Many people seem to feel that a photograph, at least one made before digital cameras, is a literal record of that split second in time, but this is often not the case. As I have discussed here before, when preserving information it is important to retain as much of the context of that information as possible in order to retain the value of that information. Here's a great case in point.
This is a photograph of Soviet soldiers 'capturing' the Reichstag in Germany during World War II - it is an iconic image that many consider to be factual, but in reality was heavily manipulated to influence it's impact. In various versions elements such as the smoke in the left side of the picture were added, while in other versions tanks that were not in the original negative were added in, as well as fighter planes in the sky in another version.
Through the ability to examine different versions of this photograph, and by accessing the information that surrounds it, we are able to form a much more detailed, more accurate, and perhaps more useful understanding of this image than we would otherwise have been able to form if we were lacking these related pieces of information. By altering the negative the photographer put more emphasis on the event that the original version contained. He altered the context of the photograph by changing how it was viewed by presenting it as if it were taken at the moment the building was taken, a very important moment in Soviet, and German, history. Because we know this, we are able to gain insight into more than the event recorded: we can now better understand the sentiment intended by the photographer, we can gain some insight into the importance or the event, we have a more accurate description of the event because we know that this indeed is not exactly what the event looked like, and we can see that not all of what is presented as fact is indeed what it appears to be...
Further Reading:
Iconic WWII photo honored at Berlin exhibit
Works referenced:
Goldman, A. J. (2008). Iconic WWII photo honored at Berlin exhibit. Retrieved June 18, 2008 from http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gmASS1cuyWONZmJI3b8aXgjzBuMwD91AKB500.
This is a photograph of Soviet soldiers 'capturing' the Reichstag in Germany during World War II - it is an iconic image that many consider to be factual, but in reality was heavily manipulated to influence it's impact. In various versions elements such as the smoke in the left side of the picture were added, while in other versions tanks that were not in the original negative were added in, as well as fighter planes in the sky in another version.
Through the ability to examine different versions of this photograph, and by accessing the information that surrounds it, we are able to form a much more detailed, more accurate, and perhaps more useful understanding of this image than we would otherwise have been able to form if we were lacking these related pieces of information. By altering the negative the photographer put more emphasis on the event that the original version contained. He altered the context of the photograph by changing how it was viewed by presenting it as if it were taken at the moment the building was taken, a very important moment in Soviet, and German, history. Because we know this, we are able to gain insight into more than the event recorded: we can now better understand the sentiment intended by the photographer, we can gain some insight into the importance or the event, we have a more accurate description of the event because we know that this indeed is not exactly what the event looked like, and we can see that not all of what is presented as fact is indeed what it appears to be...
Further Reading:
Iconic WWII photo honored at Berlin exhibit
Works referenced:
Goldman, A. J. (2008). Iconic WWII photo honored at Berlin exhibit. Retrieved June 18, 2008 from http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gmASS1cuyWONZmJI3b8aXgjzBuMwD91AKB500.
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