Documentary Photography

by Kait Bischoff

Definition of document:

a. A written or printed paper that bears the original, official, or legal form of
something and can be used to furnish decisive evidence or information.
b. Something, such as a recording or a photograph, that can be used to furnish
evidence or information.

Definition of documentary:

1. Consisting of, concerning, or based on documents.
2. Presenting facts objectively without editorializing or inserting fictional matter,
as in a book or film.

According to Beaumont Newhall, “any photograph can be considered a document if it is found to contain useful information about the specific subject under study.” Documentary photography doesn’t have an official start date, but rather began in the late 1880s/early 1900s. Painter, Henri Matisse, stated that all photos are precious documents, and that if done tastefully, are also art. Around 1909, Lewis Hine was compiling a series of photos of immigrants arriving in New York. He used his camera as a research tool and took it with him to capture what he found to be interesting– the lives of the underprivileged. His work was labeled “human documents” and “photo story.” The photos he took led to a great occurrence; the passing of child labor laws. Not only did he photograph poor living conditions, but he also took pictures of Red Cross relief, working men, and the construction of the Empire State Building.

Independent filmmakers began producing motion pictures with the intent to inform, not entertain. Thus, the start of film documentary.

The Farm Security Administration (FSA) became an agency attached to the Department of Agriculture at the instruction of president Franklin Roosevelt. Photographers were commissioned to capture rural life and the effects of the “dust bowl.” For seven years, at least 12 photographers, under the watch and guidance of Roy Stryker, worked together, but mostly individually, to develop a cohesive and notable portfolio.

Documentary photography is important because it produces pictures that can not only be viewed, but read like an article. Photos can say so much, even more than the artist intends to capture. With or without pairing with a small amount of text, photographs can do more than a page of an article or an attention-grabbing headline. They carry a message, but also leave much to interpret by each person who happens upon them.

James Curtis, “Making Sense of Documentary Photography,” History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web,http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/Photos/, June 2003.

Newhall, Beaumont. “13 | Documentary Photography.” The History of Photography: From 1839 to the Present. 5th ed. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1982. 235-48. Print.