Role Of Photography Research Articles

“Sweet Like Honey”: Twa Photographers Reframing the Past, Present and Future in a Remote Rwandan Marginalised Community

ABSTRACT Nyabageni, a small village in north-west Rwanda, is home to a remote rural community of historically marginalised people, formerly known as Twa. Today the village is made up of both those who grew up in the forest and those born in the new settlement into a very different Rwanda. This article examines the artistic work of 12 members of the community who took part in a participatory photography workshop in May 2022. It discusses what the Nyabageni artists’ striking images tell us about conceptions of the past, present and future, and how their self-narratives contest and reframe ongoing prejudice. Close readings of individual photographs show how they: re-animate the past; place members of the community in roles they have previously been excluded from; mobilise visual imagery to activate social change; and stress reparative internal perspectives on a close-knit community. Focusing on the aesthetic and strategic choices made by the photographers, we discuss the complexity and sophistication of their vision, which expands existing literature on Twa identities in the Great Lakes. We also reflect on the role of photography in foregrounding the complex memories, dreams and aspirations of marginalised indigenous people.

Shifting perspectives: exploring the intersection of traditional and digital photography in contemporary artistic practices

The advent of digital photography has ushered in a dynamic era marked by evolving paradigms and practices in visual representation. This research delves into the profound interplay between traditional and digital photographic modalities, investigating their impact on contemporary art and society. Through an art-based research approach, this study examines an innovative artistic experiment conducted by Palestinian artist Ahmed Al-Saffarini. While Al-Saffarini's work serves as a starting point for philosophical reflection, it is the broader conceptual exploration of digital and traditional photography that forms the core of this research. By burying vintage photographic negatives underground for an extended period, Al-Saffarini sought to explore the transformative potential of integrating traditional and digital photography techniques. Drawing on a rich body of literature encompassing philosophical discourse, artistic practice, and technological advancements, this research elucidates key themes shaping the trajectory of photography in the digital age. Phenomenological perspectives illuminate the experiential dimensions of perception and consciousness inherent in the photographic medium, while scholarly debates on analogue versus digital photography underscore the epistemic complexities and artistic possibilities engendered by technological innovation. Furthermore, this study highlights photography's role as a conduit for memory, identity formation, and cultural expression in contemporary society. Through an analysis of Al-Saffarini's artistic experiment and its implications, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of photography's transformative potential and its evolving significance within the artistic landscape. Emphasising the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and creative experimentation, this study advocates for the integration of art-based research methodologies in scholarly inquiry, thereby enriching our comprehension of photography's multifaceted nature and its enduring relevance in the digital era.

The role of photography in the research of Bashkir ethnography

The role of photography in the research of Bashkir ethnography

Post-WWII Ruins on Photography: An Introduction to the Reconstruction of the City of Poznań. Case Study Old Town

The aftermath of World War II (WWII) left numerous European cities devastated, necessitating extensive reconstruction efforts to restore their urban fabric. The city of Poznań, located in western Poland, was no exception, as it bore witness to widespread destruction during the war. In this abstract, we delve into the role of photography in documenting the ruins of Poznań after WWII and how these visual records have contributed to the city's subsequent reconstruction. This research explores the visual representations of post-war ruins in Poznań through the lens of documentary photography. By examining archival photographs, contemporary accounts, and historical narratives, we aim to analyse the significance of these images in understanding the extent of the destruction and the subsequent efforts to rebuild the city. The abstract highlights the inherent power of photography to capture the raw reality of urban devastation, conveying the magnitude of the challenges faced by the city's inhabitants in the aftermath of war. Furthermore, it sheds light on the ways in which photographic documentation played a crucial role in informing reconstruction initiatives, acting as a visual guide for architects, urban planners and policymakers. Drawing from the rich visual archive of post-war Poznań, this study showcases how photographs served as a valuable resource for documenting architectural losses, mapping destroyed areas and preserving cultural heritage. By juxtaposing historical photographs with contemporary images, we examine how the city's landscape has evolved over time, tracing the progression from ruins to reconstruction.

«Камера – это глаз истории»: к вопросу о жанрообразующем потенциале фотографического экфрасиса в романе Г. Свифта “Out of This World”

The article deals with the role of photography in the novel Out of This World (1988) by the contemporary British writer G. Swift, which is not translated into Russian. The changed socio-cultural status of photography as an artefact is traced: from the ‘pencil of nature’ (G. F. Talbot) in the middle of the 19th century. to ‘simulacrum’ (L. Hatcheon) in the postmodern paradigm, implying ambiguity and variability in the ‘reading’ of a photographic image. Photography is presented in the novel at the main poetological levels: level of the plot, of the characters, spatiotemporal, narrative, motive-thematic levels. Photography allows one to ‘tell’ different types of stories: both family ones and those related to the tragic events of the 20th century. The protagonist of the novel, professional war photographer Harry Beach, creates photographs while in hot spots: Vietnam, Oran, Congo, etc. He does not only capture, but philosophically comprehends what is happening on the world stage. Photographs taken by Harry (in the form of photo-ekphrasis) are a historical photo chronicle, and he himself is a photo chronicler, presenting to the world the truthful documents that have an accusatory status. Harry realizes that it is a crime to ‘smooth out’ the cruel reality, especially in the age of modern media that abuse photo manipulation and are guided by the principle of replacing reality with simulacra. It seems possible to define the genre form of G. Swift's novel, based on a series of photographs (both personal and public), as a photo-ekphrastic novel and classify it as a so-called novel-photoreflection, which has been developed since the late 1970s.

PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE PRACTICE OF CONTEMPORARY PAINTING. A PEDAGOGICAL PERSPECTIVE.

Photography in the Practice of Contemporary Painting. A Pedagogical Perspective. Photography is a technological medium that suffers continuous evolution. From its earliest developments to the various types of recent printing, the photographic image has become an avatar of the world. Since images are irreversibly intertwined with human activity, their usage becomes an increasingly frequent practice in the area of traditional creative techniques. This article discusses some examples of this usage in the context of contemporary painting studios in higher education. Photography is accessed by young students and the foray into photographic documentation is now an inevitable tool. The way students use it as an intermediary can be disruptive to their learning process, as long as the role of photography in painting practice is not fully comprehended. There are different ways of integrating photography into the practice of contemporary painting. The present article addresses conceptual aspects, presents several particular situations and launches some perspectives for better understanding these practices. Photography is a tool, not an end, but what happens when these terms juxtapose or are taken for granted? What kind of painting results out of the practical process “contaminated” by photography? However, if technology is properly and timely integrated in the practice of painting, one can no longer talk about a “contamination”, but rather about a conscious process able to generate quality painting. Keywords: painting, photography, hyper-realism, photorealism, contemporary art, art teaching, art pedagogy, art courses, artist, contemporary painters

PHOTOGRAPHY AS MACHINE VISION: THE ROLE OF IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES IN ART HISTORY

This paper analyzes the relationship between photography and machine vision by examining its prehistory, as embodied in the art-historical photo archive. It characterizes the introduction of machine vision to the world of libraries, archives, and museums as a renewed (rather than wholly new) effort to mechanize or systematize art and its history. Assumptions and attitudes about photography embedded in the photo archive are therefore easily and often inconspicuously reproduced in efforts to study art computationally. Noting this repetition, this paper reframes the debate about art-historical applications of computer vision to emphasize the issues this technology raises about what constitutes art-historical work. The question is not whether we should use computer vision or computers for art-historical inquiry, but rather, what kinds of activities we ask computers to perform. Understanding machine vision in the context of its prehistory is critical for explicating its relationship to photography, and the role of photography and digital images in the study of visual culture more generally.

PERAN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY SEBAGAI MEDIA KOMUNIKASI VISUAL DALAM KOMUNITAS HALLUCINATION PHOTO

The purpose of this research was to find out the role of photography as a medium of visual communication in wedding photography. The method used qualitative methods by observing and interviewing the founder, chairman and members of the Hallucination Photo community. This study used Kendall Walton's transparency theory. Based on the results of observations and interviews, the researcher concluded that there were many genres in wedding photography. Photography as a visual communication medium in wedding photography has a role in conveying effective and informative meanings or messages through a photo medium by capturing various moments to be immortalized using a tool, namely a camera.

Notes on historiography of photographs from India

AbstractDespite its long and layered histories, critical analyses of photography in India began rather late and remain comparatively limited in number. However, the burgeoining scholarship in the field illuminates photography's role in conditioning modern South Asian experiences, while also highlighting the global character of the medium that complicate the unmarked history of photography. Three intertwined historiographical threads are influential in narrating the colonial Indian camera cultures. The first thread emphasized descriptive histories, the second thread debated cultural essentialism, while the third thread inquired into myriad photographic genres to rethink colonialism. An inquiry into these three threads helps reflect on the intellectual scope of photographs from colonial India, while also directing to future archival and analytical possibilities.

'There is nothing less spectacular than a pestilence': Picturing the pandemic in Mass Observation's COVID-19 collections.

What is to be gained by studying visual observation in Mass Observation's COVID-19 collections? What can we see of the pandemic through diarists' images and words? Visual methods were part of the plural research strategies of social research organisation Mass Observation (MO) in its first phase, when it was established in 1937, but remained marginal in relation to textual research methods. This continues with the post-1981 revival of the Mass Observation Project (MOP), with its emphasis on life writing. With wider shifts in technology and accessibility, however, even when they are not solicited, photographs now accompany MOP correspondents' submissions. In MO's substantial COVID-19 collections, images appear in or as diary entries across a range of forms, including hand-drawn illustrations, correspondent-generated photographs, creative photomontages, and screengrabs of memes. In addition, diarists offer textual reflections on COVID-19's image cultures, such as the role of photographs in pandemic news media, as well as considering how the pandemic is intersecting with the visual in more abstract ways, from themes of surveillance and 'Staying Alert' in public health messaging to internal pictorial imaginaries produced as a result of isolation and contemplation. Positioning these materials in relation to wider patterns in pandemic visual culture, including public photographic collecting projects that make explicit reference to MO as their inspiration, this article considers the contribution of the visual submissions and image-rich writing in MO's COVID-19 collections to the depiction of a virus commonly characterised as invisible.

Функціональність фотографій у сучасній українській пресі як фактор підвищення ефективності сприйняття креолізованих текстів (на прикладі видання «Український тиждень» за 2021–2023 роки)

The article analyzes the problem of perception of realized texts with the help of visual images, particularly photographs, in the modern Ukrainian press. Particular attention is paid to how photographs can convey emotions, create images and influence the viewer's response. It also explores how the rise of social media and multimedia formats has changed the need to use photos to interact with content. The purpose of the study: is to find out the role of photographs in the modern press, as a component that can help readers better perceive realized texts. An analysis of the publication «Ukrainian Week» for 2021–2023 was carried out. The methodology is the use of photographs in the Ukrainian mass media, in particular in the online publication «Ukrainian Week», as well as the audience's reaction to the impact of photographs in the mass media, which made it possible to obtain a complete description and understanding of the situation. The results of the study showed that modern Ukrainian mass media, which specialize in photojournalism, use various genres and types of photography to convey various aspects of events and plots. Based on the results of the analysis, we concluded that the number of photos and photo reports published on the Internet by the Ukrainian Week during 2021–2023 decreased. We believe that the mentioned fact indicates changes in the use of visual content, which can be related to many factors that were mentioned above in the study. According to the survey, it was established that visual content is important for the effective perception of information, as photos help to better understand the content of journalistic materials. Keywords: realized texts, journalism, photojournalism, mass media, photo, analysis, online edition, «Ukrainian Week», audience.

Digging Up Jericho: Past, Present and Future

Digging Up Jericho: Past, Present and Future

Photographing Crime Scenes in 20th-Century London: Microhistories of Domestic Murder. By Alexa Neale

We are perhaps so used to ‘seeing’ crime scenes and being exposed to the minute details of murder investigations that its development as a method and process of criminal inquiry has been taken for granted. Neale’s excellent Photographing Crime Scenes provides a fascinating, valuable, and important insight into the use of forensic photographs to understand how crime scenes were understood historically. Focusing on domestic murders in London, Neale persuasively argues that the role of photography was most crucial in the courtroom and did not focus in detail, but ‘about visualizing a narrative in the courtroom than investigating and establishing that narrative in police detection’ (p. 2). Drawing attention to the cultural and social production of crime scene photography, Neale’s analysis emphasizes that these sources were not conceived of as visual facts, and draws attention to the ways in which class, race, and gender shaped these narratives and how crimes scenes were presented and received through the prosecution process and in court. Other sources, particularly the press and other forms of cultural media, are woven through Neale’s expert analysis of crime scene photography to demonstrate how these images were themselves a product of broader social and cultural processes.

Photography in dentistry

Photography's role in dentistry has become an indispensable part and has become a necessity rather than an option. The growth of photography and its impact on dentistry has always been increasing over the decades. The role played by it in various specialties of dentistry and its effect on providing good quality treatment and improved patient care is huge. It helps to formulate a good sense of communication between the dentist and the patient, enabling the patient to trust completely. Photography also plays a major role in treatment planning, evaluating, documenting, publishing, and marketing.

Chemical affinities: photography, extraction, and industrial heritage in nineteenth-century northern England

ABSTRACT “Chemical Affinities” explores how chemistry and visual culture were entwined in the long nineteenth century, focusing here on the role of photography as both a material cause of pollution and the aesthetic means to visualize the pollution that it caused. Chemical layering was a common dimension of all nineteenth-century photography and photographic printing, making photography a by-product of the chemical revolution of the nineteenth century, no less than fertilizer and paper. Drawing on hundreds of visual representations (drawings, engravings, photographs, and graphs), most of them located in local, scientific, and business archives in northern England, my research approaches photography as a material, economic, and social process: an extractive resource that raises questions about the global future alongside recording the tangible present and arrested moments of the past. Here, I examine the nineteenth-century industry in Widnes, Cheshire, as a particularly representative and vexed site of photography’s chemical effects on land and people, as well as its instrumentation in documenting and recording – and in so doing promising to expose and moderate – those effects. The article concludes with some reflections on the value of photographic archives and critical industrial heritage studies for historical understanding of nineteenth-century chemical industry and its legacies.

The Photographic Image as an Aesthetic Phenomenon.

The subject of the study is the analysis of the preservation and creation of an image in the art of photography. The invention of photography and the creation of a technical image is considered the second turning point in human culture. An image is an imagination, an illusion, it is a reflection of the sensory world. The object of the study is the specificity and evolution of attitudes towards the concept of an image in photography as an aesthetic phenomenon. The language of fine art, as an earlier phenomenon, had a significant impact on the creation of a photographic image, but the role of photography in changing the language of fine art is also noted. The purpose of this work is to identify the features of the formation of photographic thinking, in the analysis of its evolution. As a methodological basis of the study, the formal-stylistic method of cognition, the method of sensory cognition and historical and cultural analysis are used. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the analysis of the role of imagination, illusion, magic in creating a photographic image. Causal relationships do not work here - the image of the acts as an intermediary between the world and man. Both the photographer and the subject are the directors of the creation of the image, and the game becomes part of its creation. The image is what the director-photographer wants to see, and how the subject feels. However, the freedom of the photographer is limited by the quality of the equipment, which makes it necessary to improve the technical means of the camera more and more. Creating an image is the implementation of the technical capabilities that are embedded in the camera. The image of photography is the subjective vision of the master, the transformation of the real world into the world of illusion.

Re]-appearances online: photography, mourning and new media ecologies for representing the Southern Cone’s disappeared on two digital memory platforms

The practice of enforced disappearances fundamentally alters memorialisation rituals as relatives do not have a body to localise mourning as is possible with processes of death. Families in the Southern Cone of South America (Chile/Argentina) have sought new ways to remember the dictatorship missing who remain in a liminal space between life and death. As a vehicle to represent public grief, photography became vital; families marched with photographs of their disappeared relatives on placards or pinned to their chests. Studies on the importance of photography and disappearance have come some way in elucidating the photographic medium’s unique role of in representing the disappeared. However, little scholarship has looked at the role of photography and new media in these histories. Charting the use of photographs in Chile and Argentina to represent the disappeared and their families’ grief, this article engages with their suspended mourning drawing on content and visual analysis alongside expert interview data. By analysing two websites that reproduce photographs of the disappeared: www.memoriaviva.com and www.recordatorios.com.ar, the article looks at the use of photography in the digital ecology. Both sites show photography’s continued importance for rituals of remembrance and to demand accountability in the present and for the future.

Black Ecological Vibrations

Black Ecological Vibrations

Семантика и функция фотографии в художественном мире романа Ф.М. Достоевского «Идиот»

The article examines the semantics and function of the photographic portrait of Nastasya Filippovna in the novel “The Idiot” by F.M. Dostoevsky’s; the symbolic nature and role of photography in the polyphonic world of the novel are determined. In the middle of the 19th century, this type of visual art was in the zone of increased attention and controversy; the reason for this was the possibility of replicating photographs and, accordingly, their non-unique nature. The purpose of the article is to understand how F.M. Dostoevsky responded to discussion about photography; to determine what meanings he put into this aesthetic sign, what function photography performs in the literary world of “The Idiot”. The research methodology is based on semiotic, historical, cultural and narrative approaches: photography is viewed as a semiotic element (a sign with semantics); as an element of a narrative constructions about the image of Nastasya Filippovna. The historical and cultural context makes it possible to clarify the attitude of contemporaries and F.M. Dostoevsky to the phenomenon of photography. In the course of the study, it was established that photography is a significant element of the artistic image of Nastasya Filippovna; important character traits of the heroine are revealed due to a photographic portrait: pride, the desire for personal significance, a sense of taste. Sharing the opinion of his contemporaries about the impermeability of a person's inner appearance to the camera, Dostoevsky makes photography a structural principle of the female image: a photographic portrait demonstrates the heroine’s external beauty, but hides her inner appearance. In the literary world of the polyphonic novel, photography forms the mystery of the Nastasya Filippovna’s image, its dialectical complexity and contradictoriness.

Visualising Corporate Social Responsibility


 It is true that a few studies have dealt with the role of photographs in communicating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In general, however, this remains a neglected field. Accordingly, this study seeks to investigate the extent to which corporations make use of photos to illustrate concepts related to CSR, as well as to shed light on how that use has evolved. To these ends, a case study was designed to analyse the use of images in the CSR reporting of Inditex, the world's biggest fashion retailer (www.inditex.com). The methodology applied was that of quantitative content analysis (QCA). This focuses on quantification to establish the frequency of visual elements in a defined corpus and provides information that is especially valuable for diachronic studies. In the study, QCA was used to analyse a total of 1,725 photographs featuring in the reports published by Inditex between 2002 and 2019. These images were coded and classified with respect to: (i) their size; (ii) the concept about which they provide visual information; and (iii) the various visual motifs used to communicate these concepts through images. The findings show how Inditex's use of photographs in its corporate reporting over the last two decades has evolved through three different stages, with photographs playing a different role in each. These results can provide the basis for other, broader studies designed to establish a general pattern.