Let Us Now Praise Words

mickyates Books, ContextualResearch, Critical Research Journal, Documentary, Ethics, FinalMajorProject, FMPWeek10, History, Ideas, Journalism, Media Theory, Photography, Reportage, Writing 1 Comment

During the Depression, Fortune sent writer James Agee and photographer Walker Evans document the lives of cotton sharecroppers in Alabama. It was meant to be part of a series Life and Circumstances. Agee was a poet, and he described himself as ‘more a communist than not‘. Evans was on loan to Fortune from the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Fortune never …

What is ‘Truth’?

mickyates Aesthetics, Art, Buddhism, ContextualResearch, Critical Research Journal, Culture, Documentary, Environment, Ethics, FinalMajorProject, FMPWeek1, History, Ideas, Insight, Islam, Japan, Journalism, Landscape, Media Theory, Philosophy, Photography 4 Comments

When we talk of a picture being ‘accurate’, we are using a variety of the concept of ‘truth’. Its meaning depends on the context that we use it. Portraits can be considered truthful. We reveal our ‘true character’ when we act. Religions, philosophies and psychologies all attempt to revel our ‘true nature’. We talk about indexicality as offering a photographic ‘truth’ …