The Culture of Photography

Making and Breaking Rules 5Compositional Conventions 11Good Pictures 13Judging Good Pictures 14Boring Images 20Camera Basics 22Making an Exposure 25Setting the Camera 26Exposure variable #1: The amount of light available to take the picture 28Exposure variable #2: The sensitivity of the camera to light – ISO settings 29Freezing Action 32Exposure variable #4: The lens aperture or f/stop size (how big the lens opening is) 33Digital Camera Primer 38Point-and-Shoot Cameras 39The SLR Option 40SLR system: 40Single lens reflex, or SLR cameras, use only one lens to both compose and shoot the image. Early SLR cameras were large. A mirror positioned behind the lens diverted the image upward toward the photographer’s eye. When the shutter was released, the mi... 40When Bigger is not Better 43A Sharp Picture Starts With a Sharp Lens 44Stabilize Yourself 46Even Our Eyes Have Autofocus 47Made in the Shade 49Keep it Clean 49Seeing the Light 50The Electric Light Brigade 50To Compress or Not to Compress: Digital Photographs and File Types 52Making Changes to Images 53Digital Printing 56Understanding Digital Camera Settings 58Menu Settings 59Image Quality 59Image Size 61White Balance Setting 65ISO Sensitivity 68Parameters (on Canon cameras) or Color Space 69Cleaning the Sensor on Your Digital SLR 71Optics and the Nature of Seeing 73Inventing 76Photography 76Photography Goes Electric 81Digital Technology Revolutionizes Photography 86Pictures Don’t Lie, People Do 90The Family 96Photo Album 96The Roll Film and the Democratization of Images 102We are All Photographers Now! 106Creating a Snapshot Aesthetic 120The Authentic Photograph 130Portraits of Image and Culture 135Migrant Mother The Portrait as a Window 142Florence in March of 1936 142Making the Photograph 144Dorothea 145The Photo as an Icon 149Finding Florence 153Migrant Mother Through the Ages 155Objectifying 157Identity 157Mug Shots 157Eugenics, Social Profiling and Photography 160Composite Portraiture: Creating the Average Identity 163Galton’s Method 164Galton’s Interpretations 167Ramifications 171Photography and the Measurement of Human Identity 174Biometrics: Quantifying Identity on a Large Scale 176Art and the Social Profile 179Gettysburg Depicted Acknowledging the Brutal Battlefield 182The Photographers 183Mathew Brady: The First Celebrity Photographer 184Alexander Gardner 187Confronting the Brutality of War 188Photographers Head off to Gettysburg 191Iconic Images and Modern Controversy 193The Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter: an American Myth 194Gardner Tells the Story 195Gardner Considers His Photographs’ Place in History 197Who Really Made the Photograph? 198The Legacy of Gettysburg in Images Photography and the Cultural Battlefield 199The Politics of Depicting the Battlefield 200Sanitized News 202Cultural Attitudes Regarding Photography 203Digital Photography Makes the Battlefield a Reality Show 204The Battlefield Shifts 205Depicting Sex as a Weapon 206Relating the Images to Mainstream Culture 206Conclusion 208From Sea to Shining Sea Transforming Our Understanding of Landscape 209The Mythic West in Popular Media 210Creating an American Destiny 213The Beginnings of Frontier Photography and Photography as a Tool for Exploration: 217After the War The Great Surveys 224Then and Now 231W.H. Jackson’s American Landscapes 234Questioning the Landscape 242Documenting History Ethics and the Reliable Author 244Finding Truth in the Valley of the Shadow of Death 250Photojournalistic Assignments 260Gordon Parks Learning to Tell Stories 271Photojournalists Doing Their Job Honesty, Integrity, and the First Amendment 283Integrity First: The Medium is Not the Message 283Not All Photographers are Photojournalists. 284The First Amendment in American Culture: Does the Free Press Have a Special Role? 287What Can I Photograph? 290Spot News Telling Our Own Story 292Sports Photography 306Concert Photography 317Concert Photography Tips 332Understand the aesthetics of photography. 332Go beyond the performance. 332Unusual venues can produce unusually good photographs 333Avoid blurry photographs 333Stage Lighting 335Post-shooting review 335Fashion Photography A Brief History 336Presenting the Glamorous Life 344The Coming World of Photography 347The Future Will Be Like Now, Only More So 347A New More Truthful Way to Make Pictures: Henry Peach Robinson 349It’s Photography, Not Art: Peter Henry Emerson 353Art Loses its Aura Walter Benjamin 356Photomontage as a Weapon of War: John Heartfield 359Art Recaptures its Aura: Fellini, Paparazzo, and Andy Warhol 362Photoshop and a New Kind of Truth Pedro Meyer 365Technology and the Future 367