Post Modern Photography - Essay Example

Post Modern Photography Name: Course: Institution: Date: Post Modern Photography Introduction The postmodern period in photography and in the world of art is considered as the point of dissolution traditional boundaries of art architecture and all the other elements of popular culture. One way by which postmodern photography has been able to surpass the age of modernity was through the an open-ended process characterized by borrowing of numerous ideas from areas such as art and the ability to engage in a chronological representation of the past and the present. According to post modernism, meaning of different elements especially in photography could not be understood by surface appearance since element such as photographs comprise a series of texts that must be decoded. The main objective of this paper is to provider an understanding of the evolutionary essence of photography that has made it possible for the introduction of electronic media to enhance the ability of photography to surpass its modern identity. Photography in postmodern society To be able to develop an effective understanding of the role of post modernity in enhancing photography, it would be important to understand the details around modernism. Modernism can be explained in terms of purity. However, post modernism merges elements of modernism and those of history to develop a new approach to understanding the mode of improving human understanding of reality.1 Throughout the 20th century, photography has been experiencing some form of evolution from in terms of an improvement in its efficiency. Photography is a product of modernism. The development of modern technology to produce cameras that provided photographs was considered as the modern way of perceiving the environment and capturing historical moments.2 However, the chemical processes that characterized the production of photographs in darkrooms have been displaced and are in the process of being substituted by electronic media such as printers and computer technology. This has also altered understanding of the role of photography as an art and as a means of communication.3 During the period of modernity, photography was aimed at improving works of art and this explains why most photographs were about landscapes and other elements of the environment. The desire to improve on the modernistic approach to photography can be used in explaining the relevance of postmodernism to the world of photography. In the postmodern period, cameras took a different approach due to their ability to invent different worlds within the society. Electronic media unlike darkroom approach to the production of photographs introduced the elements of fictionalized photographic production. This was one way through which artists were able to enhance the activities that photographs could execute in the society.4 Just like painting, where the painter had the ability to produce fictional works of art, the development of electronic media provided softwares and other application that could be used in editing photographic works.5 One way by which photographers were able to edit their work was by using the photomontage technology. This helped in the removal of unwanted elements from a photograph. Photographers during this period had the power of determining the appearance of their works of art. In addition, it was also a platform that enabled photographers to produce questionable and doctored images in the process of producing dramatic effects.6 Picture for women by Jeff Wall One of the products of photography that marked the transition of photography as a form of art in a printed page to the wall of a gallery was the 1979 Picture for Women. One of the most outstanding features in this piece of art is the woman who looks outward as if she is looking at the viewer of the photograph. In the picture, there is also a camera, which occupies centre stage in the image.7 In addition, the picture also has a photographer who is positioned in the right. The presentation of the photograph can be equated to an attempt to relate to the artistic and the audience expectations of 1970s to the modernistic perspective of art. It is relatively difficulty to separate the Picture for Women from the post-modernistic approach top technology because of the approach that the photographer gives to the different elements in the photograph. Unlike photographs in the modernism, Picture for Women put more focus on the human personality other than other environmental aspects.8 The main aim of photography was top capture personalities and develops a technique of understanding different elements such as moods and attitudes of those in the photographs. In addition, through this approach to photography it was also possible to provide an understanding of the relationship between elements in the photography and the general society. 9 Photography from the understanding of Picture for Women can be said to be the simultaneous recognition, within seconds, the essence of an event including a precise organization of forms, which provide that event with a technique of proper expression.10 The discovery on oneself in the view of post modernists was only possible through developing an understanding of the surrounding environment. This was to be in relation to the role of the surrounding in moulding personalities and how different personalities affect their surroundings.11 It is often important to ensure a balance between the two worlds and this explains the reason for the evolution of photography. An exponential rate in technological changes in the field of photography was heightened by the desire to develop better techniques of understanding the society. Capturing moments would help in the development of a history hence facilitate the process of communication in terms of the effects of the environment on the society and personalities.12 Self Portrait as a fountain by Bruce Nauman The 1960 self-portrait by Bruce Nauman provides a different understanding of the evolution of photography in postmodern period. This is because it is possible to perceive it as a demonstration of the approach that fine art practitioners have consistently used in the evolution and development of photography.13 An additional analysis of this photograph also provides an understanding that naturally occurring elements such as naïve instincts instead of technical excellence have been the basis of development in photography. Photographers such as Nauman used cameras and photographic skills to record events such as performances that take place in different venues. They also take pictures in their unusual form to demonstrate numerous approaches that can be used in understanding the role of photography in communicating different elements about the society.14 Photography in the view of Nauman could be used in the development of different elements charged with personal meaning. This was through the use of his body in the production of photographically recorded performances. One way by which Nauman’s self-portrait is considered as an essential work in the development of photography was because it provided a new approach and inputs into the art of photography.15 Their inputs provided technological developers with an improved approach to electronic media in terms of the activities that future photographic devices could be able to produce.16 Bruce Nauman’s photograph also presented a novel approach to understanding the role of photography in the postmodern period. Through photography, it was possible to devise tactics that allowed different artists to be engaged in the production of different works of art in a society where everything was assumed to have been accomplished.17 In the beginning of 1970s, for instance Rephotographic Survey began as part of the postmodern attitude towards photography. This made photography about photography since artists were engaging in the rephotography of existing photographs. This was part of an evolutionary process championed by Nauman who held the assumption that the ability of photography to communicate its intended idea highly depended on the level of initiative by the photographer.18 Rephotographing was therefore an approach aimed at using existing technologies such as cropping to rephotographs famous pictures, document and manipulate them in ways that enhance their quality.19 Other than initiatives among photographers, photography in postmodern period was characterized by high level of self-consciousness and deliberate intextulaity among photographers. The objective of photography was therefore to communicate different elements within the society. These included themes such as the representation of women in films and in the external society.20 Just like the society, technological developments of photography in the 20th century were used in the manipulation of different aspects of human beings. This was an indication that post modernism was no longer able to uphold the modernistic approach of their being a possibility of evolution towards a definite gaols. Instead, evolution in photography was characterized by the desires of different classes who necessitated the development of technological changes to fulfil individual goals and objectives.21 Why pictures Now by Louise Lawler The 1981 photograph by Louise Lawler was that of a matchbox propped in an ashtray. The photograph is printed with the question ‘WHY PHOTOGRAPHS NOW.22 The main question revolving around this picture is that of its essence in the world of photography. The question that the photograph seeks to ask as printed on the matchbox lies on the photograph itself. This is an indication that the relevance of a picture surpasses the time it was taken. It is also possible to argue that the decision by Lawler to include the statements Why Pictures Now was based on the understanding that her previous work of art did not involve pictures. Lawler’s 1981 photography can therefore be perceived as an integration of art and photography. In addition, through this approach to photography it is possible to argue that the artistic nature of photography in the postmodern era was basically derived from different aspects of creativity that was used in the development of iconic photographic images.23 Photography in post modem age was used as a tool for communicating aspects considered as most integral to the photographer. Photographers during this period understood the subjective nature of photography. Inasmuch as pictures embraced artistic aspects such as beauty and melancholy, the meaning of every photograph was considered to be unique to the photographer.24 The freedom of the elements to include in a photograph and the decision on the meaning to communicate to the audience was at the description of the photographer. This explains why photographs in exhibitions such as Why Pictures Now were considered as most controversial in terms of the meaning and the themes they communicated. Postmodern photography presented artists who were perceived as conceptual in thoughts. This was in relation to their ability to incorporate elements of humour and spontaneity in their works as a way of revealing different issues regarding the experiences of human beings.25 Postmodern photography and the evolution of electronic media was therefore a challenge to modern works of artistry considering the desire to make artwork more specific. Postmodern photography was also founded on the idea of representation and based on the understanding that it was only through photography that different elements related to human beings could be understood and captured within seconds.26 An additional feature in postmodern photography was the desire to incorporate aspects of appropriation into different artistic practices. This was perceived as one way through which different aspect sin the society such as the true nature of human beings could be communicated.27 For instance, appropriation in Why Pictures Now was an approach that was essential in understanding the possibility of merging text and pictures to generate a theme. Through modern photography, it was also possible to involve language as a self-contained system of signs composed of two aspects, which include the signifier and the signified. The association between these two elements enabled the audiences of photographs to develop some form of mental association with words and pictures.28 Conclusion Photography in post modem age was used as a tool for communicating aspects considered as most integral to the photographer. Photographers during this period understood the subjective nature of photography. Postmodern photography presented artists who had the ability to incorporate elements of humour and spontaneity in their works as a way of revealing different issues regarding the experiences of human beings. This was enhanced by the understanding that the ability of photography to communicate its intended idea highly depended on the level of initiative by the photographer. References Fogle, Douglas. The last picture show: artists using photography, 1960-1982. n.p.: Minneapolis, Minn. : Walker Art Center, 2003. Hilde Van Gelder, Helen Westgeest. Photography theory in historical perspective: case studies from contemporary art. n.p.: Chichester, West Sussex : Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.  http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/videos/60/421 Bruce Nauman, 'Self portrait as a fountain', 1966-1967/70 Louise Lawler, 'Why Pictures Now', 1981 Jeff Wall, 'Picture for woman', 1979. Read More

One way by which photographers were able to edit their work was by using the photomontage technology. This helped in the removal of unwanted elements from a photograph. Photographers during this period had the power of determining the appearance of their works of art. In addition, it was also a platform that enabled photographers to produce questionable and doctored images in the process of producing dramatic effects.6 Picture for women by Jeff Wall One of the products of photography that marked the transition of photography as a form of art in a printed page to the wall of a gallery was the 1979 Picture for Women.

One of the most outstanding features in this piece of art is the woman who looks outward as if she is looking at the viewer of the photograph. In the picture, there is also a camera, which occupies centre stage in the image.7 In addition, the picture also has a photographer who is positioned in the right. The presentation of the photograph can be equated to an attempt to relate to the artistic and the audience expectations of 1970s to the modernistic perspective of art. It is relatively difficulty to separate the Picture for Women from the post-modernistic approach top technology because of the approach that the photographer gives to the different elements in the photograph.

Unlike photographs in the modernism, Picture for Women put more focus on the human personality other than other environmental aspects.8 The main aim of photography was top capture personalities and develops a technique of understanding different elements such as moods and attitudes of those in the photographs. In addition, through this approach to photography it was also possible to provide an understanding of the relationship between elements in the photography and the general society. 9 Photography from the understanding of Picture for Women can be said to be the simultaneous recognition, within seconds, the essence of an event including a precise organization of forms, which provide that event with a technique of proper expression.

10 The discovery on oneself in the view of post modernists was only possible through developing an understanding of the surrounding environment. This was to be in relation to the role of the surrounding in moulding personalities and how different personalities affect their surroundings.11 It is often important to ensure a balance between the two worlds and this explains the reason for the evolution of photography. An exponential rate in technological changes in the field of photography was heightened by the desire to develop better techniques of understanding the society.

Capturing moments would help in the development of a history hence facilitate the process of communication in terms of the effects of the environment on the society and personalities.12 Self Portrait as a fountain by Bruce Nauman The 1960 self-portrait by Bruce Nauman provides a different understanding of the evolution of photography in postmodern period. This is because it is possible to perceive it as a demonstration of the approach that fine art practitioners have consistently used in the evolution and development of photography.

13 An additional analysis of this photograph also provides an understanding that naturally occurring elements such as naïve instincts instead of technical excellence have been the basis of development in photography. Photographers such as Nauman used cameras and photographic skills to record events such as performances that take place in different venues. They also take pictures in their unusual form to demonstrate numerous approaches that can be used in understanding the role of photography in communicating different elements about the society.

14 Photography in the view of Nauman could be used in the development of different elements charged with personal meaning. This was through the use of his body in the production of photographically recorded performances. One way by which Nauman’s self-portrait is considered as an essential work in the development of photography was because it provided a new approach and inputs into the art of photography.

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