Truths and Untruths

Documentary images that have had a large impact

Lecture Notes - General Research

Untruth

American Soldiers raising an American Flag on the island of two Jima was taken on Feb 23 1945. This photograph created a large impact as it was the first U.S flag to be raised on Mount Suribachi. One reason why i believe this photograph created such an impact was due to its staged nature, as it was not a spontaneous act, as a U.S. commander thought the flag was too small to be seen at a distance. And so, a few hours later, five more Marines and one Navy medical corpsman carried out orders to haul a much larger flag up to the top. The first photograph was taken by Staff Sgt Louis S Lowery was not published and as globally renowned as this second photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal. I believe this is because of its composition as the flag structures the picture, the diagonal position the pole is photographed in, it contrasts with the forward position of the soldiers. They seem to rise from the floor in a powerful imaginative way as a theme of victory.

Controversial Photograph

This photograph was taken in 1994 of a Sudanese child with a vulture by the photographer Kevin Carter. I believe this photograph created such a large scale impact due to the content of the photograph, and the extent Carter went by putting his life in danger with a vulture to achieve this shot to show the world. I feel the most heavily controversial aspect of this photograph is the techniques Kevin Carter has used when taking this photograph. One example of this is the low angle the shot was taken from, this low angle putting himself on level with the girl creates the feel that he is on par in power with the girl, whereas in reality in that moment his level of weakness was no way near the low level of the subjects. Also i believe the composition that the photographer has chosen for example the technique of rule of thirds, Carter has photographed the vulture in the top left third which creates the illusion of the vulture being close to the girl than in real life. I believe if this photograph was taken from a different angle for example a side angle which would represent realistic spacing it may not have created such a global impact.