What makes a document?

I believe that every photograph is  a document, its importance however can change with time.

All photographs are of something or someone that existed at some point in time, a second, one year or seventy years ago. They document the presence of an object, a landscape, or a human being, real or composed especially for the shot and therefore it is my belief that every picture that has ever been taken can be seen as a form of a document.

Regarding the time aspect of the argument, I do agree that it can enrich the context of the photo and it most often does, but it certainly does not define the document. Not only the historical events, but changes to the landscape, changes in ones features can offer more significant meaning to the photograph. A great example of a personal document can be Nicholas Nixon's project 'Forty Portraits in Forty Years'. Photographer documented four sisters by producing a single image each year over a period of forty years. The 2014 photograph is as much of a document as the first photograph taken in 1975, but undoubtedly the first picture consists more of a documentary value, as it presents faces much different from today, it shows an event long gone, maybe even forgotten.

Looking at the comments to the article 'What makes a document?' on WeareOCA website, I can see that a few commentators agree with my beliefs. Kerileeb and Richard Down have similar understanding of what makes a document, although Kerileeb seems to be unsure about the physical aspect of the documentary photograph. I must underline my strong understanding that ALL photographs in any shape or form are of a documentary value. In my opinion the physical aspect does not restrict the definition of a document. There is obviously the element of a digital manipulation, which opens a new can of worms in this argument, but the printed image can also be altered, even if its just by the usual wear and tear, which often comes with age. I'd like to risk to say that even heavy digital manipulations can be seen as a form of a document, as they document the state of the mind of the artist and its imagination. This perhaps does not apply to this argument, as here the purely traditional documentary is being discussed.

So to summarise, I personally like to treat all photographs as some form of a document. The context does not define it, nor does the time, the latter however can greatly improve the importance of the context.