Walton’s and Scruton’s Views on Photography and Art
Photographs have an apparent difference from paintings, based on the principles of the immediacy of the object being broadcast. The essay “Transparent Pictures” argues that photographs give us direct and immediate access to the world they capture. In turn, fine art distances us from the depicted object in reality, as it is transmitted through the imagination and skill of the artist. The resulting assertion that photography is not an art form should be subjected to detailed analysis based on theories of mediality and representativeness. Documentary cinema is also a unique way of capturing the world and aesthetically reshaping the material.
Scruton describes photographs as having no artistic representational dimension. In his opinion, photography is primarily connected with the event or object it depicts (Scruton 578). Remembering the cult painting by Rene Magritte, “This is not a pipe,“ one can say that the object depicted in the picture may not exist at all. The same cannot be said about photography, which, according to Scruton, cannot carry an unnatural quality.
A photograph according to Scruton’s principles can capture a representation, but it cannot itself be a representation. It is rather a record but not a creation of appearance. Accordingly, from this comes the skeptical conclusion that by looking at the photograph, the audience is primarily interested in the object. Thus, based on the previous considerations, photography is not an independent object with an aesthetic category.
The problem with this skeptical position is that Scruton deprives the medium himself of the right to the uniqueness of the aesthetic form. As Lopez (436) points out, while it is possible to have the illusion of giving artistic value to something that has none, the risk of devaluing art where it exists is more problematic. Scruton thus instead capitalizes on doubting the actual aesthetic value of the form, thus devaluing the real artistic possibilities of the photographer.
Scruton also argues that the subject chosen by the author deprives the author of complete creative freedom. The need to capture an object imposes several restrictions on the photographer, from the chance of the documentary to the choice of a spatial representation method. In this way, the photographer can be very different from the artist. In particular, such a thesis concerns the contemporary artist who has at the disposal the historical outcome of fine arts in the most liberated form, free from mimetic restrictions.
However, the photographer’s cramped arsenal also exists as a form of artistic expression, allowing for the expression of individual style. Scruton underestimates the level of control that photographers, as artists, have over their creations. The photographer owns not only the convention of photography in a time continuum but also the fundamental right to choose this moment and handle the camera at a chosen moment (Walton 249). Aspects such as depth of field, focus, capture of light within the lens, and color gamut initially determine the nature and style of photography. Combined with the subject chosen for display, the photographer can prove themselves as a full-fledged artist with a unique style.
Moreover, post-processing techniques that still preserve the photograph in the space of its medium can further unlock the artistic potential of the captured images. Post-processing through collage, additional manipulation, and overpainting is still a legitimate way to expand the photographer’s artistic intervention in their creation. The organization of photographs into a single artistic cycle should not be underestimated. That is why the photographs have additional context, supporting each other in creating an ordinary meaning and a new cumulative artistic impression.
Being organized thematically or according to symbolic criteria, photographs can be collected in magazine or zine formats. Thus, there are numerous examples of photographers whose style is recognizable; for example, the work of photographers of the Magnum Agency can be cited. The organization of photographs in the exhibition space also creates an artistic context for in-depth aesthetic perception.
Why Cameraperson Transcends Traditional Photography
At the same time, documentary cinema, as a special medium, can surpass the abilities of documentary and artistic photography. Being a series of interconnected pictures, documentary film conveys information that exists in a linearly unfolding time (Abell 275). This allows the documentary filmmaker to play with the temporal-spatial perception of cinematography and manipulate the viewer’s mind, dragging them into their narrative organization.
It is this collage principle that the film Cameraperson undergoes, the director of which sets out his creative path as a documentary filmmaker. The film is more significant than a photograph precisely because of the ability to create a narrative line while adding unpredictable turns to it with the help of editing. The director can speak on various ways of visual perception and representation, for example, in the scene with the half-blind boy (Cameraperson ’23 “15-’23 “45). The camera itself is a way of live communication, stretched in time and space, turning out to be a moving eye that controls the visual consciousness of the viewer.
Kirsten Johnson’s Artistic Communication Beyond the Image
The documentary Cameraperson is not just the culmination of Kirsten Johnson’s 25-year career but also a way of discussing the philosophical aspects of various art forms. Such a medium as a documentary camera turns out to be able to transform people, making them a kind of art object. As the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, who is given a separate place in the film, points out, “People often behave depending on whether they are being filmed or whether they imagine that they are being filmed“ (Cameraperson’ 10”30:’10”39). People who find themselves under the sight of the camera thus become something unequal to themselves. A person cannot behave completely naturally in a documentary film, being transformed under the influence of a medium.
The Broader Implications for Understanding Cinematic Art
At the same time, the organization of Cameraperson is a way to create a picture of the world and a unique director’s film universe. Switching chaotically between the most diverse countries and social strata, Johnson demonstrates how editing can have an unexpected and powerful emotional impact. Moving abruptly from New York to Uganda, the viewer receives a cultural and aesthetic shock from the abrupt change in perspective, and the immediacy of the film is the means of producing an aesthetic impression. In other words, the viewer gets an emotion not just because of the world’s reality but because of how its demonstration was organized. This montage nature of Cameraperson makes a special representation mechanism out of simply capturing the world, requiring both a philosophically meaningful perception of the medium and aesthetic intuition.
Works Cited
Abell, Catharine. “Cinema as a Representational Art.” British Journal of Aesthetics, vol. 50, no. 3, 2010, pp. 273-286.
Cameraperson. Directed by Kirsten Johnson. Big Mouth Productions, 2016.
Lopez, Dominic McIver. “The Aesthetics of Photographic Transparency”. Mind, vol. 112, no. 447, 2003, pp. 433-448.
Scruton, Roger. “Photography and Representation.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 7, no. 3, 1981, pp. 577-603.
Walton, Kendall L. “Transparent Pictures: On the Nature of Photographic Realism”. Critical Inquiry, vol. 11, 1984, pp. 246-279.