Documentary Photography: Staged Photos

Can Documentary Photography be Staged and Still be Real?

In my last photography class, I created a documentary photo that had been altered or changed in some way, in theory making the photo less objective. This peaked my interest because it led me to question the necessity for authenticity in documentary photography.

In their article, “Can Documentary Photography Be Staged?” Hugo Pinho states their own thoughts on the matter. Pinho starts off with a short and simple response to the question, “The short answer is: No, it can't. It shouldn't. Because otherwise, it enters the grey territory, making it difficult to assess its objectivity and, most importantly, its truth,” (Pinho). According to Pinho, documentary photography is only of genuine situations, and therefore cannot include staged photography.

Contrary to Pinho, I think documentary photography can indeed include photos that are staged and “real” at the same time. However, the authenticity and the documental characteristic of said photos depends on the validity of their messages. For example, a staged photo of a homeless family sleeping on the street, to me, would be considered documentary photography. This is because this specific scene is of a real-life issue and will automatically be read as authentic.

In their blog, “Capturing the Truth,” Mina Momeni examines staged photos taken by documentary photographers to determine whether or not staged photography is included in documentary photography. They conclude their blog with, “Everything is changing around us; so it should be very important for a documentary photographer to record any significant event in our world, without retouching any photos, to create pure documentary photos for future generations in order to make them understand the way we live as clearly as possible,” (Momeni). Momeni also believes that staged photography cannot be considered documentary photography, mainly because of the societal and historical impact of documentary photography.

I agree that documentary photography has a great effect on both contemporary and future society, and it is important to display accurate images of life for coming generations. However, I think staged photos can also work for societal and historical uses by creating a scene that is of a real situation in the world. Furthermore, there are many more uses for documentary photography and the genre shouldn’t be narrowed to this one purpose.

Jerry L. Thompson’s book, Truth and Photography: Notes on Looking and Photographing, addresses photography’s contact with the idea of truth. In the book, Thompson writes, “For documentary photographers, I suggest, truth was authentic realism… Consequently, the meaning of truth began to change… Truth in photography may involve some degree of verisimilitude to the object seen… Truth now refers not to accurate representation of the object seen but rather to accurate representation of the artist’s response to the object or view… Truth now means fidelity to the subjective experience of the artist” (Thompson 22). Thompson takes a different approach to the question, saying that documentary photography is of “true” things, but the truth depends on the photographer, rather than the subject.

I somewhat agree with Thompson’s claim, and to push said claim even further, I think documentary photography does not depend only on the photographer’s response to the situation, but also on the audience’s response. I believe the situation being photographed needs to be a universal (or at least greatly recognizable) situation in real life.

To conclude, I do think documentary photography can be staged and still be real, but only when illustrating circumstances that are truly real in life and that many viewers will understand as real.

New Question for Next Week:

How Can I Avoid Exploiting my Subjects when Creating Documentary Photos?

Citations

Momeni, Mina. “Capturing the Truth.” Mina Momeni, 2017, http://www.minamomeni.com/capturing-the-truth.html.

Pinho, Hugo. “Can Documentary Photography Be Staged?” HUGO PINHO, HUGO PINHO, 7 Sept. 2021, https://www.hugopinho.com/blog/2021/can-documentary-photography-be-staged.

Thompson, Jerry L. Truth and Photography: Notes on Looking and Photographing. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2003. Print.