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Documentary Photography Essay



For my essay I am required to discuss and argue about three pieces of works from different artists and decide in my own opinion which piece of work is the better piece, weather it is stronger (bolder), more aesthetic or just more interesting. The subject area I have chosen to discuss is documentary photography. I have chosen this subject area because I found that this subject appealed to me more than any of the other subjects as I find every aspect of photography fascinating, as it is a subject I have great interest in.

Documentary photography (professional photojournalism) originated early on in the 20th century, as it was being referred to a visual language and more and more photographs were being taken and shown to the general public. A documentary photographer would attempt to produce a truthful objective, usually the photographs would be of a particular subject, and the pictures would more than likely be of people.

The artists I have chosen to discuss in my essay are Lewis Hine and Robert Frank: -

Lewis Hine (b.September 26,1874 – d.November 3,1940) was an American sociologist who took up photography in 1905 and used it as a ‘documentary tool’, to show the working class conditions of the poor immigrants from Europe. From 1911-191 he toured the United States as an official photographer for the National Labour Committee, where he depicted in a sensitive and heart-rending manner the plight of children working in the mills.
He often hid his camera so that he could take authentic photographs, and had first to lean how to get a presentable picture without using flash. (1)

Robert Frank (b.November 9, 1924) was a Swiss photographer that was not only famous for his photography work, but also for his film work, arguable to date his most famous film is “Cocksucker Blues”(3) a film about the rock band the Rolling Stones on there 1972 tour, the...