Part 3 - Exercise 3.3 - Late Photography

Exercise 3.3 -  Late Photography

Part 1

David Campany in his essay "Safety in Numbness" stated:

“One might easily surmise that photography has of late inherited a major

role as undertaker, summariser or accountant. It turns up late, wanders

through the places where things have happened totting up the effects of

the world’s activity.”

However is it really safety?

Is the portrayal of "afters" a safe activity?

Reportage photography can be controversial, Euro 2016 late photography might suggest incidents such as the penalty that was not given, the goal that never was. This perhaps captures the incident as it happened such as the off the ball incident. However the disappointment of players and fans after the game can be made worse if the see an incident or activity not seen by the referee and the side in someway punished for it. In terms of England at the Euros ability needs to be matched by togetherness and passion

Ultimately though isn't all photography a momentary capture of the present but retained and displayed showing the past?

Memories are precious to us where they may display ourselves having a good time or simply a remembral of an important past event. As a our world changes around us both for better and for worse we often compare the current to what was and also consider that the current today is also destined to become the past.

I see no truth in photography being considered as heading toward the role of summariser. In fact I am excited about it. For many current photographers digital photography is a switch from film. Whilst we should never forget its history, for many people digital photography is all they know. Modern technology allows us all to participate in the capture of light.

The extraordinary is now more apparent amongst the ordinary and timeless images continue to be created. Though we may be bombarded by images of a similar style those that portray something different become better as a result. The world is a miraculous place though we may be challenged at times to find these miracles they exist for us to capture and share because they are missed by the masses.

I've detailed a link below to some images hosted by Time. All events captured are historic but are timeless at the same time:

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/05/24/20-timeless-photos-that-made-our-week/photo/par116812-1/

As students of the art of photography we are sometimes challenged to incorporate an element of the cerebral into the image e.g. make the viewer work for the understanding rather than present it in one go.

Late photography can do this. In showing us the aftermath we wonder what the past looked like and also the event the evolved into the scene captured by the camera. As viewers are we not challenged more? 

The interpretation of a late image can become more debatable. I see no safety in the taking of the images and if taken well can become much more demanding of thought.

I travel past Didcot Power Station twice a week and the same sight greets me as it has for months but the emotion it invokes in me is no less. Whilst not a war zone nor a scene of mass death, death has occurred and in truth remains. Hope has long since been replaced by certainty. The image does in truth capture an event in history but for me its not a safe image at all. Its a powerful image that continues to remind me how frail our bodies are and how quickly events in our lives can take place. Loved ones, friends are still waiting for the opportunity to say a final farewell to those who lost their lives. I feel no numbness to the scene I see on a regular basis and this image below reaffirms this for me. The image is indeed historic, but the pain is current and resolution remains in the future

Part 2

The scenes of the plane impacts into the Trade Centre Buildings and their subsequent fall have been replayed many, many times on television and in papers and magazines. 

Joel Meyerowitz in his book Aftermath over a period of around 9-10 months attempted to create a record of events after the buildings fell. It captures activities and events during the process to turn the site of the collapsed buildings to what its become today. More importantly it shows images of the process that workers undertook in their attempts to recover the remains of every person who lost a life as a result of this tragic event.

I don't feel that everyone understand the scale of the activities performed, myself included. The size of the buildings to most of us would have been had to imagine before their fall. The buildings eventually become reduced to their constituent components and mixed in with this the remains of human life.

The people within our world are much less isolated than they were before. Modern technology allows us to participate in world events from afar and also are much more interested in events outside or local area or immediate country.

Many innocent lives were lost and we must also remember many lives were lost trying to help people. The efforts of people involved in the recovery of bodies and building elements are also incredible and deserve a mention in history. Man has always been able to take stock of things following terrible events and start the rebuilding process to once again start moving forwards.

The sheer scale of this process is hard to understand and Meyerowitz's images help convey this to an interested public who want to understand.

I remember vividly the day this occurred, where I was, what I was doing. One of my work colleagues had a family relation in the building and I recall his emotions and stress and his desire to return home to his family. This relation was fortunate and made their evacuation in time. Of note this lucky individual was travelling back to their home on a ferry watching events unfold and recalled to my colleague at a later date that people on the ferry was so scared and didn't understand what was happening and in some cases where leaping of the ferry
Meyerowitz's images show the events after the tragedy and this is also important to us as observers as it is to those who lost someone. I've not read the book but have seen some of the images and these are images one may not expect to see. We see many events on TV but never the process of recovery. Reviews of his book vary from gratitude to understanding but also to it as project that is flawed