Camera Lucida Response

I found myself going in and out of agreeing and disagreeing with "Camera Lucida" written by Roland Barthes. Some points that I agreed with, for example, would be that photography was invented by chemists. From the research and teaching I have received and experienced, this (from what I can tell) has proven to be true. I enjoy how the author gives the Latin meaning behind the word photograph. He uses a pleasant analogy to help the reader better understand the meaning behind the Latin phrase meaning "photograph." "Like the juice of a lemon," he says when referring to photography as an "image revealed" or "extracted." I disagree with Barthes opinion on color. I feel like color plays a very important role in the personality or character within an image. Color tells so much about a person, it is a way people express themselves. He considers color in a photograph to be distracting. However, I find it misleading. It is beautiful to see black and white photos, however, color is originally in the actual moment the camera is capturing, not the black and white that is processed to come out on the photograph. 

One idea that was presented in this article was that photography is outside of time. It is a frozen frame of light that captures one single moment in time. It is a moment in the past being held in the present and will be shown in the future. There are so many possibilities of the photograph, it is amazing and so interesting. Another idea that I thought was interesting to read was that a photograph cannot lie. It's hard to take this seriously in this generation since we have been taught so many forms of manipulation. However, without such manipulation, what you see in the photograph is there. It is a frozen frame of past life. It's interesting how much is behind a simple photo.

The Photographer's Eye Response

This article introduces a controversy about photography that I had considered myself, "how could this mechanical and mindless process be made to produce pictures meaningful in human terms?" Since photography seemed to be so much less artistic then previous adored methods of art, how could it receive the same recognition and praise? This article explains that photographers must explain what they do. First, in order to better understand photography, it is important to know the facts. Photography was started by scientists and painters. Some photos were taken by luck or by art, however, each photograph affected the way people viewed things. There are tips for taking good photography; to be artistic rather than lucky. First off, one must know the thing you are capturing and believe in it for the picture is truth. Second, pay attention to detail and the clarity within a photograph. Third, the frame. There is only so much that you can capture in a single photograph, so take many and make sure that what is within the frame is the most important. Fourth, Time. Time is such an important factor in photography, when you take it, it is the present, however, it will become a piece of history. Fifth, is think about your vantage point while you are taking a picture. You can take pictures that tell narratives and that are artistic by instructing your viewer with the right choice of vantage point.