Photography And Postmodernism
Photography has been around for over 150 years. It has evolved and expanded since it’s introduction in 1839 but it still remains to be seen as the perfect medium for documenting reality. Art critic and author Andy Grundberg tried to understand the medium in 1974, stating that “photography was still perceived primarily as an instrument of social reality, able to represent the way things really were in the world.” As technologies changed, so did cameras and photographers were able to produce more realistic images for magazines and newspapers. Because photographs were able to uncover the so-called ‘truth’, when it became known that many historical photographs were fakes and had actually been manipulated to look a certain way, this caused uproar
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What started as a departure from modernism, which is understood in art and architecture as the project of refusing traditions to try something entirely new and unique, Postmodernism is characterized as the straightforward denial of philosophical viewpoints. Grundberg defines it as a “reflection of the conditions of our times.”
Post modernists try to dissolve the traditional boundaries between art, architecture, popular culture and mass media. They embrace the idea that how we view artwork depends on its context, and how this can subsequently change its whole meaning or interpretation. During the 1970s artists began to explore different artistic mediums, for example, making sculptures from earth or using an abandoned building to paint on. Photography was used as an explorative medium, with artists mixing media and adding voices and video to their …show more content…
Therefore photography is also a social construction. Photography is a way of expressing ourselves but this doesn’t necessarily mean it is a version of the truth.
Modern theorist, Rudolf Arnheim’s research into film as art suggests that we “expect to find a certain documentary value in photographs.” He goes on to list the three questions we all ask ourselves when looking at a photo, “is it authentic?” “Is it correct?” and “Is it true?” We have preconceptions that photographs must be true to real life, but according to the Postmodern viewpoint, we all have our own versions of true life, so in actual fact, all photography is a slanted version of our own
What started as a departure from modernism, which is understood in art and architecture as the project of refusing traditions to try something entirely new and unique, Postmodernism is characterized as the straightforward denial of philosophical viewpoints. Grundberg defines it as a “reflection of the conditions of our times.”
Post modernists try to dissolve the traditional boundaries between art, architecture, popular culture and mass media. They embrace the idea that how we view artwork depends on its context, and how this can subsequently change its whole meaning or interpretation. During the 1970s artists began to explore different artistic mediums, for example, making sculptures from earth or using an abandoned building to paint on. Photography was used as an explorative medium, with artists mixing media and adding voices and video to their …show more content…
Therefore photography is also a social construction. Photography is a way of expressing ourselves but this doesn’t necessarily mean it is a version of the truth.
Modern theorist, Rudolf Arnheim’s research into film as art suggests that we “expect to find a certain documentary value in photographs.” He goes on to list the three questions we all ask ourselves when looking at a photo, “is it authentic?” “Is it correct?” and “Is it true?” We have preconceptions that photographs must be true to real life, but according to the Postmodern viewpoint, we all have our own versions of true life, so in actual fact, all photography is a slanted version of our own