“Photographs are not simply different from other kinds of pictorial representation in certain detailed respects; on the contrary, photographs are not representations at all. They are the practical realisation of the general artistic ideals of objectivity and detachment.” (Snyder, Walsh Allen, 1975: 175) From previous posts, I have considered the views of Barthes, Szarkowski and Berger. I find […]

“The realists do not take the: photograph for a “copy” of reality, but for an emulator of past reality: a magic, not an art. To ask whether a photograph is analogical or coded is not a good means of analysis. The important thing is that the photograph possesses an evidential force and that its testimony […]

Berger once said: “a large part of seeing depends on habit and convention” (Berger 1972: Episode 1) This was especially true in the days before photography when the visual art form was channelled through the medium of a painting, or sculpture. The artist’s ability to recreate a scene and display that to an audience was […]