Wilson,+C+Week+11

Malcolm talks about the idea of a snapshot being something that captures the immaturity and innocence of an amateur photographer. Quoting from Lisette Model, “its special quality of innocence—a quality that the professional photographer can never achieve” (Malcolm 62).

For my Visual Story Project, this is very applicable because the majority of the photographs come from images that I have taken myself or from other family photographs. These snapshots of daily life are really important to develop my concept of the importance of the family relationships and bonds. I think that Malcolm touches on the idea of the snapshot being as much art as a professional photograph.

I think that Ramage focuses more on the idea behind the genre of the photograph and not so much the type of photograph that it is. The genre is also important because you want to be able to understand how the image fits together with the story that you are telling. For Ramage, “genres are intuitive categories; they are self-consciously constructed and sedulously maintained by members of communities” (Ramage 155).

I think that Ramage’s idea of genre plays into what I want to do with the photographs. I want them to create a sense of community and connectiveness; I want the audience to see where I am going with the ideas. I want them to be a part of the story, a part of understanding the balance needed in family relationships.

Ramage’s idea of genre works with Malcolm’s snapshot definition. They work together to create a balance of how an amateur image can cause the same types of emotions that professionally taken images can. Using Ramage’s idea of genre I would say that you need to remember the critics. People are not always going to see where you are going and what genre you have created for your images to be in. This goes with Malcolm’s snapshot idea because Model is talking about the critics and about how an image (or snapshot) can be viewed differently by people. Malcolm’s article talks about a book done by Jonathon Green where the images were professionally done snapshots that look similar to the snapshots anyone could take. Green’s book is used to “contradict Model’s contention that snapshots are the exclusive province of the innocent amateur and that the professional ‘can never make a snapshot” (Malcolm 63). Green was trying to counter what Model said about professionals being unable to capture the same innocence and feeling of amateur photography.

Working on these two ideas, my story comes from its own genre and includes snapshots that are personal. The genre that I want the story project to belong to is something personal, something that people can relate to. I want the images to strike people in a way that makes them feel connected to what I am saying about family relations. The relationships that are shown in my photographs move us from just the basic parent-child relationship into the larger family bonds.

My snapshots include grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, and children. I want to show the different things that children can learn from all of the different relationships that they create. Children need to experience all things with different ages and see what comes from trying things. All the different people in your life will teach you something different. All the bonds that are available to children need to be brought into their lives.

Snapshots, from Malcolm’s perspective, and genres, from Ramage, show us the difference that we can connect to our own photographs. I think that the idea of having my own work compare to the work of a professional creates a new level of acceptance with the work.