Tuesday 16 December 2014

Telling Stories - Truth or Fiction?

In Maria Short's book "Basics - Creative Photography 02 - Context and Narrative" she talks about the telling of a story through photographs and the variations for how an image can be read.

Under the section I detail as the title of this post she mentions a quote from Magnum Photographer David Hurn which I'll paraphrase "....The only factually correct aspect of photography is that it shows what something looked like under a very particular set of circumstances." (Short, 2011)

For anyone who has looked at images printed in tabloid papers and celebrity magazines there have been many celebrities photographed with eyes half closed, maybe having an unfortunate slip, when leaving a club; the image appearing to tell the story the celebrity is drunk. I've no doubt that there are a proportion who are and a proportion who are not, however the photographer or editor in presenting the image in a particular context has told a story without using words and allowed the viewer to make what they think is an obvious conclusion of the image under observation. Is this story true or fiction? We won't always know.


The following link details a number of images in which celebrities may appear to have over indulged; which are true and which are fiction I'll leave for you to decide but one thing is for sure, the method of how the celebrity is presented in the image under a particular set of circumstances leaves no doubt about what is implied:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/favourite-ever-celebrity-drunk-pictures-1130706

David Hurn, who made the quote above, was in 1963 commissioned to photograph a series of image stills with Sean Connery and the actresses of James Bond film "From Russia With Love". The theatrical and famously James Bond traditional Walther PPK pistol prop didn't arrive. Hurn offered the use of his own Walther LP-53 air pistol. The pistol became a symbol of James Bond on many film posters of the series. In fact even modern day Daniel Craig was, in posters only, also seen holding a suppressed Walther PPK, true to Ian Fleming's books. However Hurn, true to his quote above, has used an LP-53 in his photographs to appear as a Walther PPK pistol under a very particular set of circumstances. The following link shows an example of one of the posters including Sean Connery with the gun:

http://www.filmoria.co.uk/2012/07/james-bond-dossier-no-2-from-russia-with-love/

If the truth had been common knowledge at the time that James Bond was photographed for the posters with an air pistol it may have had a very negative impact.


For the James Bond buffs out there, Daniel Craig in the film Skyfall is filmed using four pistols:

 - traditional Walther PPK
 - Heckler and Kock HK416 D10RS
 - Glock 17
 - Percusion Cap Ardesa 1871 Dueling Pistol

 Can you tell me which one he is photographed using for the posters and also if this is an air pistol or a theatrical prop?


References

Short, Maria (2011). Context and Narrative. SA: AVA Publishing. p17.

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