633 photography

Photographic Technologies and Representation in the American Midwest

CCR 633 ::: 2/24/11

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Photographic history methodologies


Photograph as rhetorical object/text


Inscription of private and public memory

Rhetorical construction of place


Amateur v. Professional


Roh:

Need we master the mechanism in order to become a “good” photographer? No.

Organizing, individualizing principles.Personality is required.


Roh: 5 types of “applied photography”

1. photogram2. photomontage3. reality photo4. photo combined with typography5. photo combined with etching/painting


Tim, paraphrasing Kate & Latoya:

“Do all technologies drastically alter our ways of perceiving the world? Or, do we primarily attribute this quality to technologies associated with language? How might this affect how we think about technological determinism? Meaning, is it possible to make small claims about determinism—such as, technologies associated with language determine shifts in collective human perception?”


Hoelscher:

The camera is simultaneously a technology of domination and survivance.

Assigning meaning to photographs depends on understanding the contexts of creation and circulation.


Ben:

I’m no “guns don’t kill people” fanatic because that’s absurd, but how much agency do we pin on photographic technologies in the history that Hoelscher describes, and how much do we pin on colonialization, western reason, and capitalism?

Is photography really a “‘predatory weapon’ in American colonialism” (9), as Sontag describes it, or is it just a handy tool for a variety of aims? What I’m asking is if Hoelscher thinks there is something inherent in the technology that lead to this particular use, and, if so, to what extent do you all agree?


Edward Curtis, “White Shield.” (1908)Saturday, March 12, 2011

Ephriam Swain Finch demonstrating how he attempted to kill grasshoppers in 1876


Shooting ducks on Marsh Lake, Cherry County


633 photography

Documents

photographic technologies

american colonialism

american midwestccr

rhetorical objecttextsaturday

technology of domination

technological determinism

guns dont

people fanatic