance: across the apartment-building courtyard. In addition to this physical distance separating Jeffries from his neighbors, his perspective, too, distances him from his conclusions. Only seen through the glass of a window and the lens of a camera, Jeffries’ point of view is confined to only a single vision. We see that this single vision, however, provides Jeffries with an ample amount of information. The avant-garde cinematography combined with the original plot creates a new mean to film. Alfred Hitchcock’s innovative Rear Window allows the audience to bring their own experiences to the film: just as Jeffries draws conclusions on his neighbors from a distance, man too establishes his own perspective in the real world, and brings this experience to the film to understand its meaning.…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    "While photographs may not lie, liars may photograph". This line, stated by Lewis Hine, a famous photographer from the late 19th to mid 20th century, is starting to become a phrase that really has some meaning (McClymer, 2011). It was once thought that a photograph told the complete truth. However, in more recent times with the technology of the camera, photographers now have the option to not only stage pictures, but to also go back and retouch them once they are already taken. These two forms of photo manipulation are causing a serious ethical dilemma in the photojournalism world. “Migrant Mother”, a photograph of down and out mom Florence Thompson, taken by photographer Dorothea Lange, is a captivating photo, that at first glance has a major impact…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nasht’s ‘Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History’ presents Hurley as being on the verge of inner and physical discovery as a consequence of his unfulfilled curiosity. Nasht portrays this through narration stating that “[Hurley] was bowled over by the miraculous potential of photography. He saw it as a means of escaping the drudgery of an ordinary working class life”. The sense of authority that is associated with an overarching narration enforces the representation of the quote as a catalyst to the audience.…

    • 1193 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the world of art, the photograph has conventionally been used to establish original subjects that document and reflect cultures as accurately as possible. However, in Philip Gefter’s essay, “Photographic Icons: Fact, Fiction, or Metaphor”, Gefter points out that, “just because a photograph reflects the world with perceptual accuracy doesn’t mean it is proof of what actually transpired. (208)” What Gefter is telling us is that it is that the ordinary reality of the image is not what is important; the metaphoric truth is the significant factor. What makes photojournalism essential is that it helps show us how to view the world in an individualized way. It is, essentially, a public art, and its power and importance is a function of that artistry. From the war photography of Mathew Brady (who was known for moving dead bodies to create a scene) to Ruth Orkin (who directed a second shot to capture “American Girl in Italy”, when the first “real” shot was not to her liking), Gefter underscores that, although these shots are not the unedited version of life,…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In both films, Rear Window and Vertigo, film director Alfred Hitchcock requires audiences to put themselves in the position of voyeur as they witness the action of the film through the eyes of the protagonists. Hitchcock introduces to us the meaning of the word voyeurism and the control it can possess over a person. The main characters in both films are voyeurs’ and get their excitement from invading others’ life. Hitchcock was an English-American film director, writer, and producer, whose distinctive style has influenced several generations of filmmakers. In Rear Window and Vertigo, Jeff and Scottie’s lives are affected by voyeurism. Essentially, both men prefer to live by watching rather than live by doing.…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This investigation will contain an examination of The Book of Photography,…

    • 2009 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is a mystery and thriller that leaves audiences in a constant state of suspense. Rear Window opens by showing photographs of high risk environments hanging on a wall of an apartment. This leads one to believe that whoever owns the apartment lives a high risk and adventurous life. However, once the broken camera is shown, it is understood that the main character, L.B Jefferies, is a photographer before it is stated through dialogue in the film.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On the beginning of story, the author uses example of the shock photograph which use to reduce the percentage of smokers. “- of cancerous lungs, or a strokeclotted brain, or a damaged heart, or a bloody mouth in acute periodontal distress” (373). It affects likely to inspire some smokers to quit. The author considers the important of insight and it could be connected to our behavior. For me, I love to take the pictures, some of myself, some of my friends, family, and mostly I love to save the memory of what I see which is beautiful events. Images control our actions daily. For example, when you drive car and see traffic light turns red, you will stop your car automatic. Also, when you’re in the beach with your family, the images of happiness will lock naturally on your minds and it will make you happy sometimes as you remembered. All memory is individual and it’s the story about how it happened, with the pictures which lock in your minds and control your actions. If you see something good, you will smile, and if you see something bad, you will action according to how bad it is. Sontag considers the relationship between the camera and its subjects, noting that the camera can affect subject behavior. People may choose not to look sometimes, but they still will learn of compassion outside the pictures. Anyhow, As…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Human1302B-02 U1 Db1

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages

    To start, it is necessary to define art and work of art. The art could be defined as products of human creativity, works of art collectively or creation of beautiful or significant things (esthetes). While work of art or artwork are photographs or other visual representation in printed publications or painted boards. In this discussion board, as an investigator journalist, it will be important to focus on understanding of two types of painting contextualizing representational and abstract. The painting representational describes or represents specific portrait, recognized physical object and sometimes the representational painting reflect the true idea of life as the photography does (Harley Hahn, 2013).…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Cameraman directed by Edward Sedgwick and Buster Keaton is about a man who is smitten with a women who he just meet. This 1928 silent movie is a not only a comedy but also a romance which stood the test of time and is relatable to modern audiences. (2) A shot that contains the essence of the film is when Keaton arrives at MGM after filming the street war, only to see he has “forgot to put film in the cameras”. To me this movie showed that what can go wrong will go wrong, for Keaton, but that is what made it so funny to audiences then and now. He was so determine to get the shot and impress the girl he risked his life, only to return with an “empty” camera. Everyone is gathered around him with his new monkey on his neck, and it is unveiled that the…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Rear Window

    • 1610 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The classic Hitchcock film, “Rear Window”, is an intelligent and engaging analysis of human perception, voyeurism and what it means to see, to be perceptive. Set in 1950’s New York, a boisterous free-lance photographer finds himself confined to a wheelchair in his tiny apartment recuperating from a broken leg. With only the occasional distraction of a visiting nurse and his frustrated love interest - a beautiful fashion consultant - his attention is naturally drawn to the courtyard outside his "Rear Window" and the occupants of the apartment buildings which surround it. Soon he is absorbed by the private dramas of his neighbour’s lives which play themselves out before his very eyes. There is "Miss Lonely-hearts," so desperately awaiting her imaginary lover that she sits him a plate at the dinner table and enacts their ensuing chat. There is the frustrated composer banging on his piano, the sunbathing sculptress, the shapely dancer, the newlyweds who are concealed from their neighbours by a window shade and an awkward middle-aged couple with an annoying barking dog who sleep on the fire escape to avoid the sweltering heat of their apartment. And then there is the mysterious salesman, whose nagging, invalid wife 's sudden absence from the scene ominously coincides with his middle-of-the-night ventures into the dark, sleeping city with his sample case. Where did she go? What 's the salesman shipping away in the boot of his car? What 's he been doing with the knives and the saw that he cleans at the kitchen sink?…

    • 1610 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Interview With Zoe Crosher addresses very important dilemmas within the different genres of photography: Documentary and fiction. Zoe Crosher attempts to do what Joan Didion previously did with her journalism, which was to collapse these two genres which are perceived as polar opposites, when in reality they intertwine and really have no meaning at all. We previously discussed the issues regarding ethics in documentary filmmaking, and how documentary’s aren’t as “real” as we think. We also read Susan Sontag’s article on photography, and how we initially perceived this medium to represent reality, but in actuality there is more behind the frame. This interview has common themes and brings up interesting topics for discussion.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics