Documentary photography
I just wanted to write about Kadir van Lohuizen, a Dutch documentary photographer. I already had my blog ready, but I started to wonder if documentary photography could actually be considered art. I have recently discussed the merging of other disciplines with art, such as science and art, and the question was also whether that serves art. In any case, art should challenge, make you curious, make you wonder about things, not just provide answers to your questions.
Liz Wells
I consulted my son, Raoul, for advice on my question. He graduated as a documentary photographer from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. He referred me to the book “Photography, a Critical Introduction” by Liz Wells. In her book, Wells quotes others to make her point clear, which I would like to repeat here. Liz Wells is an emeritus professor at the School of Art, Design, and Architecture at the University of Plymouth.
David Campany
He argues that every major artistic movement since the 1960s has asked: “What is the relationship between art and everyday life?” He argues that photographers started focusing on imagining or creating scenes for the camera based on their own inner vision. They moved away from the romantic symbolism of the 1920s/1930s towards a more narrative approach. Photos were no longer seen as pure representations of reality but rather as created images that wanted to make us feel something.
In the context of photography, a narrative often refers to the way images are combined to tell a story or convey a message. This can be done, for example, through sequential photos showing a sequence of events or through a single image suggesting or symbolizing a story. They can help guide the viewer step by step through a story and can be a powerful tool for communicating complex ideas or processes. A well-known example of sequential photos is photo reports in magazines, in which a series of images is used to document a story or event. This can range from news reports to personal stories or cultural observations.
David Campany (1967-) is a writer and artist. He teaches photography at the University of Westminster in London.
Peter Wollen
Another reference in Liz Wells’ book is the quote from Peter Wollen from his publication
The quote is: “To make photography into art, we must reformulate the concepts of art, rejecting both material and formal purism, and also the separation of art and commerce as separate semiotic practices that never intersect.”
This quote means that to consider photography as art, we need to reconsider traditional notions of art. It implies that we need to move away from strict rules and norms in both material (such as the materials used) and formal (such as composition) aspects of art. Additionally, the quote suggests that we also need to move away from the separation between art and commerce, which are often considered as separate practices. Instead, we need to understand that these two aspects of creative expression often overlap and influence each other. The quote emphasizes that art and commerce should be considered as complementary aspects rather than strictly separated.
Peter Wollen (1938-2019) studied English literature at the University of Oxford and worked as a political journalist, director, and (film) theorist.
Walter Benjamin
Liz Wells describes that in the 1930s Walter Benjamin wrote that the “aura” associated with the uniqueness of a work of art, such as a painting, should disappear in favor of the photograph. He welcomed the photograph as a more democratic – less exclusive – medium because of the possibilities for mass production. Here, he emphasized the anti-elitist potential of (chemical) photography, as opposed to the uniqueness of each individual painting. We can assume that Benjamin would have welcomed the reproducibility of digital and the openness of the internet.
Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist.
Karin Becker Ohrn
Karin Becker Ohrn, who wrote the book “Dorothea Lange and the Documentary Tradition,” is quoted by Wells with the following quote: “The cluster of characteristics defining the documentary style incorporates all aspects of the making and use of photographs. Although not rigid, these characteristics serve as referents for comparing photographers working within the documentary tradition – a tradition that includes aspects of journalism, art, education, sociology and history. Primarily, documentary was thought of as having a goal beyond the production of a fine print. The photographer’s goal was to bring the attention of an audience to the subject of his or her work and, in many cases, to pave the way for social change.”
Karin Becker (1946-) is an emeritus professor of media studies at Stockholm University. She has held positions at Indiana University (Ph.D. 1976), University of Iowa, Konstfack/College of Art and Design (Stockholm), and Linköping University.
Susan Sontag
And according to Wells Susan Sontag has argued that this is an exaggerated distinction: “Transforming is what art does, but photography that bears witness to the calamitous and the reprehensible is much criticized if it seems ‘aesthetic’; that is, too much like art.”
Susan Sontag (1933-2004) was an American writer, critic, filmmaker, and public intellectual. She lived with photographer Annie Leibovitz and wrote the book “On Photography”.
Our thoughts
My son and I exchanged some thoughts on this topic. Documentary photography is often viewed from the perspective of the goal you want to achieve with it. In art, it was generally assumed that it should have an aesthetic purpose. So there was a contradiction between the purpose of art and the purpose of photography. However, this boundary began to blur in the mid-20th century. Why categorize anymore when, in reality, the various disciplines and goals were already increasingly intermingling? Documentary photography also became more aesthetic, so is it suddenly no longer documentary photography if it is aesthetic? The work of artists also changed and was no longer just aesthetic.
Artists also took political positions and made use of the medium in which they were proficient.
Today, photographers also combine different media to convey their message. In principle, they can create anything. There is always a crossover between the different disciplines in art, with reality being captured on one side and an illusion or fictional reality being created on the other. However, there is a difference between a documentary photographer and a photojournalist. A characteristic of a documentary photographer is that he makes choices and does not just register. A photojournalist captures an event where capturing the right moment is crucial. The aesthetics are then secondary.
Jan Banning
Take, for example, the photographer Jan Banning (1954-). Jan Banning is a documentary photographer. He studied social and economic history at Radboud University. He started as a journalist, and photography was his hobby, which later became his profession. Power and powerlessness are central to him. One of his projects is ‘Comfort Women’, women from Java, Sumatra, and the South Moluccas. Their past speaks from the eyes of the women; the suppressed history of the ‘comfort women’. During World War II, they were forced into prostitution by the Japanese occupiers. Where so many still remained silent, they had the courage after all those years to bring their painful past to light.
Another project of his is ‘Bureaucratics’, a comparative photographic study of the culture, rituals, and symbols of state officials and their servants in eight countries on five continents, selected based on political, historical, and cultural considerations in Bolivia, China, France, India, Yemen, Liberia, Russia, and the United States.
Jan Banning intervenes in reality, he stages to adjust the composition of the photo and besides, they are very aesthetic photos. Does this make the photo less documentary? On the contrary! It remains a report of, for example, bureaucracy but with an intervention to visually clarify the story.
When aesthetics play an important role, it is about finding the balance because aesthetics can seduce and therefore distract from the story; it can make a part of reality lose. In documentary photography, it remains important to keep the focus on the story and for the aesthetics to remain subtle and not distract from the core.
And what if we turn the question around? Is photorealism from the 1960s art?
In this art form, the photorealist uses a camera and photo to collect information. This information is then systematically connected to the canvas, mechanically or semi-mechanically, with the main goal of the art form: making the painting look like a larger version of the image in the photo or making it look like a real photo. This ensures that the style of the artist becomes strict and precise, making it more strict and powerful in execution. The artwork can be measured against the original photo. Therefore, this art form cannot exist without a photo. Photorealism was too much about looking and too little about thinking for the theoretically inclined art connoisseur. Because why do things the easy way when they can be difficult?
Chat GPT
Finally, I asked the question via Chat GPT, and this was the outcome: Whether documentary photography belongs to art is a matter of interpretation and perspective. Some people absolutely consider documentary photography as art, while others see it more as a form of journalism or visual documentation.
Here are some arguments why documentary photography could be considered as art:
Emotional impact: Good documentary photography can have a deep emotional impact on the viewer, similar to other forms of art. The ability of a photo to evoke emotions and make people think about social issues or human experiences can qualify it as art.
Artistic intention: Some documentary photographers aim to do more than just record facts; they want to make an artistic statement or tell a story with their work. This artistic intention can elevate documentary photography to a form of art.
Recognition in the art world: Many documentary photographers are recognized and appreciated within the art world. Their work is exhibited in galleries and museums, discussed by art critics, and collected by art lovers, suggesting that it is considered art by a significant part of society.
Ultimately, the classification of documentary photography as art is subjective and can vary depending on individual views and contexts. Some people will see it as art for the reasons mentioned above, while others may see it more as a form of journalism and documentation.
Johanna
