Lukas Rapp Beresford Road 16 HA1 4QZ London W1512888 Realism and Documentary Photography 06.01.2015
The term reality is often used to define what is common sense, or what is seen as true from the perspective of the wide masses. Frequently used in visual storytelling, for example in movies, where one might ask himself if what is happening could be recognised as reality. Often science is used to prove how true something is. Fiction may makes the masses think more than realism itself and eventually this same fiction becomes reality. This is also a question that has been discussed by many knowledgeable poets and intellectuals in the past, among others Bertolt Brecht. He thought about the concept of realism and more importantly, how it changes. It is crucial to add that the following quote refers to literature and like Brecht, is politically motivated. This essay will apply this quote to documentary photography and its adoption of the reality. One has to understand that Brecht s quote is a personal statement an ideology where Bertolt Brecht is only responsible towards himself borrowing this quote and connecting it with documentary photography and photojournalism would raise another question about objectivity. However, this essay will not address the question of objectivity in photography. With the people struggling and changing reality before our eyes, we must not cling to tried rules of narrative, venerable literary models, eternal aesthetic laws. We must not derive realism as such from particular existing works, but we shall use every means, old and new, tried and untried, derived from art and derived from other sources, to render reality to men in a form they can master Our concept of realism must be wide and political, sovereign over all conventions (Brecht, 1938). This essay tries to explain realism in the context of two different photography projects, which were created around the same time in the same context in 2008 to reflect the on going
struggle in Afghanistan. Single lines of Brecht s quote linked with images, explain the ideas behind the body of work and their interpretation of reality. The term documentary in this essay is also defined as the recording of images as well as the common understanding of documentary photography 1. Tim Hetherington s work displays soldiers in the Korengal valley. The essay will focus particularly on the image series of sleeping soldiers. His approach is understood as classical documentary, where essential information is given within the photograph - the space for interpretation is smaller. One might ask, seeing the photographs, why the soldiers are sleeping, but even some of the captions explain these details. 1 The photographer attempts to produce truthful, objective, and usually candid photography of a particular subject, most often pictures of people. Wikipedia as an encyclopaedia defines what the wide mass understands within a term.
Illustration 1: Hetherington, T. (2008). 'Doc' Kelso sleeping. [Online Image] Available from: <https://www.magnumphotos.com> [05.01.2015] Around the same time in 2008, Broomberg & Chanarin 2 recorded the project The Day Nobody Died which captured the reality of Helmland Province in a particularly unique way. The two photographers took in place of their cameras, a roll of photographic paper 50 metres long and 76.2 centimetres wide contained in a simple, lightproof cardboard box (Broomberg & Chanarin, 2008). 2 In this essay Broomberg & Chanarin are referred to as photographers or photojournalists, as that is what they told the Ministry of Defense, rather than saying they are artists, how they refer to themselves on their homepage.
Illustration 2: Broomberg & Chanarin, A. & O. (2008) The Brothers Suicide, June7, 2008 [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.choppedliver.info/the-day-nobody-died/> [05.01.2015] They exposed parts of the paper to light for 20 seconds on a daily basis to light and stated that the work is offering a profound critique of conflict photography in the age of embedded journalism (Broomberg & Chanarin, 2008). The evidence and criticism is achieved through the recorded process, not the through images themselves. This essay will explain in more details the different circumstances and intentions of the two projects and what they say about realism.
We must not derive realism from particular existing works. (Brecht, 1938) Reality is changing; it never stays stagnant as it is influenced by the world around it, which is in a constant state of flux. So goes for storytelling. But one can ask what is reality by the time a work is produced, recorded, or published. Brecht spoke about reality as perceived by the wide masses. The majority of the population defines what reality or common sense is, but it is in a constant transition; thus, reality is also discontinuous. (Lukacs, 1938) This discontinuity can be observed in documentary photography here through Hetherington and Broomberg & Chanarin. Both projects define realism within the same geographical area, the same time, and more importantly, the same context the context of war. Nevertheless the outcome is completely different. Tim Hetherington photographed the reality in the Korengal valley, and tried to explain the situation of the soldiers stationed in this area to the world. The idea, however, is not new, but showing just one sleeping soldier makes the audience focus on them, realizing their youth and may more easily empathise with their situation. He drifts away from being a soldier, and instead shows a human sleeping. He also used the material of the sleeping soldiers to create a video installation for his exhibition. Hetherington did not derive realism from existing works, rather he created from one work two different realities. On the other hand, photography itself did not change; rather, the general knowledge and the distrust that has developed towards the medium in recent years. The broad mass is used to seeing classical war photographs and is able to read them. Even the possibilities of digital manipulation and altering are common sense in the 21 st century. Particularly in recent years, where photographers have drifted away from classical war photography, merging it with art like Broomberg & Chanarin.
To render reality to men in a form they can master. (Brecht, 1938) By displaying the sleeping soldiers in the photographs, Tim Hetherington delivers content in a straightforward way. Hetherington renders the complex reality into a form that can be understood. Barthes refers public knowledge as Studium (Barthes, 1981). The wide masses can easily connect a sleeping human with innocence. A soldier who sleeps cannot kill. Hetherington connects the audience and the content of his photographs with common sense. The message also relates to Barthes (1977, p36) symbolic image, whereas the first message can be seen literal (sleeping soldier) and the second symbolic (innocence). Reality and truth are two hypotheses that often go along with each other. Yet, both are not absolute, but rather fluid. Broomberg & Chanarin made the process of their work visible and transparent. More importantly, an understanding of the process of their work it is necessary as to explain their images. Through this method, the reality of the photographs is rendered in a way to make the work accessible to the general public. Content that is understood in the general public is by far easier to address than artistic images, as they have to be explained they leave space for interpretation and misunderstanding. It is far more likely to cause confusion and misconception, as language is needed to master the meaning. Broomberg & Chanarin have to work with this method, of additional text, video and discussion. Barthes added to the Studium the second level of interpreting of photography named Punctum (Barthes, 1981, p.25f). Punctum refers to the personal experience that can be read from a photograph and is individual. Coming from that point, it can be said that the photographs of Broomberg & Chanarin have no Studium, and maybe as well no Punctum.
Our concept of realism must be wide and political, sovereign over all conventions (Brecht, 1938) One can ask what Brecht referred to when he wrote Our concept, whom did he mean? In context with the previous quote it can be seen as an oxymoron. If reality has to be rendered to be mastered, it can t be at the same time undefined wide, political and sovereign over all conventions. If Brecht was talking about the mass of people, which he defined by the standpoint of the class which offers the broadest solutions for the pressing difficulties in which human society is caught up (Brecht, 1938); what can be translated as the working class, it has to be limited to a specific point in order to be mastered by the wider audience. Transferred to photography, it would mean to create work that is straightforward and needs no explanation rather just captions. One cannot demand from the general public to understand complex systems of reality linked with art, as art always leaves space for interpretation. This limitation is obviously demonstrated in the Broomberg and Chanarin s project The Day Nobody Died. Only the captions tell the audience what had happened that day. The content of their images needs explanation, more precisely the video that proves their presence can t be read from the photographs. Just as it can be said the body of work is spectacular, it can be argued that just this fact pushes the project away from conventional documentary photography. The military seemed to have the same point of view, as once they realized that Broomberg & Chanarin were not doing conventional war photography, they were shuffled briskly out of Helmand (Dixon, 2011). The project goes beyond the images, and the situation of being embedded in a war zone. It opens up space for discussions, but also leaves a gap for criticism as O'Hagan (2012) called it a conceptual joke and patronizing and arrogant.
The relationship between documentary photography and reality can be explained through both the work of Hetherington, and Broomberg & Chanarin. Each project represents reality as seen at almost the same time period of 2008 but the outcome is completely different. Brecht understood reality as a fluid concept, as he did about rules of storytelling. It is a concept that should be changed, challenged, and steadily adapted to a context in which reality is present. We must not cling to tried rules of narrative, venerable literary models, eternal aesthetic laws (Brecht, 1938) Tim Hetherington s work 3 Restrepo Outpost, Korengal Valley in June July 2008 attempted to show the daily life and the daily reality of the soldiers. Among these photographs is a series of sleeping soldiers that invites the viewer another side to the soldier fighting for his country in Afghanistan. It shows vulnerability, humanity, and it links fathers and reveal how they must seem to their mothers (Gopnik, 2012). The images show men at war and at the same time it offers another layer another story. Hetherington used the photographs of the sleeping soldiers for a video installation, layering different video recordings of the war zone above the photographs of the sleeping soldiers. The situation could be from a war movie showing a flashback or a dream of a soldier, where the happenings of war are hunting him in his dreams. It was displayed on three screens put together on a wall. 3 Tim Hetherington stayed for 15 month in the Korengal Valley, but the essay focuses on the sleeping soldiers, which were mainly photographed in June and July 2008.
Even though this essay focus on the series of sleeping soldiers, giving a comparison to the other photographs Hetherington made, show us photographs of war, revealing intimacy. Doc Kelso appears in different photographs, in the illustration 1, he is sleeping, isolated and different perceived, as in illustration 2, where he is sitting with his friends, laughing and smoking. We are clearly in a military environment that is suggested by the uniform and the background. Another connotation is given through the soldiers not wearing t-shirts. The viewer is presented with muscular soldiers, full of tattoos. Illustration 3: Hetherington, T. (2008). 'Doc' Kelso enjoys a joke while waiting during a lull in the fighting at Restrepo. [Online Image] Available from: <https://www.magnumphotos.com> [05.01.2015] Hetherington moves with his work far beyond rules of narratives, as due to his 15 month in Afghanistan the intimacy he is showing is much different from a conventional war photographer.
Although completed at around the same time in 2008 and also photographed in Afghanistan, Broomberg and Chanarin photographed a similar subject with a completely different approach towards documentary photography and therefore requires more explanation in order to understand the subject matter. It is by far not a piece of classical documentary work, but borrows documentary aspects and merges them with tried and untried. But we shall use every means, old and news, tried and untried, derived from art and derived from other sources (Brecht, 1938) Broomberg & Chanarin s photographs from Afghanistan are meant to be a criticism of the mechanism of the embedding process, but as well, documents of what occurred in reality. Glaviano (2014) said these new methods are a cross between reality and a more personal and artistic vision of it. The method, in this case bulky photographic paper, is artistic, seen in the spectacular. It is not the intention of classical reportage or documentary photography to be imposing, as in the case in art, which can or wants to be imposing and consequently, provoking. It is important to know that the title The Day Nobody Died refers to the 5 th day that Broomberg & Chanarin stayed in Helmland Province, as the day that no one had been killed. Broomberg & Chanarin remarked the obvious difference between classical documentary photography, like Hetherington s work, in the describing text at their exhibition in the Barbican gallery. As abstract, non-figurative images, they are useless as evidence. (Broomberg & Chanarin, 2008) What makes them meaningful as documentary work is not the photographs themselves, but the recording of the image making process. The explanatory text at the Barbican exhibition, and discussions with Broomberg & Chanarin are necessary to fully understand their work and
the intention it has be create a critic of the embedding method, leading to self censoring. This is particularly true of the video that shows the transport of the photographic paper from London to Afghanistan and within the country, gives evidence of the photographers being at a war zone. Furthermore, the journey of the box became, when viewed from the right perspective, an analytical process, revealing the dynamics of the machine in its quotidian details, from the logistics of war to the collusion between the media and the military (Broomberg & Chanarin, 2008).
Illustration 4: Broomberg & Chanarin, A. & O. (2008) The Day Nobody Died II, June 10, [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.choppedliver.info/the-day-nobody-died/> [30.12.2014] To go into more detail about the arguments used to understand Broomberg & Chanarin s project, the above image Illustration 3 was taken at the day nobody died. As in the other image displayed from the series, it doesn t provide any details to help its audience understand the photograph, nor does it show a day where no soldiers, fixers or any other person died. The visual difference of the images cannot be seen.
Another perspective these photographs try to show us is less obvious and needs to be seen from another angle. Contrary to Hetherington s photos, the image does not appeal the audience s emotions, not in the way conflict photographs usually address people. Generated emotions let the viewer lose the rational way one might analyse the seen photograph. Brecht went to such length and associated emotion with the chaos and irrationality of capitalism itself (Linfield, 2010). The Day Nobody Died does not address its content in an emotional way. The entire body of work is rationally constructed and therefore does not let the audience drift away into sentimental feelings. This layer works contrary to the content by helping the viewer focus, instead of distracting them. One might not agree with the critical approach used by Broomberg & Chanarin - which asks about a more critical view towards the processes photographs are produced. But as Steve Jobs said: you can [ ] glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can t do is ignore them, because they change things. Nevertheless the project does not address the general audience, as it needs further explanation to understand the concept behind it. But it challenges gridlocked ideas of reality and questions beyond the presented photograph. It works also on the level of evidence. In the recent years photographs have often been used in different wars from different sides. The Day Nobody Died cannot be so easily transferred to another location. As this essay adopts Brecht s quote to build a connection to documentary photography, one shall argue that it is not clear how realism has to be seen. Documentary photography or photography in general tries to reflect the world in an ideally objective manner. Bertolt
Brecht, on the other hand, has a political motive. He was convinced that his own perception is the fortune of the masses. He tried to do his utmost within his ethical limits to achieve it. One can assume that both Hetherington and Broomberg & Chanarin were not conscious about the reality they might see once they arrived in Afghanistan. Thus, they were unsure about the approach and content they would eventually capture. This essay comments on how reality and photography are connected and what is possible in image making. On the other hand, it also shows the limit, which does not come from the photography itself, but from the meaning the common man derives from it. This definition, as explained, is constantly changing. The broader audience may not define Broomberg & Chanarin s reality, but this may change in the future. As art flows constantly into contemporary documentary photography, it shall find a wider audience. Like the approach of documentary photography in the past, that was often ahead of its time and eventually recognised decades later. This perspective often develops along with technological advances. One has to understand that realism is always changing, and therefore, is impossible to define. One element that influences realism and changes it constantly is technology. In other words, what might be seen unreal today could be seen real tomorrow. Words: 3002
List of Figures: Illustration 1: Hetherington, T. (2008). 'Doc' Kelso sleeping. [Online Image] Available from: <https://www.magnumphotos.com> [05.01.2015]... 4 Illustration 2: Broomberg & Chanarin, A. & O. (2008) The Brothers Suicide, June7, 2008 [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.choppedliver.info/the-day-nobody-died/> [05.01.2015]... 5 Illustration 3: Hetherington, T. (2008). 'Doc' Kelso enjoys a joke while waiting during a lull in the fighting at Restrepo. [Online Image] Available from: <https://www.magnumphotos.com> [05.01.2015]... 10 Illustration 4: Broomberg & Chanarin, A. & O. (2008) The Day Nobody Died II, June 10, [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.choppedliver.info/the-day-nobody-died/> [30.12.2014]... 13 List of Literature Barthes, R. (1981). Camera Lucidia. New York: Hill and Wang. Barthes, R. (1977). The Rhetoric of the Image. (Image- Music- Text, Hrsg., & S. Heath, Übers.) London: Wm. Collins Sons and Co. Brecht, B. (1938). Popularity and Realism. Das Wort. Broomberg & Chanarin, A. &. (2008). The Day Nobody Died. Visited: 05.01.2015 http://www.choppedliver.info/the- day- nobody- died/ Colberg, J. (22. 07 2013). CPH MAG. Visited: 05.01.2015 http://cphmag.com/convo- broomberg- chanarin/ Dixon, R. (6. 2 2011). Los Angeles Times. Visited: 05.01.2015 http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/06/entertainment/la- ca- cultural- exchange- 20110206 Foresta, D. (1991). The Many Worlds of Art, Science and the New Technologies. Glaviano, A. (12.01.2014). www.vogue.it. Visited: 05.01.2015 http://m.vogue.it/en/people- are- talking- about/vogue- arts/2014/12/true- or- false- photography- in- the- digital- era Gopnik, B. (12.4.2012). The Daily Beast. Visited: 05.01.2015 http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2012/04/12/tim- hetherington- s- sleeping- soldiers- photos.html Linfield, S. (2010). The Cruel Radiance - Photography and Political Violence. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Lukacs, G. (1938). Realism in the Balance. Das Wort. O'Hagan, S. (Autor). (2012). What is Conceptual Photography [Video].