9/11

 

Magnum photographer Thomas Hoepker said, "I strongly believe in documentary photography, in taking pictures of real life. When I looked at the pictures from our photographers, there were some that were wonderful or clever compositions, but they emphasized the artistry in photography rather than telling the story. We didn’t put those pictures in this book. I don’t think they belong in this book because they do not serve its purpose, which is to bear witness. In a moment like this you must be very humble. When something like this happens, nothing you do can adequately respond to the monstrosity of the event."

I both agree and disagree with this quote. I agree because you should not be focusing more on the artistic side of a tragic event such as 9/11 than the actual event. If all you care about is the artistic side you diminish the importance of the event. And in a way you are telling others that you didn’t really care. I also believe that you should not try and make something beautiful out of such a horrible and tragic event. Also as a documentary photographer, your focus is supposed to be on the event, capturing it in all its horror, and using your photos to both inform the public and commemorate those who lost their lives. On the other hand, I somewhat disagree because if the images are poorly taken and don’t look good no one will take the time to look at them. You need to capture a picture that is intriguing and makes people want to look at it. Imagine if all the 9/11 photos were out of focus, dull, taken after the attack of just the buildings, boring. Would you have looked into what happened? Probably not. Photography is not just an art in and of itself, it is also an art of balance. In every image taken there needs to be a perfect balance of an artistic nature and of documentation.

Above I have an image that I think applies to what I have said. This image both shows the horror of what happened and captures your attention. Imagine that this photo was out of focus or the top of the buildings was cut off. This image would be visually unappealing and no one would want to look at it. I think that the color of the smoke and the fire really pops and that helps draw the attention of the viewer. This image has a good balance between the artistic side and the documentary side. It is both informative and appealing.

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