The Camera Never Lies Guernica
You can find reference of Zeppelin raids on Britain during First World War via The National Archives (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/lesson32.htm). The initial comment about 'the bomber will always get through' in the lecture comes from Stanley Baldwin, MP in November 1932, and represented a contemporary concern that the 'terror bombing' during wartime could not be defended against. Air Force Magazine have the text of Baldwin's speech, taken for the The Times report the following day (see http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2008/July%202008/0708keeper.aspx) The BBC History magazine has a good short piece on the Spanish Civil War online: http://www.historyextra.com/feature/spain%E2%80%99s-very-international-civil-war I mentioned it in passing, but you can find out more about the BBC's 'War of the Century' documentary here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433478/. We will come back to the blitzkrieg ('The Blitz') next week. The main image of 'Guernica, 1937 by Pablo Picasso' (http://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp) was taken from the website 'Pablo Picasso: Paintings, Quotes, and Biography' (http://www.pablopicasso.org/index.jsp). 'Piecing together Guernica by Gijs van Hensbergen' can be found on BBC Online, 7 April 2009, and represents the UN tapestry of the picture (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7986540.stm). The image can also be seen at the BBC Online website 'Modern Masters' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/modernmasters/virtual-exhibition/picasso/12-guernica.shtml)
Reflective Task I rather ducked the issue of interpreting Picasso's Guernica ‌ mainly because Gijs van Hensbergen does such a good job. Please review his piece in on the BBC website (above) and comment upon it.
The Camera Never Lies
The Image in Advertising Images from Four and Six In all cases, the images can be found by going to the Four and Six website on 'Photo Tampering throughout History' (http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/) and navigating from there. It is not possible to bookmark the individual photo URLs themselves. Advertising 2012 > first page > FEB 2012. Photograph of Rachel Weisz. Advertising poster for L'Oreal Revitalist Repair 10. 2003 > first page > JAN 2003. Cover of the Beatles album 'Abbey Road.' 2005 > first page > NOV 2005. Photographs of Clement Hurd. Taken from editions of Margaret Wise Brown's book 'Goodnight Moon' (1947). 2007 > first page > MAR 2007 Photograph of Ronald Reagan. Cover of Time magazine, 26 March, 2007. Also available at http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20070326,00.html. 2003 > first page > JAN 2003. Photograph of Kate Winslet. Cover of GQ UK, February 2003. Also available at http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/image/0,7670,872110,00.html. See also 'Magazine admits airbrushing Winslet, 'BBC Online, 9 January, 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2643777.stm; and 'Faking it: Hasn't that Kate Winslet got terribly thin? Or has she... Esther Addley investigates,' The Guardian Online, 10 February, 2003, http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2003/jan/10/pressandpublishing.media.
Reflective Task Review the images of advertising in Four and Six – either those in the lecture, or from the rest of the site – are you surprised that some of these have been altered for commercial purposes?
The Camera Never Lies The Image in Politics
Images from Four and Six In all cases, the images can be found by going to the Four and Six website on 'Photo Tampering throughout History' (http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/) and navigating from there. It is not possible to bookmark the individual photo URLs themselves. 2009 > first page > APR 2009. Photos of the Israeli Cabinet. Published by 'Yated Neeman,' Israel. See also 'Papers alter Israel cabinet photo,' BBC Online, 3 April 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7982146.stm; and 'Israeli papers brush women out of cabinet,' Rachel Shabi, The Guardian Online, 4 April 2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/04/livnat-landver-photos-israel. 2009 > first page > JUN 2009. Photography of Scottish National Party (SNP) members. Appeared in an SNP Newsletter. 2010 > first page > SEP 2010 Photograph of Egyptian, Israeli, US, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders. Published in Al-Ahram. See also 'The Ahram "photo" and the Western media's reaction: A statement by the Chairman Dr. Abdel-Monem Said,' Al-Ahram Weekely Online, 22 September 2010, http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1016/fr4.htm; 'Egyptian newspaper under fire over altered photo,'BBC Online, 15 September, 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11313738; and 'Al-Ahram newspaper defends doctored photo of Hosni Mubarak,'The Guardian Online, 17 September, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/17/al-ahram-newspaper-doctoredphoto-hosni-mubarak. 2004 > first page > FEB 2004. Composite photography of John Kerry and Jane Fonda. Kerry: Register for Peace Rally, Mineola, New York, June 1971 (Ken Light); Fonda: Miami Beach, Florida, August 1972 (Owen Franken). 1900-1939 > first page > 1939 Photographs of Queen Elizabeth (Bowes-Lyon), William Lyon MacKenzie King, and King George VI. Taken in Banff, Alberta, Canada.
The Camera Never Lies Manipulation My comment about National Geographic and filters was mainly in terms of physical filters – I believe they would tolerate protective filters (UV, etc.), but not anything else. This has been recently reiterated with regards digital filters and images submitted for publication: 'SOLARIZATION, MEZZOTINT, DUOTONE, ETC.: If you use one of the myriad “enhancement filters" available in your digital photo software, your image will not be considered for publication.' (http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/photo-guidelines/)
The Camera Never Lies
The Use of Images, Part One It was the decision of our sterling unit director Niko to use The Mona Lisa as an infill for my passing comments about portraits. An inspired choice, but I do not actually know much more about The Mona Lisa than the average member of the public. That is not an implicit criticism of the selection of Niko – this is in part a collaborative project, and Niko's work on The Camera Never Lies is excellent. He has certainly made me look less of an idiot while lecturing than I usually do (so cheers for that, Niko). If you want to find out more about The Mona Lisa, the BBC have a good section on the painting, and Leonardo da Vinci at http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/leonardo/gallery/monalisa.shtml. Okay … cartoons: I did not mean that type of cartoon, Niko...! Having said that, there is a certain irony here, so I decided to let this one go... Actually, you should consult the British Cartoon Archive (BCA)at the University of Kent (http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/). I am happy to claim to be a graduate from the University of Kent (BA (Hons) Economic and Social History…about a quarter of a century ago, now), and while it is a modest but honourable institution, I probably would not be running this course today if I had gone to a supposedly 'better' university for my undergraduate degree – thank you, the University of Kent: we got on just fine. I digress...The point I was trying to make in the video here is the degree to which the public and the media could caricature politicians and public personalities in a way which would not be tolerated in a more serious medium. We are going to talk about how Adolf Hitler used images to promote himself in the 1920s and the 1930s during week two's lecture; consider some of the images online at the BCA about him (http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/search/cartoon_item/Hitler). It was not simply people who were satirised in this way: review the material on the Treaty of Versallies (1919), for instance (http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/search/cartoon_item/Treaty+Of+Versailles). We could do a whole course on cartoons as historical sources … but not this course, unfortunately. The reference to Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) might seem a little odd … but you are doing a course with me, so get used to it … but it touches on a more serious point. The ubiquitous mobile phone camera has now changed reportage to the point where everyone is (potentially) a historical witness. Steve Hoffenberg touches on this issue in an article on the Smithsonian Institute website (http://click.si.edu/Story.aspx?story=613); and the issue has been very graphically brought home to Britons through the resent killing of a solider in Woolwich, a suburb of Greater London (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22631274).
Reflective Task In the lecture, I ask you to review the photographs which are special to you, and consider to what extent the circumstances in which those images were taken give them importance. Now stand back, figuratively, and consider one of these images on its merits as a photograph. How far does that image have meaning to you because of it history, as opposed to its ascetic as a photograph? Many technically 'terrible' images are prized because they capture 'that moment.'
The Camera Never Lies
The Use of Images, Part Two I mentioned the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D. C. (or 'The Wall') in the lecture. To see a video of the memorial, please see the video embedded in the webpage of the associated Education Centre (http://www.buildthecenter.vvmf.org/news). Information about the National World War II Memorial in Washington D. C. can be found at http://www.wwiimemorial.com/. Images associated with the 'democracy' section of this segment can be found as follows: The image of Eugène Delacroix, 'La Liberté Guidant Le Peuple' was taken from Wikimedia Commons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix__La_libert%C3%A9_guidant_le_peuple.jpg_). The image of the Statue of Liberty, New York by William Warby, was taken from Wikimedia Commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_of_Liberty,_NY.jpg). Jeff Widener's photographs of 'Art students put finishing touches on their "Goddess of Democracy" statue,' (http://asianhistory.about.com/od/china/ig/Tiananmen-Photo-Gallery/Goddess-ofDemocracy.htm) and 'Jeff Widener's iconic photo "Tank Man" or "The Unknown Rebel"' (http://asianhistory.about.com/od/china/ig/Tiananmen-Photo-Gallery/Tank-man.htm) can be found at 'Photo Gallery: Tiananmen Square, 1989 Pro-democracy Protests Turn into a Massacre by Kallie Szczepanski' (http://asianhistory.about.com/od/china/ig/Tiananmen-Photo-Gallery/). See also 'Tiananmen: The flame burns on,' Isabel Hilton, The Observer Online, 3 May 2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/03/tiananmen-square-anniversary-chinaprotest.
Reflective Task Consider memorials and images which have meaning to you from a cultural and historical perspective – buildings, murals, paintings, statues, etc. Consider why they are important to you, and what they are evocative of: are they tapping into an older heritage of images which are important to your national, community or individual identity?
The Camera Never Lies Reportage Images from Four and Six In all cases, the images can be found by going to the Four and Six website on 'Photo Tampering Throughout History' (http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/) and navigating from There. It is not possible to bookmark the individual photo URLs themselves. Reportage 2003 > first page > APR 2003. Photograph of a British Soldier in Basra by Brian Walski. Published by the Los Angeles Times, 31 March 2003. See also 'Editor's Note,' Los Angeles Times Online, 2 April, 2003, http://articles.latimes.com/2003/apr/02/news/war-1walski2 'US war photographer sacked for altering image of British soldier,' Duncan Campbell, The Guardian Online, 3 April 2003, http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2003/apr/03/pressandpublishing.Iraqandthemedia 2011 > first page > FEB 2011. Photograph of Athletic Bilbao v Barcelona. Published by AS, Spain. 2006 > first page > JUL 2006. Photograph of Lebanon. Taken by Adnan Hajj for Reuters. See 'Reuters drops Beirut photographer,' BBC Online, 8 August 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5254838.stm; and 'Reuters purges photo database,' Julia Day, The Guardian Online, 7 August, 2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/aug/07/reuters.pressandpublishing1 2012 > first page > JAN 2012. Photograph of a riot in Tunis. Published by Le Maghreb. 2012 > third page > JUL 2012. Photo of Aleppo, Syria. Published by Kornen Zeitung, 28 July 2012. See 'Achtung Photoshop! Austria’s largest daily edits Syria photo to make it more war-torn,' RT.com (Russica Today Online), 1 August, 2012, http://rt.com/news/syria-ausrian-newspaper-photoshop-639/ Reflective Task In viewing the photographic reportage in newspapers, magazines and news organisations pages on the web, to what degree do you take the pictures ‘on faith’ as being authentic and unaltered? Can you think of an example where something ‘just didn’t look’ right? Consider what this means for future researchers using this material as a resource for the writing of history in twenty, thirty or forty years hence. This will be a theme we will return to.