This month's lecture was given by Luciano Vranich and was on Documentary Photography.
Luciano opened the night with a detailed history of documentary photography, noting how photography though the ages has changed and how when photos were first created, people trusted the photos as the truth. He pointed out several known examples of how these photos were often manipulated or staged, giving reference to fake or altered photographs as far back as 1857.
He moved forward to note how the advancements in technology has threatened the integrity of photography. Now we are never sure if what we see is what actually took place.
Luciano was keen to point out that in order for you to document something you should:
- Pick an issue that is important to you
- List out some interesting subject to start or select from
- Use photography as a tool to express or transmit the end result
- You still have to make the image interesting to the viewer
- Keeping notes on what your doing is important
- Make sure the topic is practical
- Think how can you make it interesting to others.
Remember the photographer is, primarily, a subject selector. Luciano felt there is no problem or moral issue if you set up shots or use editting tools to tell the story which you are documenting – not everybody agreed but this made for some interesting discussions.
We look forward to seeing you all again soon at this month's competition (theme: windows).
