How Do You Balance Text And Image in a Documentary Photography Book?

How do you balance text and image in a documentary photography book?

“In terms of photography, what is the difference between documenting and documentary?” (I’m answering this with the disclaimer that I never took courses in communications, media or journalism. This is purely my personal understanding and perception of the matter) Documenting is the strictly factual, technically correct recording, by whatever means, (photography, voice recording, stenography, etc
) events and / or situations without input from the operator. “Operator” meaning the person or persons doing the documenting, ie. those handling the equipment necessary to effect the documentation. I specify “operator” because of the incapacity of human beings to accurately record events. “Eye witnesses” has been shown to be mostly wrong about what t’ve seen or heard when recalling events, even traumatic ones. It’s the process whereby the intent, possibly unattainable, is to leave all subjective bias out of the process. A perfect example of this, from a biological viewpoint, would be Robert A. Heinlein’s concept of the “Fair Witness” as depicted in his novel “Stranger in a Strange Land - Wikipedia ” A Fair Witness is portrayed as a person having undergone extensive training in objective observation techniques, such that describing a house such a Witness would have seen from a distance results in the description containing only information regarding the visible aspects of the house. If viewed obliquely, the Witness would say that t saw 2 walls instead of four, despite the logical conclusion being that a house consists (usually) of 4 exterior walls, and knowing for certain that the house was covered by a roof the slope of which was only partially visible. No assumption is made that there exists a second slope of the roof, presumably out of sight from the Witness’ viewpoint. Another, more common and factual example, might be the forensic crime scene photographer. His/her purpose is not only to document the scene with absolute, unequivocal precision but to also take every precaution to not add any extraneous elements, whether accidentally or on purpose. That’s why CSI units, including photographers, are seen entering crime scenes in full body isolation suits. It ensures that any piece of evidence, fingerprints, tissues, hairs, etc
, are the result of the actions perpetrated by or the presence of the suspect(s) and not deposited there by the investigators. A Documentary is a story, not based on fiction, about an event, a situation, a person’s life, a probability or an extrapolation of current facts or data from the perspective of a documentarian, who injects a personal take on the subject of their documentary. While the core precepts of a documentarian’s process are based on fact and evidence, much latitude is involved in covering the subject matter. In visual media, scenes are sometimes recreated from witnesses accounts, or real people’s testimony about or participation in an event or situation are merged into a fictional character in order to clarify, simplify and explain a complex or time consuming set of facts, and to move the story along at a pace sufficient to retain the viewer’s interest. Basically, any documentary, by definition, can be seen as a true story told with varying degrees of interjected personal opinion and or viewpoint. Note, however, that much like matter travelling through space can approach but never attain the speed of light, a documentary can approach but never reach the raw data form of documentation, because a documentary (DOCUMENT + commentARY) doing so ceases to be a documentary and becomes an objective (within the realm of possibility) document. A documentary’s intent can take many forms, from educational to political and all shades in between, but the common element is to possess an intent. Well known examples are the popular PBS television series NOVA, whose principle mandate is to educate. Another would the work of documentarians such as Errol Morris - Wikipedia and Michael Moore - Wikipedia, whose films The Thin Blue Line (1988 film) - Wikipedia and Bowling for Columbine - Wikipedia respectively, sought to effect change. While Morris’ film was ostensibly about a single criminal injustice case, it brought attention to the failings of police methods and attitudes which result in tragic judicial errors. Moore’s sought to challenge an entire nation’s attitude towards a constitutionally protected right which has brought increasing controversy and bitterness to a population repeatedly subjected to seemingly senseless, horrific mass death of innocents by gun. Documentation is Dragnet’s Sgt. Friday asking for “
the facts, mam, JUST the facts” A documentary is asking how the lady in question feels about what she witnessed and interpreting her answer, and in some cases reporting her impressions selectively. It’s easy to see that in the latter case true objectivity is bypassed in order to relate the essence of the event, not just its cold, hard reality. That’s how I see the difference, but experiences may vary
 Why Science Tells Us Not to Rely on Eyewitness Accounts