Documentary Photography and Social Change

The purpose of this article is to explore the nature of
documentary photography and study the question of it's ability
to assist in the process of social reform. By tracing the
historical development of the medium and looking at a number of
photographers and their practices, the author examines some of
the conceptual and structural problems of photography in this
field. Discussed are the 19thC. projects by Hill & Adamson,
Thomas Annan's Glasgow series, Jacob Riis' series on housing
condition and 20thC. projects by Lewis Hine, Walker Evans and
the related FSA-projects. Special mention is made of the
Arbeiter-Photographen movement of the twenties and thirties (as
a counter force against the power of the evolving mass-media),
the Minamata-book of W. Eugene Smith, the power of the Life- and
Picture Post-magazines, and the media-war in connection with
Vietnam, especially Philip Jones Griffiths' photo-book Vietnam
Inc. The author's conclusion: "It may be concluded that
documentary photography can be a telling and vital social force
if deployed with vision and clear purpose. But the reality is
different... Far from being a neutral record that introduced a
new standard of truth into social concerns the photograph
remains, like the written word, a vehicle with multiple
potentials"... "Social truth is more than a series of images
depicting the results of social injustice. A truly documentary
practice must also address the question of cause. It must
combine positives and negatives with the necessary protest,
identify who or what penetrates the injustice and produce a
coherent readable framework if it is to have any potency in its
ability to assist in social reform".


Citaten:
Sontag, S.: On Photography (1973)
Lemagny, J.C. / Rouille, A.: Histoire de la Photographie (1986)
Maddow, B.: Let Truth Be The Prejudice
Griffith, P.J.:.... (Camerawork)
Beloff, H.: Camera Culture
Alland, A.: Jacob Riis (1975)
Braden, S.: Committing Photography (1983)
Fulton, M.: Eyes of Time ( 1988)
Turner, P.: History of Photography (1988)
Coleman, A.D.: Talkback (Creative Camera 1986, no. 8)
Taylor, J.: Picturing the Past (Ten 8, 1983, i.11)