Documentary Photography: The Origins
How is Documentary Photography Used in Society?
Documentary photography is a style of photography that provides a straightforward and accurate representation of people, places, objects and events, and is often used in reportage.
Upon first glance of documentary photography, I was fascinated by the amount of information the audience is able to receive to clearly understand the story behind the photos. Documentary photography to me is one of the most enlightening genres of the medium. As someone who aspires to have a career in photography, I would like to improve my work in this specific style. In order to do so, I feel it’s necessary to understand the various uses documentary photography have had in society.
After founding what is thought to be the first photographic studio in 1843, Scottish artists David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson set out to produce one of the earliest documentary projects in history, to bring recognition to their work and studio. This documentary project lasted around four years, and resulted in 3,000 some images, documenting ordinary life in Scottish fishing villages, as well as landscapes and urban scenes from the adjoining region.
Malcolm Daniel’s article, “David Octavius Hill (1802–1870) and Robert Adamson (1821–1848),” discusses the artists’ partnership and their influence on the medium of photography. Daniel writes, “In four-and-a-half years and nearly 3,000 images, they pioneered the aesthetic terrain of photography and created a body of work that still ranks among the highest achievements of photographic portraiture,” (Daniel). It’s interesting that some of the early documentary images taken by these artists can be also be considered in the realm of portrait photography as they are documentation of ordinary life for the subjects. The genre was simply utilized to grasp the existence of those in Scottish fishing villages and their lifestyle.
In America, meanwhile, the first well-known documentary project began in 1861 when Matthew Brady, a respected portraitist with a major studio in New York, took a team of photographers, including Timothy O'Sullivan, Alexander Gardner, and George N. Barnard, to the battle fields of the Civil War.
Jessica Stewart’s article, “Mathew Brady, the Story of the Man Who Photographed the Civil War,“ addresses the work of Brady and his influence on documentary photography. Stewart writes, “Today we recognize Mathew Brady as a fundamental figure in war photography… there is no doubt that his Civil War photos have become an iconic part of American history,” (Stewart). During this time of upheaval in the United States, documentary photography was used to capture the reality on the battle field. Although many of the images are quite upsetting, displaying dead bodies covered in blood, they worked and continue to work as resources regarding American history.
In 1855, during the Crimean War (1853-56), a documentary photographer, Roger Fenton, was hired and assigned the job of photographing the war in a “good” way to take back to the public.
Lisa Robinson’s article “History of Photography: Photos as Propaganda,” discusses the how the genre of documentary photography has been utilized as propaganda in the height of wars. Robinson writes, “To fund Fenton, [Thomas] Agnew had the assistance of England’s Secretary of State for War who provided funds but also had an interest in bumping up the public approval rating for the war,” (Robinson). This caused the photos to be staged by Fenton, to create a better public view of the Crimean War. It's unfortunate that the genre was used to mislead the public and form an idea of reality that was not actually real.
It’s interesting to know a few of the purposes for documentary photography, both positive and negative. Although documentary photography is characterized as authentic and accurate, as you can see there are ways in which the genre is utilized and morphed to fit the specific needs of the photographer. The propaganda use for the style actually leads me into my next question that I will be discussing next week:
New Question for Next Week
Can Documentary Photography be Staged and Still be True?
Citations
Daniel, Malcolm. “David Octavius Hill (1802–1870) and Robert Adamson (1821–1848).” Metmuseum.org, Department of Photographs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oct. 2004, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hlad/hd_hlad.htm.
Robinson, Lisa. “History of Photography: Photos as Propaganda.” Photofocus, 17 Aug. 2017, https://photofocus.com/photography/history-of-photography-photos-as-propaganda/.
Stewart, Jessica. “Mathew Brady, the Story of the Man Who Photographed the Civil War.” My Modern Met, 6 Mar. 2019, https://mymodernmet.com/mathew-brady-civil-war-photos/.