"I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated."
-James Nachtwey-
This assignment is a little different than the others. Instead of taking pictures and write about them, I have to look at two of the most well-known photographers’ work and discuss their methodology and, if possible, understand their approaches and try to apply it into my work.
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| Alice in wonderland, Annie Leibovitz |
My first subject is Annie Leibovitz who is one of the highest-paid photographers in the US. She took pictures of some of the most famous people in America throughout her career including John Lennon, Michael Jackson and, more recently, the Obama family. Leibovitz constructs the entire atmosphere of her photographs from scratch. Everything, including costumes and lighting must be flawless. She creates the space, the lighting and decides where people should stand and what they should do. In a certain way, she is just like a painter. It looks like her teen’s dream of becoming a painter is still alive through her photographer’s career. It has been said her methodology is absolutely the same as a painter. She will work and take as many pictures as it takes until all the details are perfect. She wants to please the eyes of the public more than anything, and this is when quality comes into play. All the same, she will never ask her subject to do something they would rather not do. Instead, she gets to know them until they get accustomed to her presence and forget she is even there talking pictures of them.
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| John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Annie Leibovitz |
When she was working for the Rolling Stone magazine, she took some amazing pictures of John Lennon because he had become so accustomed to her presence and didn’t feel she was a photographer anymore but more like a close friend. Like many of the people she took photos of said in the documentary: Annie Liebovitz: A life through a lens, people feel good around her and easily forget she is in the same room as them taking pictures and recording their life.
As a counter point, I will talk about the work of James Natchwey as my second subject. He is one of the most recognized war photographers of our time. He worked in more than 30 countries attempting to take the best photographs of people in wars and conflicts. His approach is to show the victims and what is really happening on the ground. The decision to become a war photographer is not an easy one to make. For Natchwey, he decided to take up this challenging career because of photographs he saw during the Vietnam War. Such gruesome photographs seemed to depict a very different reality than what reporters were describing in the news. To become a war photographer, you need to be really committed and be prepared to witness history and what it sometimes mean to real people during times of war. It is not always easy and it can be dangerous.
Natchwey wants to convey a message to the world: In putting himself in the middle of conflict, his intention is to record the truth, to document the struggles of humanity, and with this, to wake people up and stir them to action. He truly wants to move people through his photographs and make them think about what is happening now in this world. Natchwey’s approach is evidently quite different from Leibovitz’s. Instead of creating the scene, he has to take pictures of people and environments over which he has no control, sometimes in the spur of the moment. The attention to details and control Leibovitz has in her photographs is a luxury Natchwey can’t have. He is putting himself in danger to capture the authentic emotions of people. Perhaps what made him so famous now is his desire to always push the limit and being so close and personal with the subject.
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| Afghanistan, 1996 ,Mourning a brother killed by a Taliban rocket, James Natchwey |
In a certain way, I think the photographs taken by Leibovitz and Natchwey are similar. Although I find it a little bit difficult to explain. Their subjects are totally different but the imagery is similar in both of their work. Yes, Natchwey is forced to take photographs of things and situations he has little control over while Leibovitz has complete authority in her work. But what makes their work similar is the imagery in them, the very real human’s emotions and feelings we can feel while looking at them.
Personally, I think Natchwey’s pictures are more real because they represent actual events. I don’t think he concentrates as much as Leibovitz on the details because he has no ability to intervene but at the same time it adds to the authenticity of his subjects. Being a war photographer means you have to take pictures of what you see without trying to change the reality. And yes, Leibovitz photographs are more esthetical and appealing to the audience. They sometimes look like paintings and the themes often referred to fantasy stories like when she works on a series of photographs for Walt Disney. But through the very detailed set up she organizes, she too is trying to capture a human emotion.
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| Indonesia, 1998, Jubilation at announcement of Suharto' s resignation, James Natchwey |
It is not easy to explain what I have learned from my review of the work of those two famous photographers. Certainly, their approaches and subjects are very different. But I can also see a common thread. To make those remarkable pictures, they both have to establish a connection with their subjects. They both get very close to the lives and experiences of their subjects and try to understand them as they are, to identify what message they want to convey and capture it the best way possible via a camera. What I have learn from these two photographers is not to be afraid to talk with people and hang out with them for a long time to understand what they are doing better. I have to make those people feel confortable with my presence around them so that they will eventually forget I am even there. I think I could take really nice pictures of Japanese people and japanese culture if I could acheive this. It may takes a while but I think I can do this.
We have talked a lot in class about fieldwork and what it means when you are a photographer. I think we can say that both of these artists are doing fieldwork in their work. I think that, eventually, even without realizing it, their cameras become part of their view of the world. They come to see the world a different way than we do, they see the world through a lens.
We have talked a lot in class about fieldwork and what it means when you are a photographer. I think we can say that both of these artists are doing fieldwork in their work. I think that, eventually, even without realizing it, their cameras become part of their view of the world. They come to see the world a different way than we do, they see the world through a lens.
Very nice summary and discussion. Interesting observations as well. I would like to read even more about how these two photographers can influence you to improve your photography and visual anthropology.
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