Merging Genres, merging media.

What is documentary photography?

According to various sources and quoting here answers.com - In the broadest sense, all photography not intended purely as a means of artistic expression might be considered ‘documentary’, the photograph a visual document of an event, place, object, or person, providing evidence of a moment in time.... The Life Library's Documentary Photography (1972) defined it as ‘a depiction of the real world by a photographer whose intent is to communicate something of importance—to make a comment—that will be understood by the viewer’.
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/documentary-photography-1#ixzz3CqhltCvF


Miranda Gavin http://www.oca-student.com/node/100125

Miranda Gavin in her interview attempts to answer the same question – ‘What is documentary photography’. I say ‘attempts’ not at all to underline the clumsiness of the answer, but to simply state the fact that the plain ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response is not possible.
We are first given an inside into some vital changes in modern documentary photography, i.e. the recent introduction of a popular digital platform, allowing both, easier access and much quicker delivery. We must not forget that only 70 years ago a clumsy darkroom technician destroyed almost all, but eleven photographs of the D Day landing taken by Robert Capa. Today with the access to digital technology such accidents can be easily avoided. The simplicity of digital is encouraging, it creates faster availability and attracts more attention from both, the viewer and the photographer.
The second important recent change is the increased number of woman taking on documentary photography. This in effect reroutes the genre, perhaps more towards the feminist and family orientated topics?
Lastly and most importantly the issue of a clear separation from the art movement is lifted. I think if we have such prominent name as the interviewee underlining the constant struggle of an editor attempting to categorize a photograph we must ask ourselves how to deal with the issue personally. Miranda Gavin talks about the need of often turning to the photographer in order to get the clear answer. I believe that anything that has not been manipulated in order to express an artistic vision of a photographer can be called a document (perhaps not an objective document, because I do not believe that such thing is possible – more on this later in the course, I’m sure?!?) and it purely depends of a photographer if he wishes to categorize it as a documentary photograph.