Social Photography

Social PhotographyBy Andrew Darcey

Roman Sakovich:

http://www.romansakovich.co.uk/border_portfolio/half/

‘Half’ Series Roman Sakovich’s ‘Half’ series is an artistic approach to the effect of drugs on all kinds of people. A constant theme of change is present in the images as they depict the change drugs create, by taking the traditional portrait style and editing it. This is done by having one side of each person as a well dressed individual, while having the other side the same person after drugs. This important element of contrast/change is highlighted by the artist in each image to physically depict the anti-drug message of the series. This artistic approach was used by the artist so he could create a literal contrast with the surreal content. This creates a dark, yet bias image which feeds off the viewers preconception of drug addicts. The editing used allowed the series to convey the intended message of anti-drug use, by creating images that suited that intended purpose.These images were distributed across the internet on news websites such as Daily Mail and Huffington post, which both have links to social media.

Horst Faas

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2441235/Historic-images-Vietnam-War-courageous-AP-photographers.htmlhttp://blogs.sacbee.com/photos/2010/04/looking-back-at-the-vietnam-wa.html

Vietnam

The common themes present in Horst Faas’s images are the death and suffering during the Vietnam War. His photos were not only award winning, but they also brought the public’s attention to the war. This was the beginning of photojournalism. At the time, the message that these photos contained was a protest that our soldiers shouldn’t be there fighting. This was done by photographically documenting the horrors of what was happening to the people of Vietnam, and the soldiers sent there. This ‘documentary’ style of photography was so effective because it showed people the literal and raw view of the events taking place. Horst also took traditional portraits of individual soldiers, which confronted those who were supporting the war. These images were taken with a black and white camera because of the time period, this however created a stark contrast in the images which enhanced the controversial subject matter.These images were widely distributed to the public on TV and newspapers; This was the first war to get such a great amount of photojournalism, which is believed to be one of the a major causes America and Australia pulled out.

Nick Moir

http://www.nickmoirphoto.com/

‘Elemental’ Series

Nick Moir is a photographer who rose to fame with his photos of bushfires in Australia. He took a documentary approach to the fires, by taking shots of scenes as they happened in front of him; these photos were so popular because they gave a realistic representation of the fires to viewers. Elements present in all his photos are the warm colours and the use of space in the photos. By having the fire and haze almost engulf the people, a great sense of scale is created. It also creates contrast with the light and dark. These photos were taken to create awareness about the devastation these fires create, and demonstrate to size and effect they have.