The Index and the Icon
- Laura Marsh
- Feb 4, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 11, 2021
A Question of Authenticity
We view the photograph as a point of reality within the contexts of the news, TV, and internet images of events. Sometimes, we may find ourselves questioning if an event happened according to our own thoughts upon a photograph of an event, the Moon landing is an image that comes to mind which has divided the world into those who believe we landed on the moon and those who do not believe we did, based on the photographic evidence. Was it authentic or did it represent something that happened or an idea/achievement?
But there is an element of doubt these days over the authenticity of images due to the use of digital techniques, ones which most of us have access too via social media and photo apps.
Trey Ratcliff is a photographer I discovered accidentally a few years ago, I was drawn to the high contrast and use of colour in his images of various locations around the world, using High Dynamic Range photography (HDR) to portray the locations in a way that would capture them in an “extraordinary way” (Trey Ratcliff | Photography and Biography, 2021). These places exist, we could visit them, but are these images misleading as they may not looking this way ‘in real life’? “Ratcliff’s work suggest his love for discovering and exploring places. His pictures have been considered by many as beautiful and gorgeous. One’s that inspire its viewers and fill them with surprise” (Trey Ratcliff | Photography and Biography, 2021). These images are indeed beautiful and inspiring to viewers, and possibly encourages viewers to visit these places and see these locations for themselves. Ratcliff use of HDR is o secret and he had devised tutorials for anyone to follow and try this technique out, and in a way informing his viewers that his images represent something close to reality.
I use a small amount of HDR within my own work, but subtly as I do not want the effect to overpower the detail in the image, instead I use a small edit to help enhance the details, textures, and colours within my images that the camera may have not fully picked up, thereby making my work ‘authentic’ but represents the world that was in front of the camera.
The boundary between art and photograph can be crossed with the realms of art photography, surrealism, and abstraction, where digital techniques can give photographers the tools to create images from both reality and imagination.
Andreas Franke is a photographer who I feel creates this form of photography. Creating images that at first glance could be real set ups underwater and therefore you believe to be real, but once you look closer, you can see they in fact represent an idea or message, to bring life back to artificial reefs and create an interaction between the past and present. The images are a combination of underwater photography and studio photography of people re-enacting daily life. Here combining what is in front of the camera in both settings to create one image that represents the idea.
I do not use these techniques within my own work, but instead use the authentic images of what I have seen in the world in front of my camera, and enhance aspects to highlight those areas of interest, therefore does that make my work both authentic and representative? Currently I feel it does, but this may become clearer as my work develops. I am currently experimenting with editing techniques using Photoshop and apps Snapseed and Lightroom to explore how I can represent my vision of the world I see when I make these human choices while shooting, identifying those points of details and interests that I feel portray my idea of visually representing details and fragility in the world and its relationship to me and my experiences.
References:
Websites:
Ratcliff, Trey. “HDR – Stuck in Customs.” Stuckincustoms.com, 2021, stuckincustoms.com/hdr/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2021.
“The Sinking World of Andreas Franke.” The Sinking World of Andreas Franke, 2015, thesinkingworld.com/.
“Trey Ratcliff | Photography and Biography.” Famous Photographers, 2021, www.famousphotographers.net/trey-ratcliff. Accessed 30 Jan. 2021.
“Vandenberg.” The Sinking World of Andreas Franke, 11 Aug. 2015, thesinkingworld.com/vandenberg/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2021.
Images:
Images, Google. “A Man on the Moon Photo - Google Search.” Www.google.com, www.google.com/search?q=a+man+on+the+moon+photo&safe=active&rlz=1C1AWFC_enGB863GB863&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiiqbqI-MPuAhWRa8AKHaxlBwkQ_AUoAXoECB8QAw&biw=1536&bih=722&dpr=1.25#imgrc=ohAj8vUN67qeVM. Accessed 30 Jan. 2021.
Ratcliff, Trey. “HDR – Stuck in Customs.” Stuckincustoms.com, 2021, stuckincustoms.com/hdr/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2021.
Time. “See the Story behind the Photo of ‘a Man on the Moon.’” 100 Photographs | the Most Influential Images of All Time, TIME 100 Photos, 2019,
“Vandenberg.” The Sinking World of Andreas Franke, 11 Aug. 2015, thesinkingworld.com/vandenberg/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2021.
Figures:
Fig 1: Neil Armstrong, A Man on the Moon, 1969, NASA
Fig 2: Trey Ratcliff, Date Unknown, from Trey Ratcliff HDR - Stuck in Customs
Fig 3: Laura Marsh, 2021, Look Down
Fig 4: Laura Marsh, 2020, Editing Experiments
Fig 5: Andreas Franke, 2010, Balancing Bob, Vandenberg Project
Further Questions of Authenticity
Within my work, I have not been one to overly edit or manipulate my images. Any amendments I made and make are subtle adjustments to contrasts, highlights, or shadows as sometimes the shot does not always correlate to what I had imagined, or I knew I would be able to adjust the elements afterwards. This I feel is where my current work could be considered representive, whereas in the previous module it would be closer to being authentic, as the images were lighter, and had very subtle edits to them. Even though this is how I worked, I was inspired in the last module by William Salit, who undertook a similar piece of work to mine called ‘Looking Down’ and he made a choice not to move any objects or edit them in any way, they are as they were found and seen, thereby representing the subjects and authenticating the image.
Now, going into Informing Contexts, my images have become darker, and by this, I mean I have enhanced the tones to create deep contrasts, the darkness adds a sense of softness about the image, a comment made by a peer as my work started to develop this look towards the end of Positions and Practice, and the colours are contrasted against the dark surroundings, which are created by adding a soft vignette with a small centre. Here I aim to create a sense of quiet and showing the detail in the item I have found. This could be considered as creating the photograph as if it were a painting, using the original unedited shot as reference to create a new image from it and create something out of the context it was originally in. Thereby not being truly authentic.
I have also experimented with getting closer to the objects, taking out the surroundings that I included before, and using my phone camera more. This is mainly because of the circumstances I am in, as due to lockdown, I am now not going out to purposefully take images, but I am using my daily walks, those prompts from my body telling me to move or when I walk to the supermarket. This means that carrying my DSLR is not always practical, so my phone offers a quick tool to capture something I spot but also acts as an idea base that I can refer to. This is where I can experiment with those edits and use apps such as Snapseed to make those quick changes. I have also recently downloaded Adobe Lightroom on my phone to explore both options and try using both on one image. Following on from last weeks topic and the Social Photo, I have tested filters, mainly a ‘glamour glow’ which sets the images in a vintage style, to see if it enhances the feel of the image and this is something I will explore with different images. Using a filter could detract the subject from the original intent and maybe even affect my idea of slowing down, pausing, looking and how my photography can be influenced by my personal experiences with pain and feeling fragile, which in turn influences the items I select, such as the skeleton of a leaf, which I feel could symbolise as mirroring the vulnerability of my spine, and our bodies in general, valuing our health.
In light of this, I believe my work shows elements of the lens, how our eyes see and the ability to add effects and edit our images, a few peculiarities I picked out while reading Photography, Vision and Representation, by Snyder and Allen, in critical Inquiry, 1975 and trying to show an element of the naturalistic photograph but pushing the authenticity of it. By only editing the feel and look of my images, I leave the item as it is seen, not touched, or moved in anyway, here it shows the Indexicality of the once alive green leaf, which is now brown and thin, and that the viewer can recognise it is a leaf. Here I am reminded of Barthes in Camera Lucida “the Photograph’s essence is to ratify what it represents” (Barthes, 2000:85) does my work validate that which it is representing? Is this image my of a dead leaf validating its existence and decaying state? This is something I will consider further over the coming weeks.
After attending the pop-up lecture this week, ‘Stilled Life’, it has started to make me about how my work could be interpreted by an audience, with this development in my editing, almost transforming a simple fallen, decaying leaf on the pavement, into a stilled life, reminiscent of still life set up. Could this lead viewers of my work to question its authenticity further?
References:
Barthes, Roland, et al. Camera Lucida : Reflections on Photography. London, Vintage Books, 2000.
Bibliography:
Snyder, Joel, and Neil Walsh Allen. “Photography, Vision, and Representation.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 2, no. 1, 1975, pp. 143–169.
---. “Looking down (Photo Series).” William Salit / Fine Art, 2021, williamsalit.com/project/looking-down-photo-series/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2021.
Figures:
Fig 1: Laura Marsh, 2021
Fig 2: Laura Marsh, 2021
Fig 3: Laura Marsh, 2021
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