Yesterday I went to Officeworks store to get my pictures printed for my final assignment in Photojournalism. Usually what happens in my country is that you go to a printing store and give them the selected pictures to be printed and they will tell you to come back in 30 minutes or so to get back the prints. But here in Officeworks, I was amazed with the technological standards that I interacted with. I used the self service device that allows you to select the photographs, print them in the selected size you want them to be and get the prints right at that moment. I was free within 10 minutes. I think this service should be launched in my country, but then again, as machine replace humans work, where will they go then?

Maria (tutor) loved the photos but there seemed to be one problem, an environmental portrait was missing in those pictures. I thought I already took that picture but she wasn’t satisfied with the fact that the technique required for the picture to be an environmental portrait was not there in that picture. Although to my surprise, I scored an HD in that assignment, turns out my I scored way more in my originality, impact and the composition of images. Lucky me eh?

In today’s lecture we discussed what institutions are and Brian put up an interesting topic “marriage”. Where I come from, people think of it as a religious thing and a right way to do for a male and female to officially interact. I for think that it is a social contract between two people to officially declare a relationship in the eyes of God. This whole phenomena is commercial as well. The business booms up for wedding photographers and planners for the wedding. This institution gives a feeling of joining a some sort of marriage club where you will be accepted by the society and be considered pious one (husband and wife is a pure relationship in the eyes of God). But one has to think where the concept of marriage came from. It is just a belief that was created just to control the masses and fabricating the fear of the unknown.

Citation: Nichols, Bill. “Documentary Modes of Representation” [extract: Modes & The Expository Mode] Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Bloomington & Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 1991, p.32-38.

Log entry:

Key points:

-Bill provides four terms of practices in documentary making, expository, observational, interactive and reflexive.
-The observational mode arose with the availability of the mobile equipments and unsatisfied moralizing quality of expository documentary. This style allows filmmakers to record events unnoticeably but requires limited presence at the moment
-The interactive mode arose with the same mobile equipments but this style makes it more apparent for the filmmakers as it allows them to actively participate in events.
-The reflexive mode raises the audience’s awareness of the means of representation itself
-This reading focuses on expository mode, the style shapes around the commentary which is directed towards the viewer and images serve as illustration towards the narrative.
-The editing style is evidentiary
-This mode focuses on the impression of Impartiality and true judgment.
-It revolves around providing suspense to the piece of work rather than providing solution to a problem.

What it helped me to understand about documentary:
Old forms of style don’t go, they can be combined and altered to represent the work.

Comments:
This style of documentary persuades just one side of the story and thus the essence of truth lacks in the narrative unless the cinematography and editing is convincing enough.