Ways of Seeing

Yet another old video that we were assigned during the photo project. This time the narrator explains the pros and cons of having photographs in our lives. He goes on to explain that photos are massively wide spread and provide us the opportunity to see things that we may never be able to see in real life such as a piece of artwork. A con that he then gives says that when we look at photographs we are looking only at a copy of what the photographer was seeing. That unless we experience that frozen moment for ourselves we will never be able to get that "real meaning" behind the picture. And that by looking at art and people through photographs makes it easier to share with others, the things within the picture lose the real purpose and enjoyment of their actual existence.

But does a piece of art really lose its intended meaning if we look at it through a picture? In my opinion no it does not lose its beauty or its meaning. Sure the art piece may become distorted and may look better in person but we can still get just as much enjoyment out of a copied photo as we can out of the genuine thing. This also applies to people, if we look at photos of when we were children does that memory lose its meaning? No in this case the photo serves as a reproduction of the memory, it helps us remember what we will most likely forget as we get older. Photographs can be copied but people and art cannot.

While watching the video I did not really agree with what the narrator was saying, sure its true that photographs can be manipulated and copied in order to fit somebody's needs. And seeing the art or person in reality may be a better overall experience. But what photographs lack in being genuine they make up for in being available and easily obtainable. Sometimes people cannot afford to go to a specific location that they see in a picture. The picture at least gives them visual clues as to what the picture is showing, it gives the person the ability to imagine being there. And isn't that the purpose of photos in the first place?