Photography and Society
Introduction
The works of Alexander Rodchenko, Peter Kennard and
John Heartfield are quite different from each other. While all three artist
attempt to portray political messages, they all do so in their own unique ways.
Their photographs attempt to convey messages of the realities of political
changes during their times and the effects that arise from these changes. With
the works of Rodchenko, Kennard and Heartfield one would assume that political
activism is central to their portrayed images. One should also take note of the
techniques used by the artists, which can also create insight into the
photographers’ minds.
SimilaritiesThe main and possibly
the most apparent similarity between all three artists is the main style they
used – photomontage. Photomontage is the process of making one photograph with
cutting and pasting a number of other photographs together. All of these artists
took this method due to the impact it creates; as Peter Kennard saw it at the
time,
photomontage had the power to show the causes rather than the
results.
Peter Kennard (Broken
Missile)
Alexander
Rodchenko
Something that is also prevalent between the photos of
all three photographers is the strong focus on the theme of war and capturing
the struggles of human rights and peace. All of these artists battle very
political topics, most of the photo published were for the purpose of
propaganda. Propaganda is a form of communication to influence how a community
sees a particular situation. As example is John Heartfields anti-Hilter poster;
this poster is meant to emphasize and refer to how much money Hitler is
swallowing and receiving from wealthy industrialists, fearing Germany would vote
for a communist government.
All three artists do differ from each other, but
relate in their works towards some sort of message that they attempted to
convey. Through their images, we as a society can illustrate images in our mind
of political changes and events during their times.
John Heartfield (Adolf the
Superman)
Differences
Although all three of these
photographers wanted to capture political issues, their messages were all very
different and unique in their own ways. John Heartfield’s focus, in the time
when he was most proactive with his photography, was on the
anti-Nazi/anti-Hitler movement. John Heartfield went as far as changing his name
from Helmut Herzfeld to avoid his service time. When looking at John Heartfield,
this German photographer also used the techniques of photomontage, like Kennard,
but portrayed a more experimental approach to his art. Heartfield, much like
Rodchenko, was interested in the portrayal of politics, however they do differ.
Heartfield was devoted to anti-Nazi political activism portrayals (No author,
2012) a. He expressed his views through these images, even in response to his
German heritage while he depicted the horrors of World War One in Germany.
Heartfield was also notorious for his infamous utilization of quotations in his
images, also creating some sort of irony to his images.
John Heartfield (Blood and
Iron)
Peter Kennard was a more modern artist, and his art is
more relatable to people viewing his art today. His focus was very much on
armaments (military weaponry) and poverty, how those two create and cause
disparity in our society. Peter Kennard focused mainly on politics, especially
of those with British influence. Instead of using personal responses as a form
of communication like Rodchenko, Kennard wanted to show the “unrevealed truth”
behind the images that he capture, which he found most useful. Using the
technique of photomontage, Kennard set his focus on art pertaining to the topics
of armaments and poverty, unlike the images of political activism created by
Rodchenko. Kennard believed that photography had the power to illustrate the
causes of something rather than the results created from something (No author,
2012)b. Kennard also had been exposed to digital technology, which he was
against, as we can see in the quote below.
"There is a problem with
montage in that you see it everywhere now because of digital technology. There
is so much transformed imagery around that people accept constructed images
without questioning their meaning. I think my work was losing impact because of
that." – Peter Kennard
Peter Kennard (Defended to
Death)
Alexander Rodchenko was a Russian artist turned
photographer during the Revolution of October 1917, who created images that
resembled Avant-Garde type works (The Museum of Modern Art, 1998). The art of
Rodchenko attempted to depict the Communist culture following World War One, and
created a unique styling in the images portrayed (The Museum of Modern Art,
1998). Rodchenko’s works lead the way of art in Soviet Russia and his abstract
work creates images of personal responses to illustrates Russia’s progress
during that time frame. His work rejects socially created conventional roles of
self-expression and aesthetic predilections, making him somewhat of a political
artist (The Museum of Modern Art, 1998). Alexander Rodchenko was an artist of
very controversial, by taking a very nihilistic focus to art to a point when
many didn’t believe what he produced was art. Rodchenko’s focus was on the
society but more so for the production aspect. He designed things for
propaganda, posters, book covers, and etc.
Alexander
Rodchenko
Did These Photographers Impact
Society?
These three photographers all had made a huge impact
on the society, both through their art and the meaning that they were conveying
to the society. These three artists were able to lead more than thousands of
people, but they are not worldwide famous photographer or artists. They all had
a vision and were determined to succeed in their life time. Each artist had
impacted society in a different but similarly significant way – whether it was
Heartfield’s propaganda material in late 1800’s, or Rodchenko’s innovative take
on photography. Whether it was good or bad they all made audience feel and
change the way they felt about the future. Photography is a very powerful tool,
and it can change people lives for decades; as technology improves every day it
will continue to provide heartfelt and impactful images to the human mind and
therefore placing a strong impact on everyone.
Can Photographers Achieve that Impact on
Society?
Photography is
used around the world as a powerful visual toll that not only impact society but
also creates changes. Photographers through their photographs have an influence
in persuading their audience and viewers. Photographers express their views
through their lenses, and the message generated can sometimes pursued a whole
civilization. Each photographer shapes their own message according to their
views about the world. This message as a result can have a massive effect on
society simply because reality is exposed. Photography can also influence
society to act in certain ways. News papers use photography to emphasize their
messages with images. The government use photos to illustrate their scrutiny and
to accentuate their accomplishments to pursue citizens to gain more political
control. Nonetheless Photographers throughout photography can achieve change.
Peter Kennard, John Heartfield and Alexander Rodchenko tried to create change
thought their lenses, but with not much success, their work and views still
impacts society until today. Peter Kennard, John Heartfield and Alexander
Rodchenko were above their fear, and by means of their work were able to impact
society at an extraordinary level. Their courage inspired many photographers and
followers to be original and confront their fears. Alexander Rodchenko
established unprecedented compositional paradigms that until these days
translate the idea of modern photographic art. Peter Kennard work has influenced
modern photographers, film makers and even some computer programs like
Photoshop. Finally, John Heartfield's art has had a considerate effect on modern
advertising. The proposal of a photomontage is used on many advertisement
printed in magazines today. These photographers created a landmark in the world,
and with their messages alive in their photographs we can look at their job and
learn from the past how to create a better future
.
Group Members
Wonkeun Cho
Jennifer Hsu
Bruno Sacchetti
Michelle Lisi
sources
"Alexander
Rodchenko - Biography." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0734447/bio>.
"Alexander Rodchenko: A
Man Who Took Life Lying down - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph Online,
Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3671028/Alexander-Rodchenko-A-man-who-took-life-lying-down.html>.
"John
Heartfield: Life." Towson University. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.towson.edu/heartfield/life/WorldwarOne.html>.
My
Blackboard. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
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(NP).My
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“J.Paul Getty Museum”- Alexander Rodchenko: Fine Art, Portraiture
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http://www.profotos.com/education/referencedesk/masters/masters/alexanderrodchenko/alexanderrodchenko.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda
http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/1998/rodchenko/texts/photojournalism.html
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davepalmer/cutandpaste/kennard.html
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davepalmer/cutandpaste/heartfield.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photomontage
http://www.towson.edu/heartfield/art/superman.html
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A4975&page_number=7&template_id=6&sort_order=1§ion_id=T072573
http://jesseturri.com/wordpress/?p=210
Andrew Prokos
