Photography Vs. Text

PHOTOGRAPHY VS. TEXT
Jonathan Haeber

Man's first step on the moon, the Hindenburg Disaster, The Gold Rush of 1849, The Great Depression, and the realities of Vietnam are all in our memory because of one thing: photography. Many may not remember what literature and history books say about the war in Vietnam, but what about the graphic photo of a South Vietnamese Buddhist burning himself alive? Some may not recall the words of news anchor Walter Cronkite as he announced the death of President Kennedy, but may reminisce on what film captured-- first he took off his glasses, next he looked you straight in the eyes and delivered the message in a straightforward and serious matter: "Three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas." (qtd. in Bestor) Cronkite remembers it as "the only time (he) ever broke down while on the air." (qtd. in Hayes)

An hour and a-half later, According to the World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia, photography froze history as Lyndon B. Johnson made his presidential oath on Air-Force One. Jackie Kennedy watched on with ineffable emotion. ("Kennedy").

Two days later was the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald, captured by a photographer at the exact moment that Jack Ruby pulled the pistol and shot Oswald point-blank. The picture-- depicting the horror on Oswald's face and Jack Ruby's expression of anger-- won the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for photographic journalism.

Edward Steichen said to TIME reporters in 1961 that "photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to himself." (Eurlich and DeBruhl 505.) Steichen was a pioneer in the development of photography as a creative art. ("Steichen").
The fine line between the creative photography that Steichen pursued and documentary photography, is the reality of the photograph and the closer to "perfection" the photo seems.

Some of the great ancient Chinese painters always included a deliberate flaw in their work. This was to show that "human creation was never perfect," And many painters and photographers still follow the philosophy of the ancient Chinese, with amazing artistic results. However, the genre of artistic photography can cause reality to become distorted. On the other hand, documentary photography can reproduce history with the most accuracy. Perhaps that is why many consider documentary photography to have more importance in modern society than all other forms of art, including but not limited to: literature, painting, sculpture, and the more recent computer art.

Some may contend that literature carries more clout than documentary photography, but literature suffers an immeasurable amount of censorship as it is being written. In addition, many people-- dyslexics for example, which comprise 15% of this world's population-- display an abnormally small right-side of the brain (the part that translates text and language) while they have a larger left side, or the part that interprets visual art and mechanics (Newmann). It is very difficult for writers to describe the terror of an eight-year old Vietnamese girl in a full stride after being dowsed in Napalm; especially if they're trying to describe it to the population that has a dominant left-side of the brain. Although it can be said that "a picture is worth a thousand words," there are some events in life that are so horrific, sensuous, emotional, exotic, or captivating that describing them in millions of words may even be impossible. Perhaps that is why John Steinbeck once wrote: "I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything" (Eurlich and DeBruhl 505). Despite being one of the most descriptive writers of the 20th century, popularly known to pack his stories with adjectives, Steinbeck knew that photography outdid him.

By the time the 21st century began, cameras were going places that even people could not venture: in the depths of volcanoes, the extremities of space, the deep blue ocean, and even the detonation of the Atom bomb. Film stopped bullets as they penetrated apples, or captured the change of ocean tides over the course of days. The media presented this newfound wealth of information on television, magazines, newspapers, and currently on the Internet. It seemed as if there was nothing photography couldn't do.

"To collect photographs, is to collect the world," Susan Sontag, an author, stated in her essay in On Photography. Language seems not to be a barrier to it. Unlike text, a single photograph can tell the same exact story to every one of the more than 2,000 languages on this planet.

Photography, like many art forms, has the ability to unite the world. It breaks all barriers, halts all enmity, and tells actuality in its raw form. It can record the "best of times and the worst of times... the ages of wisdom... and the ages of foolishness," To quote Charles Dickens from A Tale of Two Cities.

Written Language changes. It comes and goes. Yet the language of photography will still hold the same message, the same indelible dialect for thousands of years to come; whether it records the Great Depression or the New Deal, the death of a president or the birth of the first woman president, man's first step on the moon or machine's first step out of the solar system.

Every once in a while there is a truly great photograph, a milestone of its time, "a mold in which to imprison for a moment the shining elusive element which is life itself-- life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose." (Eurlich and DeBruhl 126) These great pieces of art are primarily so for their ability to freeze time in a split second. No other art form in the world, not even literature, can match that.

Works Cited
Eurlich, Eugene, and Marshall DeBruhl. The International Thesaurus of Quotations New York: HarperPerrenial, 1996

World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia San Diego: Ivid Communications, 1997

Bestor, Mary Jane. JFK Death: Sunday Was 35th Anniversary News Article 21 Jun. 2000 <http://www.wcco.com/news/stories/news-981123-055109.html>

Hayes, Ace R. A Reporter's Lie: Cronkite and the Party Line (Book Review) 22 Jun. 2000 <http://www.radio4all.org/pfp/cronkite.html>

Newmann, Renee M. Dyslexia: Explanations from Science Dyslexia & Dyscalculia Support Services of Shiawassee County. 24 Jun. 2000 <http://www.shianet.org/~reneenew/dysl.html>


	PHOTOGRAPHY VS. TEXT Jonathan Haeber Man's first step on the moon, the Hindenburg Disaster, The Gold Rush of 1849, The Great Depression, and the realities of Vietnam are all in our memory because of one thing: photography. Many may not remember what literature and history books say about the war in Vietnam, but what about the graphic photo of a South Vietnamese Buddhist burning himself alive? Some may not recall the words of news anchor Walter Cronkite as he announced the death of President Kennedy, but may reminisce on what film captured-- first he took off his glasses, next he looked you straight in the eyes and delivered the message in a straightforward and serious matter: "Three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas." (qtd. in Bestor) Cronkite remembers it as "the only time (he) ever broke down while on the air." (qtd. in Hayes) An hour and a-half later, According to the World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia, photography froze history as Lyndon B. Johnson made his presidential oath on Air-Force One. Jackie Kennedy watched on with ineffable emotion. ("Kennedy"). Two days later was the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald, captured by a photographer at the exact moment that Jack Ruby pulled the pistol and shot Oswald point-blank. The picture-- depicting the horror on Oswald's face and Jack Ruby's expression of anger-- won the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for photographic journalism. Edward Steichen said to TIME reporters in 1961 that "photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to himself." (Eurlich and DeBruhl 505.) Steichen was a pioneer in the development of photography as a creative art. ("Steichen"). The fine line between the creative photography that Steichen pursued and documentary photography, is the reality of the photograph and the closer to "perfection" the photo seems. Some of the great ancient Chinese painters always included a deliberate flaw in their work. This was to show that "human creation was never perfect," And many painters and photographers still follow the philosophy of the ancient Chinese, with amazing artistic results. However, the genre of artistic photography can cause reality to become distorted. On the other hand, documentary photography can reproduce history with the most accuracy. Perhaps that is why many consider documentary photography to have more importance in modern society than all other forms of art, including but not limited to: literature, painting, sculpture, and the more recent computer art. Some may contend that literature carries more clout than documentary photography, but literature suffers an immeasurable amount of censorship as it is being written. In addition, many people-- dyslexics for example, which comprise 15% of this world's population-- display an abnormally small right-side of the brain (the part that translates text and language) while they have a larger left side, or the part that interprets visual art and mechanics (Newmann). It is very difficult for writers to describe the terror of an eight-year old Vietnamese girl in a full stride after being dowsed in Napalm; especially if they're trying to describe it to the population that has a dominant left-side of the brain. Although it can be said that "a picture is worth a thousand words," there are some events in life that are so horrific, sensuous, emotional, exotic, or captivating that describing them in millions of words may even be impossible. Perhaps that is why John Steinbeck once wrote: "I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything" (Eurlich and DeBruhl 505). Despite being one of the most descriptive writers of the 20th century, popularly known to pack his stories with adjectives, Steinbeck knew that photography outdid him. By the time the 21st century began, cameras were going places that even people could not venture: in the depths of volcanoes, the extremities of space, the deep blue ocean, and even the detonation of the Atom bomb. Film stopped bullets as they penetrated apples, or captured the change of ocean tides over the course of days. The media presented this newfound wealth of information on television, magazines, newspapers, and currently on the Internet. It seemed as if there was nothing photography couldn't do. "To collect photographs, is to collect the world," Susan Sontag, an author, stated in her essay in On Photography. Language seems not to be a barrier to it. Unlike text, a single photograph can tell the same exact story to every one of the more than 2,000 languages on this planet. Photography, like many art forms, has the ability to unite the world. It breaks all barriers, halts all enmity, and tells actuality in its raw form. It can record the "best of times and the worst of times... the ages of wisdom... and the ages of foolishness," To quote Charles Dickens from A Tale of Two Cities. Written Language changes. It comes and goes. Yet the language of photography will still hold the same message, the same indelible dialect for thousands of years to come; whether it records the Great Depression or the New Deal, the death of a president or the birth of the first woman president, man's first step on the moon or machine's first step out of the solar system. Every once in a while there is a truly great photograph, a milestone of its time, "a mold in which to imprison for a moment the shining elusive element which is life itself-- life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose." (Eurlich and DeBruhl 126) These great pieces of art are primarily so for their ability to freeze time in a split second. No other art form in the world, not even literature, can match that. Works Cited Eurlich, Eugene, and Marshall DeBruhl. The International Thesaurus of Quotations New York: HarperPerrenial, 1996 World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia San Diego: Ivid Communications, 1997 Bestor, Mary Jane. JFK Death: Sunday Was 35th Anniversary News Article 21 Jun. 2000 <http://www.wcco.com/news/stories/news-981123-055109.html> Hayes, Ace R. A Reporter's Lie: Cronkite and the Party Line (Book Review) 22 Jun. 2000 <http://www.radio4all.org/pfp/cronkite.html> Newmann, Renee M. Dyslexia: Explanations from Science Dyslexia & Dyscalculia Support Services of Shiawassee County. 24 Jun. 2000 <http://www.shianet.org/~reneenew/dysl.html> [Home] [Résumé] [Creations] [Autobiography] [Photography] [Writing] [Contact Information] [Sign My Guestbook] This site designed and maintained by Jonathan Haeber. Any reproduction or alteration of the images for profit is a violation of intellectual property laws.