In "Melancholy Objects," Sontag explores the relationship of photography and our understanding of the past. In terms of this essay, focus on these four quotes:
1) "Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56).
2) "But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own" (57)
3) "A photograph is only a fragment, and with the passage of time its moorings come unstuck" (71)
4) "The lure of photographs, their hold on us, is that they offer at one and the same time a connoisseur's relation to the world and a promiscuous acceptance of the world" (81)
In terms of this blog response, you have three tasks:
1. In a short paragraph, explain how the work of Nick Brandt epitomizes one of the four quotes above.
2. In a short paragraph, explain how the work of Stacy Kranitz epitomizes a different one of the four quotes above.
3. E-mail me a photograph (of which you are the photographer) that features an aspect of your 'reality.' I am going to post these photographs online, so don't send me a photograph that you don't want the world to see.
ReplyDelete1) “Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past” (56) is seen in Nick Brandt’s work. Nick’s work represents this as his images reveal the living and work style conditions. These images symbolize the importance of once there were animals at those sites, but now humans have taken over. The animals exemplifies the vanishing past as the environment represents the hidden truth.
2) “But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality, and eventually in one’s own” (57) is presented in Stacy Kranitz’s work. These images all have one thing in common, the struggles. I see this as Stacy being a tourist in other people’s reality. She explores the struggles one has to their reality. The camera becomes a tourist in her adventures that shows the struggles that she crosses by. The struggles she faces are the choices she makes in each picture.
Sontag's assertion that “Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past” is epitomized in Brandt's work. He hopes to evoke a yearning for the natural beauty that were once there, sensitize the society about the loss, and encourage commitment towards preserving the habitats that are still in existence.
ReplyDeleteKravitz's works and captions epitomize Sontag's assertion that “Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past”, because her works reflects her experiences or relationships with her subjects. This makes her work highly relatable to her audience.
“Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past” (56)
ReplyDeleteNick Brandt’s photographs are wonderful because they are uncovering the hidden truth. It is no secrete that as we “humans” continue to build and expand the land we take over for cities, we are taking over wild animal’s home. His photographs paint a picture of how we have taken over and we have taken the homes of these wild animals. These photographs serve to show us the past and the present that could have been.
Stacy Kranitz’s work serves uncover the truth that the word is full of variety. Her photos show people in their everyday life and it shows how life can be rather different to different people.
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ReplyDelete"Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56).
ReplyDeleteNick Brandt is an amazing photographer who gives us insight on what really is. What we constantly see is the censored, safe, non-gruesome part of the world. We are rarely shown the actual truth. When we only see the minor problems we never focus or see the main one. In Nick's photographs we are left speechless on what is discovered and never seen. This is the damage we as man have done to the homes of the animals that surround us.
"But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own" (57)
Like most photographers Kranitz helps to capture moments that not all focus or pay close attention to. She shows us much more than what we want to see. We begin to admire what she shows us because it helps us see objects, people, and places in a whole new way that we never cared to see before. Her photographs make us want to be there and sometimes make us feel as if we are right there. It may not be our own life, but it does feel quite close to it.
1. The work of Nick Brandt can be summed up by the Susan Sontag quote: "Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56). Brandt offers photographs of a modern East Africa, mixed with life-sized prints of animals native to that region. These animals have been forced out of their habitats due to human interference. They show the cost of man’s expansion over the world. They also point a finger at the problem with a hopeful outlook to the future, as its not too late from stopping a total extinction.
ReplyDelete2. The work of Stacy Kranitz matches the quote by Susan Sontag: "But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own" (57). Kranitz lives out of her car and travels, all the while taking pictures of the people she encounters. While being a literal tourist, she is also a photographer tourist, she observes people at the same time staying out of their lives, as demonstrated by her photo of the two young boys on bikes who were fighting.
Nick Brandt epitomizes the quote, “Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past.” Brandt’s photos serve the purpose of reminding us of what the world we live in now once looked like before. Not many of us think about or even know that animals once roamed the areas in which we go every day. The hidden truth in which his photos convey is that mankind wiped the animals out many centuries ago and people in today’s world do not even think twice about it.
ReplyDeleteStacy Kranitz epitomizes the quote, “But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other peoples’ reality, and eventually in one’s own.” Her photos are considered random with “unsettling” captions that tell a short story about people’s lives whom she encounters. Because she takes a picture in order to remember these people that technically would make her a tourist in their reality. Kranitz states that she lives out of her car and relies on photographs in order to feel less lonely; this reliance on taking photos for herself has made her a tourist in her own reality.
Nick Brandt is an amazing photographer who empathetically epitomizes the quote "The lure of photographs, their hold on us, is that they offer at one and the same time a connoisseur's relation to the world and a promiscuous acceptance of the world" (81). Through photography, Brandt presents the differences and similarities of the world and how we have become accepting of the two. Not many people think about an underpass as the home of an animal rather an advancement in industrialization. In many parts of the world industrialization is becoming greater. Sadly, we become accepting of this new change in the world because it is an advantage to humans without thinking about the harm we as humans do to inhabitants.
ReplyDeleteStacy Kranitz is an interesting photographer epitomizing the quote "Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56) in a rather unusual manner. Her photographs are pretty random and anomalistic. She not only decides to take these random photographs of strangers in their natural state, but also reveals the hidden truth about the process of taking such photographs. Her belief is to not caption photographs and to not tell others what to think and believe which. She does exactly that where instead of captioning a picture on her perspective, she tells a completely unrelated story behind the photograph.
1. Nick Brandt's work is epitomized by the quote, "the lure of photographs, their hold on us, is that they offer at one and the same time a connoisseur's relation to the world and a promiscuous acceptance of the world." Brandt uses photographs of well-known species of animals and relates them to the current state of habitat destruction. He accomplishes this by placing images of these beloved species within a second photographic image which depicts industrialization. The result is striking and highlights the reality of habitat loss. As we view his work we are drawn in, and in a manner of speaking, have complacently accepted the new reality that he depicts; inadvertently accepting it.
ReplyDelete2. The quote, "A photograph is only a fragment, and with the passage of time its moorings come unstuck," epitomizes Stacy Kranitz's work well. Kranitz seems highly skilled at capturing random moments in people's lives. Her work serves as snapshots that briefly tell someone's tale without revealing much detail outside of the moment. In this way she illuminates humanity; often in its most base form. Her message is one that I don't think will be lost with time.
"Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56) describes Nick Brandt's work by representing his art of animals that are endangered, or environments that are threatened, as the main focus of his work. His photos show where animals are present, but soon destroyed by humans by a vanishing past that we as individuals don't seem to realize the hidden truth by the damage that humans have made to these animal's sites.
ReplyDelete"But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own" (57) is presented in Stacy Kranitz's photographs. She presents photos in which she captures what reality really is by the struggles that individuals face. She observes people living their everyday lifes by capturing their struggles that relate to her own life. As humans we don't pay attention to these details that a camera catches, however, it gives us a sense to our own reality by making us feel that we are part of the photo.
Nick Brands work epitomizes the quote, "Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56). He shows the hiden truth of the wildlife we removed and conserves the past of how man kind took the land and used it for its benefit.
ReplyDelete"But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own" (57) is epitomized by Stacy Kranitz's work by the taking pictures of peoples lives as she herself tours their lives. She captures the lives of others while allowing us the chance to observe and tour.
“Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past.” Nick Brandt’s photos serve as a purpose to show what is happening in East Africa. The photos are uncovering the hidden truth by showing us how in reality those places look like and how humans have transformed the animal’s habitat. The photographs also show us an image of how the place looked before (when the animals were living there) and after (when the animals were not living there anymore).
ReplyDelete“But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other’s people reality, and eventually in one’s own.” Stacy Kranitz’s photo show the reality that happens on people’s everyday life. The camera captures an image that we sometimes don’t see it if we don’t take the picture and just by the fact of taking a picture of someone else reality, we become part of their life.
Nick Brandt epitomizes Sontag's quote, "The lure of photographs, their hold on us, is that they offer at one and the same time a connoisseur's relation to the world and a promiscuous acceptance of the world" (81) through his photographs. By the looks from his art, one can conclude that Brandt is a strong activist for the environment and animals. In terms of art, I would categorize Brandt as a surrealist. His documentation in searching for that ideal lighting and location for his giant animal images, "the main subject/object," takes a lot of time and effort. Brandt's viewers need to feel energize and be aware of nature through his art work.
ReplyDeleteLike Brandt, I would categorize Stacy Kranitz as a modern day Surrealist. Kranitz epitomizes Sontag's quote, "Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56) through her unconventional and less controlled approached photographs. That is why I consider her work to be Surrealism, because Kranitz's Instagram demonstrates more than anything the bourgeois disaffection with the conditions of the past. The photos do tend to have a crudeness feel, but that is what makes it true.
"Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56). This quote identifies closely with Nick Brandt's photographs. In this selection of photos Nick displays animals in a habitat that used to be their own. These photos hold on to the past and how things were prior to constructions in areas that were once beautiful and covered with wildlife. Similar to Londoners wanting to hold on to photos of relics, we are holding on to the wilderness that was once present.
ReplyDelete"The lure of photographs, their hold on us, is that they offer at one and the same time a connoisseur's relation to the world and a promiscuous acceptance of the world" (81). In a few of Stacy Kranitz images, we are able to see a multitude of different people in different scenarios and allowing us to accept these other worlds. It also allows us to sample from multiple different scenarios in very short amounts of time. This is similar to what Sontag discusses in her book, particularly when showing them in natural states different from most pictures. This is the connoisseur aspect for the viewer of her pictures. Though natural, it is very different from normal photos.
"Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56). This quote is relevant to Nick Brandt's photographs because all of his photos serve a purpose as well as a hidden truth. He wants the viewers of these photos to see beyond the image and see what natural beauty really is. He wants natural beauty to appear again as it used to through all of his images.
ReplyDelete"Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56) is also relevant to Stacy Kranitz because she uses her art work to relate with her audience. She used her photos for a purpose and not just to show off her skill; there is meaning behind her work and the audience can see the truth in them.
"Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56). In Nick Brandt's work, he shows us the life that was once there. He reveals to us the hidden truth. He combines both the before and after, and shows how cruel humans are. Humans are constantly taking land, occupied or not, to build houses and/or buildings. Nick's photographs gives us an insight on how the media deceives us. We see sad ads and commercials of animals going extinct, yet humans are the reason. We destroy and take over their habitat, leaving them with nothing.
ReplyDelete"A photograph is only a fragment, and with passage of time its mooring comes unstuck" (71). In Stacy Kranitz work, she lets the picture speak for itself . She puts pieces little by little to eventually make a huge story. Looking at these images, the viewers are open to any kind of interpretation. However, in the caption she gives us a description of the moment and what is happening.
"Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56). I picked this quote because the images show an animal, but behind that image is a bigger picture of the reality of people in black and white. The pictures sadness me because this shows the work and struggle of others that we as people might not realize everyday. People see life difficult, but when you see this pictures your problems are little compares to the real struggle of life.
ReplyDelete"But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own" (57). Kranitz uses color in his images, but compared to Brandt he doesn't show many struggling people. Each person in each picture represent a certain place, reality, personality. We see pictures as just that a picture, but never really see the picture and notice it is not made up its real life for some. People begin to wonder this is their life, and wonder about their own. Some struggles are little compared to others, but people need to put themselves in other people's shoes more often.
The quote most fitting on Nick Brandnt's work is "Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56). Brandnt uses photography to preserve the beautiful natural truth that once was in environments that have been replaced with harsher truths of human developments. His pictures remind me of a Metallica lyric "In wilderness is the preservation of the world, so seek the wolf in thyself" (of wolf and man). Humans tend to separate themselves from animals, but humans need a reminder that the more we separate ourselves from wilderness, the more we regard ourselves higher than it. This attitude is harmful in that we put our needs as humans over the needs of nature. Humans may have concrete jungles, but concrete isn't alive. Humans need to preserve the animal within to let nature survive.
ReplyDeleteStacy Kranitz photography best relates to the quote "But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own" (57).
A photograph preserves a moment in time and if a person is in that picture, it is preservation of a moment of their time. It is a peculiar thought though, that a picture can be a tourist of photographer's life. But it is possible in that owning the picture brings a person into his or her own narrative.
1) "Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56). Nick Brandt photos of East Africa’s and its vanishing majestic animals uncover the truth of in danger animals that are disappearing at a rapid rate. His images remind the viewer that East Africa was once the home of majestic animals like elephants, lions, giraffes and zebras. Most of Brandt photos in corporate portraits of elephants, chimpanzees, giraffes and zebras with a people going about their daily life’s as the background. Nick Brandt’s photos remind the viewer of the vanishings past.
ReplyDelete2) "But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own" (57). Stacy Kranitz photos allow the viewer to be a tourist into others people reality. Some of her photos included images of prostitutes, the towns drunk and the Grand Canyon. All of her images allow the viewer a glimpse into other people reality and their struggles; for example the image of the prostituted and the women suffering from a schizophrenic attack. That is only one image of their daily lives and a glimpse of their struggles. Krantiz images allow the viewer to be tourist into other people reality’s.
"But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own." (57) Nick Brandt's work really exemplifies this quote, as every picture displays an animal who had been ejected from it's natural habitat. We are the tourists who have come to stay in their homes, yet through photography Nick has allowed them to reclaim their homes which are now mere memories to them. These animals (some of which are close to extinction) are now tourists in a land they once owned.
ReplyDelete"The lure of photographs, their hold on us, is that they offer at one and the same time a connoisseur's relation to the world and a promiscuous acceptance of the world." (81) Stacy Kranitz's photography seems to offer it's viewer an unfamiliar version of the world that they once thought they had a firm grasp on. Even though it's new and strange it is satisfyingly posed and served to us in a tasteful manner. Kranitz's work thus allows the viewer to accept this new version while giving the viewer a sense of prestige based on being able to establish a familiarity with drunkenness, prostitution, racism, mental disorders, and other normally unseen lifestyles/issues.
"Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past" (56). I was attempting to ignore this quote while examining Nick Brandt's work. However, there is no denying that this most definitely is the correct way to state exactly what Brandt's photos do. It's so unfortunate that consumerism has destroyed nature and the natural ecosystem. Brandt makes it very apparent that our wildlife is dwindling and brings about a powerful message and not-so-hidden truth that people will accept photographs of wildlife as a replacement for those that lives that they destroy.
ReplyDelete"The lure of photographs, their hold on us, is that they offer at one and the same time a connoisseur's relation to the world and a promiscuous acceptance of the world" (81) I think that this quote best describes the works of Stacy Kranitz and her Instagram account. In the article presented above there is a quote from Kranitz referring to loneliness drawing her to Instagram in the first place. Maybe photographs really do allow everyone to gain some acceptance in the world. Often times your outreach is very limited and social media and self expression through photography can help to extend the reach of those who feel lonely or the necessity for inclusion.
When looking at Nick Brandt’s art the first quote “picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past” (56). Nick conserved the beautiful yet vanishing past of East Africa. He took photographs and enlarged them then placed them in areas of east Africa where these beautiful animals were once found. But now those places are trashed and the animals forced out by selfish man made structures or waste lands.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at Stacy Kranitz instagram photos I feel like I’m getting a glimpses into the rugged life of other almost as if I’m entering into an unknown territory so to that feeling I relate the quote: but essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality, and eventually in one’s own” (57). When you travel into other people’s lives after a while you become a tourist into your own. I think in our society we are so heavily engaged in what others are doing that we forget to focus on our own endeavors.
The work of Nick Brandt represents the quote “Picture-taking serves a high purpose: uncovering a hidden truth, conserving a vanishing past” (56). Brandt’s art shows photos of endangered animals in a habitat that they were once at. Civilization has been created by humans and now these animals have vanished from these habitats. The hidden truth behind these photos is that these animals are endangered and the cause of their endangerment are humans. The work conditions in the back of majority of his photos reveals the progress mankind has made in building a society. The work conditions in the photos are shown intensely with the black and white effects. These photographs show the past of animals roaming their grounds and the present of humans taking over with civilization.
ReplyDeleteThe work of Stacy Kranitz represents the quote, “But essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality, and eventually in one’s own” (57). I believe her photos best fit this quote because the short stories that are captioned are captured with a photo in a different setting. To her, capturing the struggles through other people are in relation to her everyday struggles. Capturing the lives of others eventually makes you think about your own life. As she tours, the camera becomes the tourist in her reality. An image that is seen of a setting of someone’s everyday life doesn’t show any struggles.