This chapter aims to distinguish between the 3 different photographic genres: Visual Sociology – the use of images to establish or support sociological theory; Documentary Photography – which “was tied, historically, to both exploration and social reform” (Becker 1998: 76); and Photojournalism – the production of images for forms of journalism, such as magazines and newspapers. The idea of ‘context’ is also discussed and analysed.
Context provides an image with a meaning (Becker 1998: 77), grouping the image within a specific genre or subject area, either describing the image in detail for the reader or leaving it to the reader’s interpretations, with photography being described as "a technology of visualization that both draws on and establishes a visual economy through which events and issues are materialized in particular ways" (Campbell 2009). Becker further discusses context by analysing the versatility of photographs in one context if that photograph were to be applied to another in the sub-chapters, Reading a documentary picture as visual sociology or photojournalism, Reading a sociological picture as journalism and as documentary and Reading a journalistic picture as visual sociology and as documentary.
Becker discusses how these initial images would differ in the perspective of the different genres, but also, in applying an image to other contexts, different methods should be applied. Journalistic images require simplicity for their readers (Becker 1998: 75-76), a title which states the content of the image in addition to the image, itself, being clear for the reader, not only to aid the reader but to also validate the point of the image (Becker 1998: 80). An image from the other genres can be transmitted to this context if these methods are applied. Illustrations of the topic for which the image is being used, such as homelessness (Becker 1998: 82), would find meaning in media stereotypes, unlike visual sociological contexts which have clearer meanings because of the amount of time and research conducted in comparison with an image being used for a headline.
A sociological image, usually with a description or small descriptive passage (‘explicit’ context), will provide its reader with information concerning the setting of the image, who is in it, what is happening and what the overall image aims to show – documentary images without such detailed passages (more ‘implicit’) would be used in this way. Journalistic images, such as the image of Richard Nixon leaving the White House following the Watergate scandal (Becker 1998: 83), could perhaps pose questions into media fascination of Nixon – amongst other potential sociological subject areas.
Documentary images are taken as part of a larger project, analysing a particular subject area through a number of different images. The documentary image example, showing the backs of 2 smartly-dressed men, is not a clear in what it is trying to show. Within this context, the imagery in this picture could be used to convey a message or statement - this particular one as a political statement (Becker 1998: 79-80). This context could be used against an image of either of the others. Journalistic images of various points in history are frequently turned into documentaries, re-telling the story of that event and analysing it further. Documentaries into the assassination of JFK and the Friedmans child abuse case are among many to have been converted into documentaries – the ‘Capturing the Friedmans’ documentary (Jarecki 2003) made use of home video footage and family photographs.
Becker’s chapter Visual Sociology, Documentary Photography, and Photojournalism: It’s (Almost) All a Matter of Context is effective in establishing not just the differences between the Visual Sociology, Documentary Photography and Photojournalism genres, but in also establishing the theory of context and how each genre has their own specific context. Furthermore, Becker determines that different contexts can be applied to images from each genre, offering a different perspective and allowing for further, more detailed, information to be demonstrated.
References:
Context provides an image with a meaning (Becker 1998: 77), grouping the image within a specific genre or subject area, either describing the image in detail for the reader or leaving it to the reader’s interpretations, with photography being described as "a technology of visualization that both draws on and establishes a visual economy through which events and issues are materialized in particular ways" (Campbell 2009). Becker further discusses context by analysing the versatility of photographs in one context if that photograph were to be applied to another in the sub-chapters, Reading a documentary picture as visual sociology or photojournalism, Reading a sociological picture as journalism and as documentary and Reading a journalistic picture as visual sociology and as documentary.
Becker discusses how these initial images would differ in the perspective of the different genres, but also, in applying an image to other contexts, different methods should be applied. Journalistic images require simplicity for their readers (Becker 1998: 75-76), a title which states the content of the image in addition to the image, itself, being clear for the reader, not only to aid the reader but to also validate the point of the image (Becker 1998: 80). An image from the other genres can be transmitted to this context if these methods are applied. Illustrations of the topic for which the image is being used, such as homelessness (Becker 1998: 82), would find meaning in media stereotypes, unlike visual sociological contexts which have clearer meanings because of the amount of time and research conducted in comparison with an image being used for a headline.
A sociological image, usually with a description or small descriptive passage (‘explicit’ context), will provide its reader with information concerning the setting of the image, who is in it, what is happening and what the overall image aims to show – documentary images without such detailed passages (more ‘implicit’) would be used in this way. Journalistic images, such as the image of Richard Nixon leaving the White House following the Watergate scandal (Becker 1998: 83), could perhaps pose questions into media fascination of Nixon – amongst other potential sociological subject areas.
Documentary images are taken as part of a larger project, analysing a particular subject area through a number of different images. The documentary image example, showing the backs of 2 smartly-dressed men, is not a clear in what it is trying to show. Within this context, the imagery in this picture could be used to convey a message or statement - this particular one as a political statement (Becker 1998: 79-80). This context could be used against an image of either of the others. Journalistic images of various points in history are frequently turned into documentaries, re-telling the story of that event and analysing it further. Documentaries into the assassination of JFK and the Friedmans child abuse case are among many to have been converted into documentaries – the ‘Capturing the Friedmans’ documentary (Jarecki 2003) made use of home video footage and family photographs.
Becker’s chapter Visual Sociology, Documentary Photography, and Photojournalism: It’s (Almost) All a Matter of Context is effective in establishing not just the differences between the Visual Sociology, Documentary Photography and Photojournalism genres, but in also establishing the theory of context and how each genre has their own specific context. Furthermore, Becker determines that different contexts can be applied to images from each genre, offering a different perspective and allowing for further, more detailed, information to be demonstrated.
References:
Becker, H. S.
(1998) 'Visual Sociology, Documentary Photography, and Photojournalism: It’s
(Almost) All a Matter of Context'. In Image-based Research: A Sourcebook for
Qualitative Researchers. ed. by Prosser, J. London: Routledge Falmer, 74-85
Campbell, D.
(2009) '“Black Skin and Blood”: Documentary Photography and Santu Mofokeng’s
Critique of the Visualization of Apartheid South Africa'. History and Theory
48(4), 52-58
Jarecki, A.
(2003) Capturing the Friedmans. [DVD] USA: HBO Documentary Films
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