Ritchin Chapter 7

I really enjoyed chapter seven of Ritchin’s After Photography. Photography has the power to bring social predicaments into view. Unlike writing, which only allows for situations to be described, photography shows people what is happening. With photography becoming so much more accessible, the documentation of social situations is becoming more prominent. Ritchin discusses the “Nuclear Nightmare” photographic essay by Robert Knoth and Antoinette de Jong, where they documented the physical and mental effects of humans as a result of a nuclear reaction. While yes the images achieved a large audience, are situations such as this honorable or exploitive? To me documentary and social photography always posts this question.

Chapter 6

In chapter 6 Ritchin discusses the development of an online interactive photo essay that addressed the conflicts between the Serbs, Croats, and Muslims. Viewers were able to begin at a certain point within the essay and from there pave their own path depending on which link they selected. While this does create a new and interesting way of interacting with world news, I cannot help but think about the possible outcomes of navigating through a photo essay. Within the chapter Ritchin states; "Those in a conversation pick up on different ideas and follow them in whatever ways interest them and they feel are appropriate". After navigating through hundreds of photos and texts I would assume that the viewer would become confused with the point in which they started, and that the materials would start to blend into different stories. The intended script might get lost along the way confusing the viewer of the actual story.

Negative Scan

Fluid Scan

Chapter 4

While reading chapter four I became really frustrated with the proposal of having links that go off of a photograph. To me the experience should be between the viewer and the image, it should not go beyond that. The photographer constructs a final image and that is what matters. It shouldn’t matter what filter they used or how long the exposure was. What the relationship with the final is to me what matters the most. There should also be no icon in the corner of an image. I believe that it would be, at times, disastrous. Depending on the image it could really concern a viewer and cause them to question the entire image. If it is a photo of a war scene and it has that icon, it would most likely strike up controversy and concern questioning the truthfulness of the image. I honestly think it is horrible idea.

While reading these chapters I found myself to be very concentrated on his style of writing. I find it distracting and a little frustrating. He will be serious and focused and then he tries to make a joke in the middle and it throws me and then I get side tracked on how much I hate his writing.