Photos and Illustration

I read Chapter 9 of White Space is Not Your Enemy “Adding Visual Appeal: Working with Photos & Illustrations.” This chapter was super awesome and got me really excited about using illustrations in my web page. However that is something I don’t really know how to do so I guess my ideas may get a bit ahead of my ability!

Errol Morris’s “Case of the Inappropriate Alarm Clock” was extremely interesting. As an art historian I understand that art and artists can make art that is just more than something to look at. Art can be something beautiful to look at, art can be symbolic, and art can be propaganda. Sometimes the propaganda is intended by the artist sometimes it is taken and used by others, but regardless art is not created within a vacuum. Photography is a big part of this, when we look at a photograph we think it is telling the truth, the whole story, and is frozen in time. However just like a painting the photographer has the ability to control what is or is not in the frame and what is happening in a scene. Even if fancy photoshop tools weren’t being used, editing was occurring in some form. It was the interview in Part 2 and Part 3 with James Curtis that was really interesting in regards to exploring the style and authenticity of the F.S.A photography from an art historians perspective. I think ignoring the details behind the art can limit the perspective of the photograph or painting as a useful source for history.


I started with the Lynda Video’s but I haven’t done much work in photoshop. I do need to do more. I’m trying to get a bunch of it finished by tomorrow before class.

I commented on Mark and Rebecca‘s blogs.

2 thoughts on “Photos and Illustration

  1. I mentioned Curtis a little in my blog also. I really like his skeptical mindset when reviewing the photographs. But, people have idiosyncrasies too, so I often think he may be quick to view an item as staged or moved. Was the farmer using the wrong shovel? Maybe that was all he had to complete the task. He is probably right in most cases.

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  2. Pingback: Altering Photographs | Kater Miller

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