What Is Documentary Photography?

In the video, Miranda Gavin of Hotshoe Magazine gave a five minute talk on documentary photography today. For someone new to documentary photography like myself, the video gave an awareness of the flexibility and liquid state of the genre. Miranda made a point of stating how the photographer’s circumstance and environment is directing their work, for example how the topics are changing in documentary photography due to a large increase in women adopting the medium. I found this an interesting point, and realised that as well as telling somebody else’s story (coverage of conflicts, events, etc.), documentary photography can be used as a vehicle for the photographer’s own story, and issues that are directly relevant to them.

Also intriguing was seeing how the way people are consuming the medium has changed in recent times, and continues to change. Printed newspapers and magazines are becoming less and less relevant, with online services picking up the slack. As Miranda pointed out, this has created a technical issue with regards to things like colour. When the photographer knows the final media his or her image will be printed on, they can take steps to control the final output. With the majority of the public’s computer monitors and phone/iPad screens uncalibrated, this creates a much less certain final product.

I find it interesting that Miranda’s experience is that the line between documentary image and fine art image is often blurred, as in my own mind I want my documentary images to also look attractive. If someone saw my print and commented that they found it nice to look at, I’d like to be able to then create a conversation around the image’s origins.

Ultimately, perhaps the word documentary in a photographic context is becoming a meaningless word. To use a musical analogy, the word jazz is in danger of becoming meaningless as it has expanded and assimilated elements from so many musical genres that to say that you like to listen to 'jazz' warrants further explanation to clarify exactly what you mean.