Representation and Power

It can be seen that misrepresentation of the subject is a reoccurring issue within the world of photography. Image misrepresentation can happen so easily, when a photograph that was taken to support one view gets taken out of context to support another, or when the caption provides false information. This said photo was not created and intended to reflect those views or does not truthfully portray what the caption says it does, and therefore affects the way people then view an organisation, photographer or the original image and whatever and whoever is pictured. Misrepresentation is not always necessarily intentional, just like the game of Chinese whispers, as an image circulates the world its context, captions and meanings can be interpreted differently and therefore changed. However, in some cases it is clear information has been intentionally altered in order to suit certain needs. When you look at the relationship between a photographer and their subject, it is clear that in many cases it is the photographer with the power. They have control of the image, how it is taken and how their subject is being portrayed and they then have the power when it is being used and distributed. The photographer is in a position to sell the photo for different intent than it was originally made for, and the subject may not be aware of this.

Staging photographs is another example of misinterpretation. By staging and changing something within a scene in order to improve the image means that the final image is not a true representation of what happened, this is especially controversial within photojournalism and documentary photography. Furthermore, image manipulation can be another way of representing a situation wrongly and excessive manipulation is taken very 1seriously in photography. Many photographers losing their credibility for editing something out of their image that may seem harmless but ultimately wrongly portrays the original scene. Narciso Contreras lost his job with the Associated Press after admitting he had used the clone tool to edit out a camera out of the bottom left hand corner of the image of a Syrian rebel in the middle of action.

However, it can also be seen that any image can never truly reflect an event or situation truthfully because that image can only show what is happening in that split second, it can only ever represent that given moment. Anything that happen directly before or after the image is taken is irrelevant.

misrepresentation

This image taken at the recent Westminster attack is another example of
misrepresentation of the subject. It depicts a muslim woman walking past an injured person on the ground, she is on the phone and people made claims that she was walking past the tragedy without caring.

It is a candid image, taken quickly by a photographer at the scene of a tragedy. It is not planned or set up. Some viewers however, were quick to judge this innocent lady as they see her as a threat solely because of her religion and culture. The extremist Muslim group behind this attack has encouraged people to be racist against the whole religion. These viewers do not know the whole context behind the image though, this woman is not just walking calmly past because she does not care. Both the photographer, and the lady pictured released statements about how distressed and panicked she was in fact. Examples like this show how important context is in order to properly understand an image.

Ultimately, working collaboratively and using participatory techniques helps to create a fair representation that both the subject and photographer are happy with. The subject is not at an unfair advantage as they are as in control and as involved as the photographer is. In this project I want to strive to portray a fair representation of my subject, and only work on terms they are completely happy with.

Published by gweniverexton

Currently studying Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the University of Gloucestershire.

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