A comparison of approaches to documentary photography of 1930s America and contemporary South Africa.

[摘要] The research for this degree comprises a theoretical dissertation and a practicalcomponent of photographs. The theoretical research investigates the practice ofdocumentary photography in America and South Africa. The photographs ofWalker Evans, Robert Frank, David Goldblatt and Bob Gosanl are examinedagainst the background of two organisations, the Farm Security Administrationand Drum. These organisations influenced the documentary genre in theirrespective countries because of their socio-polltical concerns: their choice andpresentation of subject matter for publication influenced both the photographar andthe viewer.Documentary photographs appear, because of their seemingly candid andunmediated nature, to present historically factual images. Examples from thework of the four photographers reveal their distinction from, continuity withthe confines of the documentary genre. Their respective approaches reveal therole of perception as it manifests itself in their work. Subjugation, attltudestowards subject matter, and the pictorial construction of images are analysed inrelation to each photographer's work.The relationship of image and text in documentary photography is seen as anelement of intervention by the photographer.The selection of these photographers was motivated for their partinance to thesubject matter and to the pictorial considerations of the candidate. These issuesare therefore examined in relation to the candidate's approach to photography.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand