Today is World Photography day. The observation of this day is relatively young and commemorates the invention of the Daguerreotype, a photographic processes developed by Joseph Nicèphore Nièpce and Louis Daguerre. Though the French Academy of Sciences announced the daguerreotype process on January 9, 1839, it was on August 19, 1839, that the French government announced the invention as a gift “Free to the World”. Calotype, another photographic process was also invented in 1839 by William Fox Talbot. Thus, with the invention of both the Daguerreotype and Calotype 1839 is marked as the year that photography was invented. Interestingly enough, photography is a result of various discoveries that contributed to its present state where it is being used by every other person to record moments, faces, moods, events and others for posterity. The development in photography aids, accessories and techniques have undergone such a sea change over the course of time that photography is no longer confined to a particular section of people as it was earlier, but become within easy reach of people, including children. Photography is both an art and science that has become part of the social cultural milieu as well. If at one point of time, earlier generations of people believed that facing a camera would mean an early death in the belief that the hole of the camera sucks away one’s life force, today’s generation of people use photography to document minute details of life and its events. The mushrooming of social networking sites and the incorporation of camera mechanisms in mobile handsets and other technological marvels like tablets etc has only fueled more and more people taking pictures and sharing them online. On the other hand, even as technology in terms of better camera specifications, increased resolutions and better software for post production are making their presence felt in the realm of photography, the purists scoff at the idea of photo shopping or altering how a picture looks in its post production stage. In fact, most photography related contests and awards mostly do not take submissions for photos or imagery that has been altered drastically, in terms of lighting etc.
Photography has very close links with the world of journalism for a story that is accompanied by a picture has the power and the ability to transform the words into reality to the readers. The presence of photographers in conflict and war torn areas the world over have raised more awareness globally of places and concerns happening far away. Akin to the matter of ethics when it comes to sensitive news reports, there is also a parallel debate over whether photographers who were initially training their lenses on sensational imagery end up either as voyeurs or those unwilling to act as people who could get help. A very famous case in point is the Kevin Carter story. Carter won the Pulitzer for Featured Photography in 1994 for his 1993 photograph of a vulture that appeared to be stalking a starving child in southern Sudan that was torn by armed conflict. The photograph was sold to the New York Times but was carried in many other newspapers around the world and led to an outpouring of public concern over the fate of the child. Carter had no definite answer to the question that chased him in his interactions with the public and the media both. Only a few months after the Pulitzer Carter committed suicide. He was only 33. Poignantly, Carter was part of what came to be known as the ‘Bang Bang Club” a group of photographers who documented the violence and killings in South Africa between 1990 and 1994.
The power of photos and their place in the media today is such that photojournalists vie for the most sophisticated accessories and tools and hanker for assignments to cover the most conflict torn areas around the world. Alternately, the demand for glamour content has created a different breed of photographers in the media who literally stalk popular faces including artists, sportspersons and the rich and the famous. Many of these photographers are given resources to keep an eye on what the rich and famous are upto and similar to the Crater tragedy, the role of photographers chasing a car that the very popular Lady Diana was riding in that eventually crashed and killed her is still debated at length. Clearly, photography is not the mere act of ‘point and shoot’ but comes with its share of history and significance.