What does the term the power of the photograph really mean we all know the saying an ‘image speaks a thousand words’ but what was it that preceded this and gave photographs and images such power and place within our society, ‘Vicki Goldberg’ is a photography critic I have looked at to try and answer this question. Her book ‘The power of photography’ (http://www.amazon.com/Power-Photography-Photographs-Changed-Lives/dp/1558594671) although written in 1991 Goldberg still makes many points that are relevant to how we view the photograph today even if in a slightly different context.
Peoples first impressions of images used within reporting were largely based around the fact that “photographs have a swifter and more succinct impact than words, an impact that is instantaneous visceral and intense.” Today this is very much a basic reading of images we see within the media although still a very true one because of the passive way we are conditioned to view these types of texts.
When studied in a more detailed level we are able to breakdown the image and decide its impact upon us as the viewer in an active manner deriving our own meaning. This use of photography to display an event that has happened within a news setting has led “photography to create a communal reservoir of memories;” memories where the “photographs promise experiences we do not know or haven’t earned.” This is one of the main areas I want to address in my work, I think the use of the word memories rather than knowledge by ‘Goldberg’ shows to the reader how what is very often perceived as true the fact that images give knowledge to the viewer of whatever they are depicting is false. Photographs especially within a news context lead the viewer to believe that they have now experienced this event. For example a picture of wars which can be seen very often transposes to the viewer that they now know what it is like to be in a war zone. This is something I need to take into account in my own work realising that it is not a discourse of knowledge but a discourse of memory and experience.
Within my proposal I outlined wanting to look at photographs of memories but in a staged environment; ‘Goldberg’ also wrote that “lifelike images produce responses close to our reactions of actual people and events.” As I plan to produce staged memories it is important to take this onboard the more lifelike the image the more believable the memory will become to the viewer, the main aim of my work.
