Photographic (In)authenticity

Abstract

Debates around authenticity within photographic discourse are persistent. Some have revolved around documentary photography, while other discussions focus on the ethical validity of digitally edited news photographs and indeed the photographic medium itself. This article proposes that discussions around ‘authenticity’ should be focused instead towards contextualising photography more appropriately within the creative practice of ‘making strange’. It acknowledges existing debates around photography and authenticity, before locating the discussion within creative practice. It then moves to a discussion, using Robert Capa’s ‘Falling Soldier’ (Capa, 1936) as a starting point, before drawing on examples from the author’s own creative and professional practice. In the process, the article argues that visual researchers embrace the challenges of making the familiar strange within photographic creative practices.

Documents of Socially Engaged Art

“…The current study is based on an overarching research strategy approach that primarily focused on the documentation of the entire artistic process through photography (Meron, 2019). Here, the use of an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) led to focus group discussions and note taking as research methods.…”