What is Photography?
People take/make photographs for many different reasons. Whether it is to capture a moment or memory, tell a story, or simply express a way of thinking, people all around the world are constantly taking different types of photographs. Photography allows people to communicate with each other in ways that you are unable to do verbally, people are able to express their thoughts and emotions through just a photograph. For some people, photography is a way of life.
There are many different types of photography including: landscape, portrait, scenic, pinhole, panoramic, edited, fashion and black and white. These types of photography are probably some of the most popular and are interpreted in many different ways. From the original black and white, that photographs are now being edited to be this way, to edited photography with the use of photoshop, photographs vary and there is no type of photography better than another.
Photography is also a way of helping us see the world. People are able to see famous landmarks and areas of the world right from their very home all because of photography. Instead of travelling across the world to see a famous building or landmark, you are able to see it just from a photograph with the use of technology.
Photography is very similar to visual art as photography is a form of art itself. Visual art can be interpreted in many different ways, much the same as photography can. Visual art is a way of expressing emotion and photography, whether it is simply for a documentary use or not, it expresses emotion.
There is no best way to find a good photograph as photographs are interpreted positively and negatively by different people. Good photographs are also found anywhere and everywhere. A good place to start is a gallery or exhibition. If you are interested in a certain type of photography or a certain photographer, there is likely to be a gallery or exhibition somewhere that documents their work. The introduction of technology also means you can easily find any type of photograph or photographer on the internet.
I am very interested in street art photography as I feel that it is very abstract and the photographs can tell a story very well. I feel like street art has a sense of personality to it as well, this is because it is originally just art but photographers personalise it and make it their own with a camera. I also like fashion photography as I feel that the camera can capture the best aspects of fashion just through a photograph. Whether the fashion is what is eye catching or not, I feel that almost all fashion photography has a sense of focus and sharpness to it that you cannot create in other photographs. Very few things frustrate me about photography as I have accepted that photographs are interpreted in many different ways and some people may not always see what I see however I do find it frustrating when I see real potential for a photograph and I am unable to get the turn out I want.
'What is Photography?' - Exhibition
I chose these photos for my exhibition because I wanted a range of photographs that described photography in different ways. there are many different types of photography however I believe that these types are some of the most important. I chose old, black and white, portrait, scenic, journalistic, motion and the most recent due to technology, edited. In my exhibition, I decided to present the photos in order of old to new, as I wanted to portray how photography has changed and developed over time, and how it is still and will change more.