SUMMARY & REFLECTION:

 

PHOTOGRAPHY CHANGES EVERYTHING – MARVIN HEIFERMAN

In Photography Changes Everything, Heiferman attempts to offer a rethinking of how photography is impacting our culture and lives. He states that photographs encapsulates information and values, while attempting to shape our knowledge of and experience in the world. Photography Changes Everything gave me brief yet better understanding of the history, practice, and power of photography. Heiferman makes a similar shares a similar sentiment with Susan Sontag. They both focus on how the proliferation of technology has changed how photography is used as well as our society with it. We now have cameras with us everywhere we go. While this was once a luxury technology out of the public reach, it is now something that many, including myself, take for granted. Taking photos is now common place. From documenting gatherings with friends to “selfies,” photography is a way for many of us to capture moments our lives. The accessibility for capturing these moments makes photography all the more necessary in our lives. We see it now as a necessary part of the process of our memory and personal narrative creation. While these photos may not be framed in galleries, they are arguably of greater importance to our individual lives. Photography has moved beyond the walls of the gallery and to the walls (or at least Facebook Walls) of the individual. This reading makes me consider how and why I use photography in my own life. I would like to apply my thoughts on this reading to my collage by incorporating a more personal view of my own life and that of my subject