Photo Journal #2

Press photographs

▲ Author : Bruce Adams / source : Daily Mail

▲ author : Ben Gurr / Source : The Times

Art Photographs

▲ author : Joel-peter Witkin / source : http://www.edelmangallery.com/

▲ author : Joel-peter Witkin / source : http://www.edelmangallery.com/

Generally, Press photographs have a role to explain the news and articles about the events, accidents, and happenings etc. Art photographs have similarities with press photographs to record and re-appear the specific reality. But art photographs are not put up only that meaning and creating final results from author’s subjective sense of value and esthetic subjectivities.

If so that is it ethical and acceptable to alter art photographs from press photographs? I believe that it can be change to art photographs. The first press photo is a boy who lost both arms and legs and second press photo is a guy help his mother and bring their relief goods after had earthquake at Haiti.

As I said above, you can see pains, value of life, family love and desire of survival from these press photographs except for recording and re-appear the happenings. These are enough to alter as art photographs.

Then, is it ethical and acceptable to alter press photographs from art photographs? I would say there has a limit to alter press photo from art photo. Art photographs what I attached above is Joel-peter witkin’s works. What is your first think when you see that photos? Isn’t it obscene and expressing sexually even they didn’t explain that works? Joel-peter witkin bring into relief about the body as life and death, normality and taboo, and beauty and cruelty. The body in the picture is a symbol as social and cultural text. These can be a place to experiment on expressing photo’s conventional and mental description. Also these are pursuing their true characters. Like this, these art photographs are representing about the body of cognition at that time but more over it is realizing author’s subjective sense of value and beauty. Also, it is really hard to sympathize from everyone as press photographs because some people can think these photos are too obscene to use as press photographs.