Photography+A+Weapon+of+the+Truth

Photography: A Weapon of The Truth
The city building soars so high, it doesn’t even seem the clouds go up that far. The ground is nicely coated with a little bit of confetti. Soldiers, Sailors, and Nurses, are seamlessly scattered all cross the streets of [|Time Square] expressing their emotions to all of [|New York]. People’s faces are beaming with glee and delight. There were also those who had tear moistened faces. This march down Times Square called the end of the [|Second World War]. Suddenly one Sailor grabs a nurse who he never met before and begins to passionately kiss her. The crowd suddenly burst into red cheeked giggles. These two celebrate the idea of how love triumphs over war.    What you just read was a description of the [|“The Kiss”] by [|Alfred Eisenstaedt's]. We see that even with some of the most descriptive words, a [|photograph] is truly worth more than 1000 words. This [|VJ Day] photograph was spread all across the nation. It captured this moment in time. A moment in time where no word or story could live up to [|photography]that represents the life of [|American] people at this time. 

“One half of the world does not know how the other half lives.” (Madison, 1). During the [|industrial revolution] the [|United States] was seen as ‘our factories are our substitutes for religion.” (Goldberg,7) People started to forget what god saw was right and wrong because of the chaos of the industrial revolution. Everyone wanted to be a part of the [|American Dream]. During his time, [|Jacob Riis] was one of the very few [|photographers] who took photographs of the slums of New York. This time was the truly the begin of photograph as the world saw that "drawing didn't seem to have the same impact as a photo" (Madison,120). Riis wanted the world to see the unsanitary conditions people lived and worked in. With the progressive amount of immigrants coming into New York every day, [|tenements] gave these people a place to live. As times changed, rent went up and rooms became smaller. “As many as 300,000 people per square mile were crowded into the tenements.” (Madison, 86). Living in a tenement was no luxury. It was unsanitary and uncomfortable. Americans thought “the contemporary [|utopian] belief in the power of [|technology] to cure the world’s illness.” (Goldberg,8) What we saw was world [|technology] destroying more people than creating a utopia. Jacob Riis went to these slums and used his art to show the rest of mankind how these people were struggling to make ends meet. What people saw were these immigrants living in a high cost tenement, where their living condition wasn’t even worth a single penny. The photography of Jacob Riis “is faithful enough to stand for its class.” (Madison, 124) Jacobs’s photographs were used to teach the rest of the world how the American dream was corrupt and how all those men, women, and children were taken advantage of. His photography displayed how America was not the country of freedom, but a [|degenerate] system. 

Photography was used a proof of certain events and incidents. [|African Americans] were not free from [|slavery] until 1865. This happened once the [|13th amendment] was established. The 13th amendment was created and shortly after the [|Jim Crows Laws] were made and African Americans were segragated. Segregation was said to be " [|separate but equal] ". But photographers saw it as something different. [|Elliott Erwitt] took photographs to show Americans how this segregation was not equal but in fact unjust. African Americans had been segregated at places likes water fountains and bathrooms. But seen in the image Elliott portrayed how Africans were not equal even by the water fountains they drink from. Photographers like Elliot wanted to show Americans how amiss the government was in creating equality. Shortly after begin freed of slavery a group called the [|Ku Klux Klan] was created in 1870’s to keep white [|supremacy]  alive. They were afraid once the African Americans were free they would get too much power. The Ku Klux Klan soon began to use violent methods to get what they wanted. The Ku Klux Klan burned churches, homes and used various methods of slaying African Americans, such as [|lynching]. Photographers wanted to make sure that the stories of these African American’s would be heard across the nation. Before photographs, the news of these events was only heard by word of mouth. Within time and with help from photographers, those who were non believers became believers. The pictures showed people the true stories of how African Americans were denied their freedoms. The sympathy from the white Americans could only continue to grow at this point. 

 On October 23, 1929 the [|stock market crashed]. Almost everyone was affected by the crash.  Before the crash, the American life was envisioned as women taking care of their duties at home while their husbands were “bringing home the bacon”. The industrial revolution created more jobs needing women to work in the [|factories]. Women also began to work because one [|salary] wasn’t enough to feed a whole family. Making women work in factories and [|sweat shops]to help their husbands “bring home the bacon”. After the stock market crash both men and women lost their jobs. Once the crash happened factory owners lost all their money, thus making them unable to pay their workers. Many families were left in [|poverty]. People began to die of hunger and children were left in the streets alone. Photography at this time was not very uplifting. Photographs were depressing. It showed Americans how everyone was affected by the crash. People were shown as vulnerable and distressed. The crash was so dramatic; it even affected the lives of the young. Photographs were taken of young children crying and scared. Adults were concerned if they would ever see the end of the [|depression] and their family would be able to make it. During this time   [|John D.] [|Rockefeller]  said that "These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come and gone. Prosperity has always returned and will again.” (  Silberman, 113) <span style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"> Soon after jobs slowly began to increase and [|World War II] had started. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"> In the 1920’s, even middle class women began to work. Even though women weren’t equal to men, this movement of women taking jobs began to plant seeds in the minds of women for later action. Photography at this time enabled us to communicate what the country was feeling, a melancholy that only American’s could feel. As America during the crash felt as though there was no hope. The art of photography was the only way to get this message across.

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[|World War II] had affected every aspect of the American Life. Even though World War II happened in Eastern Europe, Americans went to stop [|Hitler] and his executions. Hitler was the leader of the [|Nazis]. Hitler created the holocaust by killing off people who were [|Jewish] and not part of his perfect “[|Aryan race.”]In photography Hitler is portrayed as a hero who calls together the people of [|Germany.] There is even a photo Adolph Hitler handing out his birthday cake to young orphans. On the other hand, there are countless images of mangled bodies in [|concentration camps] accompanied by <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">mountains of bones. The United States during this time went out to Europe to help stop the genocide during this time many men left home and went to war. One can wonder if it was possible that the reason why the U.S. decided to help those who Hitler was against because of Photographs they had once seen. Photographers were standing right beside the army men when in war. Soldiers of the War often had cameras in their packs, thus enabling them to capture a few amateur shots. The soldiers captured the mass shootings of Jews, and even the hanging of members of the resistance on [|film]. Pictures like this were strictly forbidden by [|Heinrich Himmler], the head of the SS. These horrific photos were taken away from dead or captured German fighters by [|Red Army]soldiers. The photos became evidence in the trials against German war criminals. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">

[|Margaret Bourke-White] said “the beauty of the past belongs to the past. It cannot be imitated today and live.”(  Goldberg, 10) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"> She obviously said this before she became a photographer. Photography plays a reflection of the past. Photography holds the past forever it creates an image that can never be lost. Photos are used to tell a story of “when we were kids.” In a hundred years, no one will ever know who we were but they'll know the photograph of you that your mother took of <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">you in that ridiculous Easter outfit. A photograph is used to express feelings that could never be in any other way. As stated by [|Eudora Welty] “A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.”(Time, 76) Photography is a weapon. A weapon that our enemies cannot fight against, for they cannot fight the truth. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace">Works Consulted

Goldberg, Vicki. __Bourke-White.__ England. United Technologies. 1990.  This book contains photography and biography about one of the first women photographers Margaret **B**ourke White. In the books we learn about Bourke-Whites journey into finding photography from first being in the film industries. Soon becoming one of the first photographers for Life magazine. This book in includes photographs of some o the most famous people including Gandhi. “History of Photography and the camera: part 1: the first photographs” about.com. August 2007. The New York times company. 12, March 2008. < [|http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpphotography.html<span] style="font-family: Calibri"> > This website gives a over view of how photography started out and how it changed the Americans view on the world around them. This website consists of facts about the first camera. It also in includes what American in 1839 thought about photography. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. __Pictures of the Times A Century Of Photography from The New York Times. __New York. William Safire. 1996. This book is filled with photographs. These pictures were seen in New York Times. In the beginning of the book it has facts and other information about how the New York Times was started and about some of the photographers. All these pictures have a brief overview of what is happening in the image above. They tell us the important event that is happening in the image. Life. Life: The Way We Were. New York. Bulfinch Press. 2004. This book includes a collection of life magazines photography and articles. In this book it contains photographs and articles from 1900 to 1999. Inside it contains both Life time photographs and articles about the news all around the world. Madison Charles A.. __How the other Half Lives. __New York. Dover Publications, Inc. 1997 This book in includes over 100 photographs by Riss. These photographs showed how people in New York City lived. These people worked in factories with low wages and long hours. In this book we see how theses industrial workers lived in small unsanitary conditions. “Photograph” __Wikiedia.org__. 22, march 2008. Wikipedia.org. 22, March 2008. Wikimedia foundation, Inc. 23, march 2008. <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography><span] style="mso-spacerun: yes"> This website gives us a brief over view of photography. It includes how the camera was invited. There you can also learn how the camera works. It also gives use some of the first photographers names and facts about these people. It also tells us how film is made. Photography Timeline. __About.com__. August, 2007. The New York Times Company. 12, March 2008. < [|http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/alphotography.htm.<span] style="font-family: Calibri"> > This website included a timeline of photography starting off in the 5th- 4th B.C were Greek and Chinese philosophers started out the idea of imprinting a image. Later we see on the timeline how photography grows from a idea into reality soon becoming a part of American society. Silberman, Robert, and Vicki Goldberg. __American Photography A Century of Images.__ Los Angeles. PBS. 1999. This book includes images that historically changed peoples view. This book includes the first x ray. It also includes the first night time photography and fashion photography. It also includes the stories behind the photographs. Time Inc. “Life: 70 Years of Extraordinary Photographs. __Time__. 5, Feb 2007: 1-144. This magazine is filled with photographs from Life magazine these pictures include pictures from 1936 to present. This magazine has pictures from recent events like September 11th. This magazine gives good explanations about the photographs. Willis, Deborah. __Reflections in Black__. New York. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1998. This book includes history of African Americas it includes facts from 1840’s till present. It includes pictures of the struggles and achievements African Americans. This book includes facts and stories of American Americans.