What Makes a Photograph Influential? | Kira Pollack | TEDxNashville
Summary
TLDRThe speaker, a photography director at Time magazine, explores the enduring influence of photography despite an overwhelming number of images. They recount their team's three-year project to identify the 100 most influential photographs in history, emphasizing the power of a single image to impact society, provoke change, and leave a lasting impression. The talk highlights iconic images such as James Nachtwey's famine photo, which spurred a massive relief effort, and the viral photo of Alan Kurdi, symbolizing the Syrian refugee crisis. It also discusses how technology and platforms have evolved to democratize photography, making it more influential than ever.
Takeaways
- 📸 The sheer volume of photographs taken in a single year now surpasses the total from the entire history of photography, raising questions about the impact and influence of individual images.
- 🔍 A three-year project by Time magazine aimed to identify the 100 most influential photographs in history, highlighting the power of still images to imprint on our collective memory.
- 🌟 Photography has the unique ability to capture a moment in time, distilling complex scenes into a single, powerful frame that can sway public opinion and policy.
- 🏆 A photograph by James Nachtwey of the 1992 famine in Somalia led to a massive relief effort, demonstrating the tangible impact a single image can have on saving lives.
- 🏞️ Historical images, such as those by Carleton Watkins of Yosemite, have served as evidence to protect natural wonders, influencing legislation and conservation efforts.
- 📱 The advent of digital and mobile photography, exemplified by Philippe Kahn's first cell phone image, revolutionized how we communicate and share visual content.
- 🌐 The speed at which images are now disseminated, especially through social media, has accelerated the news cycle and the public's engagement with current events.
- 😢 The haunting image of Alan Kurdi, a young Syrian refugee, became a symbol of the refugee crisis and prompted a brief but significant policy shift in Europe.
- 📰 The platform where a photograph is displayed greatly affects its influence, with magazine covers, newspaper front pages, and now social media feeds acting as powerful amplifiers.
- 📈 The evolution of photography has been marked by technological advancements, from film to digital, and the speed at which images are captured and shared has collapsed the time between creation and consumption.
- 🔮 The future of influential photography remains uncertain but exciting, with new platforms and technologies poised to shape how we experience and are impacted by visual storytelling.
Q & A
How many pictures are estimated to be made in a year compared to the entire history of photography?
-In the year mentioned in the transcript, over a trillion pictures would be made, which is more than the entire history of photography combined.
What was the impact of James Nachtwey's photograph of a woman in a wheelbarrow during the Somali famine?
-The photograph led to the largest relief effort since World War II, saving 1.5 million lives, as it was published impactfully in The New York Times Magazine.
How did Carleton Watkins' photographs contribute to the establishment of the National Park System?
-Watkins' photographs of Yosemite Valley were shown to Washington power brokers as evidence of its existence, leading to Abraham Lincoln signing the Yosemite Grant Act, which paved the way for the National Park System.
What was the significance of Philippe Kahn's photograph of his daughter in the context of photography's evolution?
-Kahn's photograph, taken with a digital camera and flip-top phone, was the first instance of a cell phone image being sent out, which forever changed the way we communicate through images.
Why did the photograph of Alan Kurdi become an influential symbol of the Syrian refugee crisis?
-The photograph of Alan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian refugee who drowned, was widely shared and became difficult to look away from, resonating with the public and leading to a brief opening of European borders for over a million refugees.
How did the Ellen DeGeneres Oscar selfie impact the advertising industry?
-The selfie was retweeted more than any other picture in history, providing a major, organic advertising coup for Samsung, as the phone used to take the picture was prominently displayed.
What role did Abraham Zapruder's film of President John Kennedy's assassination play in the public's perception of the event?
-Zapruder's film documented the assassination in its entirety and was published in Life magazine, becoming the first time the public saw the event unfold, significantly impacting their understanding of it.
How did the Hindenburg disaster photograph achieve influence twice?
-The photograph was influential at the time of the disaster in the 1930s, ending the idea of airship travel. Later, it was used on Led Zeppelin's album cover, making it influential again through pop culture.
What ethical considerations did the Time magazine team face when deciding to publish a graphic image on its cover?
-The team considered the potential impact on a young audience and the subject's well-being, as the subject might not understand the global reach and implications of being on the cover.
How has the speed of photography and its dissemination changed over the past 20 years?
-The speed has evolved dramatically, from photographers using film and physically delivering it for development to digital photographers instantly uploading images to social media, collapsing the time between taking and viewing a picture.
Outlines
📸 The Impact and Influence of Photography
The speaker, a director of photography at Time magazine, discusses the overwhelming number of photographs produced in a single year compared to the entire history of photography. Despite this, photography remains influential. The speaker embarked on a three-year project with a team to identify the hundred most influential photographs in history. They interviewed various experts and found that powerful photographs have the ability to imprint on our minds and convey a scene in a single moment. The speaker gives examples of such influential photographs, including one by James Nachtwey that led to a significant relief effort, saving many lives. The talk also touches on photographs as evidence, like those by Carleton Watkins that contributed to the establishment of the National Park System, and innovative images like the first cell phone picture that changed communication.
🌐 The Role of Audience and Media in Photographic Influence
This paragraph delves into how audience engagement and media platforms contribute to a photograph's influence. The speaker highlights the rapid news cycle and how a photograph can become influential almost instantly through social media shares, as seen with the iconic image of Alan Kurdi during the Syrian refugee crisis. The speaker also discusses the viral nature of an Oscars selfie that inadvertently promoted Samsung. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of the 'perfect storm' where a powerful image, the right platform, and public opinion converge to create influence. Historical examples include the first photograph to depict a human being and the significant role Life magazine played in showing the world through photographs before the television era.
📰 The Evolution of Photographic Platforms and Their Impact
The speaker reflects on the changing platforms where influential photographs have been showcased, from newspapers and magazines to album covers. The paragraph discusses how Eddie Adams' famous Vietnam War photo and the Hindenburg disaster image gained influence through their publication on newspaper front pages and later through pop culture. The speaker also shares personal experiences, such as the ethical considerations when placing a powerful image of a victim of the Taliban on a magazine cover. The paragraph illustrates how the speed of photography has evolved, from film to digital, and the impact of this evolution on how we consume and share news and images in real time.
🔍 The Future of Photography and Its Enduring Influence
In the final paragraph, the speaker concludes the discussion by affirming the enduring influence of photographs despite the overwhelming quantity produced. They reflect on their career and the rapid changes in technology that have collapsed the time between capturing and viewing an image. The speaker ponders the future, questioning what the next influential photograph will be and which platform will introduce it. The talk concludes with a sense of awe at the speed and reach of modern photography and its potential to shape culture and society.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Influential Photographs
💡Quantify Influence
💡Photojournalism
💡National Parks
💡Digital Photography
💡Syrian Refugee Crisis
💡Viral Imagery
💡Zapruder Film
💡Photography and Technology
💡Ethical Considerations in Publishing
💡Real-Time Imagery
Highlights
In a single year, more pictures are made than in the entire history of photography.
The director of photography at Time magazine embarked on a three-year project to identify the 100 most influential photographs in history.
Powerful photography has the ability to brand itself on the viewer's memory and distill a scene into a single moment.
A 1992 photograph by James Nachtwey of a famine in Somalia led to the largest relief effort since World War II, saving 1.5 million lives.
Carleton Watkins' photographs of Yosemite Valley influenced President Abraham Lincoln to sign the Yosemite Grant Act, leading to the National Park System.
Phillipe Kahn's 1997 cell phone image of his daughter marked the beginning of a new era in communication.
The iconic 2015 photograph of Alan Kurdi became a symbol for the Syrian refugee crisis and influenced global policy.
Influential photographs often result from a convergence of a powerful image, the right technology platform, and public opinion.
The first photograph to depict a human being was taken by Luis de Guerre in the early 1800s, revolutionizing how people saw themselves.
Life magazine, launched by Henry Luce, was an influential platform that showed the world to its readers before the era of television.
The front page of newspapers, particularly the upper right-hand corner, has been a significant real estate for influential photographs.
Record album covers, now a thing of the past, used to be a powerful platform for influential photographs.
Magazine covers, such as Demi Moore's provocative pregnant photo, have the power to shift cultural perceptions.
Ethical considerations play a crucial role in deciding which photographs to publish, especially when they depict sensitive subjects.
The evolution of speed in photography has been dramatic, from film to digital and now to real-time uploads from the field.
The news cycle has accelerated, with photographs now being taken and seen by the public in real time.
The future of influential photography lies in the hands of emerging photographers and the platforms yet to be invented.
Transcripts
thank you it's so great to be here what
makes a photograph influential a few
years ago I had lunch with a
photographic scholar he told me
something astonishing
that in that year ahead over a trillion
pictures would be made that means in one
year more pictures would be made than in
the entire history of photography a
trillion pictures and I'm the director
of photography at Time magazine and I
love photography but even for me that
number was daunting how is it that with
all of these pictures that photography
will still be influential and will still
rise to the level of impact this
question brought me down a long and
fascinating rabbit hole with the team of
reporters and photo editors we set out
to quantify the hundred most influential
photographs in history and we did this
over the course of three years it took
that long because we interviewed
hundreds of historians curators
photographers and subjects to quantify
the influence I believe that a
photograph a still image has an
extraordinary power it has the ability
to brand itself on the back of your
brain and to distill down a scene to one
split second powerful photography has a
point of view this picture made in 1992
in the famine the famine in Somalia was
made by the great photojournalist James
Nachtwey though this is a photograph of
a woman in a wheel barrel she had been
wheeled to the feeding center because
she was too weak to walk this picture in
addition to many other pictures that
Nachtwey made on this trip were
published in a very impactful way in the
new york times magazine upon publication
it it cat it it led to the largest
relief effort since World War two with
the ICRC and it saved one and a half
million lives some photographs on our
list were on our list because they were
proof and evidence this picture and a
number of other pictures by Carleton
Watkins were made over 150 years ago he
ventured into Yosemite National Park on
mules
he made a portfolio of 30 images all
that majestically showed the Yosemite
Valley
these pictures were brought to
Washington and shown to the power
brokers as a portfolio and it was
evidence that this place existed no one
had seen it before and three years later
Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite
grant Act which paved the way for the
National Park System some pictures on
her list were not photographs with a
capital P but they were pictures on the
list that really acted as innovation
this picture was made by the software
engineer Phillipe Kahn almost 20 years
ago it's a photograph of his daughter
that he made in the maternity ward in a
Northern California hospital he made
this picture with his digital camera his
flip-top phone he synced it to his
computer and with a few lines of code he
sent it out to 2,000 of his closest
friends and family this is the first
instance of a cell phone image and it
changed the way we communicate forever
one of the hardest parts of this project
was trying to quantify influence from
recent years the last picture on the
list picture number 100 was made in 2015
it was a heartbreaking picture and it
became the iconic symbol for the Syrian
refugee crisis I know this picture is
hard to look at and I'm sorry but it is
also hard to look away
and I think that that's what a powerful
picture does this is a picture of Alan
Kurdi
he was three years old and what I think
everyone it's a gut punch and I think
it's because we can all imagine that
this could be our own child when this
picture was published widely world
leaders went to stage and the borders in
Europe opened for just a brief second
and over a million refugees were settled
but what I find so fascinating about
this picture is that it became
influential because the audience made it
influential it was made by a
professional photographer and as we know
the news cycle is so fast the picture
was tweeted and retweeted and retweeted
and retweeted and it is that idea that
photography is like talking it's it's a
conversation and I work in the media and
literally twenty four hours later we
published that picture and so it was
almost by the time that we really vetted
it and we really you know what we're
able to contextualize what was happening
in it it was that long but everyone the
world had already seen it so it's just
an interesting example of how fast the
news cycle goes at this point another
picture that was very influential from
the audience itself is this picture and
I'm sure you're all wondering why this
is on the list and what are my
credentials for making this list this is
a picture that most people think was
made by Ellen DeGeneres pose really
Bradley Cooper and she gets all the
credit and this picture was retweeted
three million more times than any
picture in history and little known it
was an a major coup for Samsung and this
was like a this was an billion-dollar ad
placement and I mean every creative
director in the industry of advertising
would have been thrilled to have this
because it was so organic the way that
it went viral
um not every photograph on the list was
made by a professional photographer
on November 22nd 1963 a middle-aged
garment manufacturer named Abraham
Zapruder set out with his 8 millimeter
camera and went to document the arrival
of his hero President John Kennedy in
Dallas little did he know that he'd be
making the most famous home movie in
history the brooder photo documented
Kennedy's assassination from beginning
to end these were pictures that were
published in Life magazine they were
still images from his camera and they
were published in black and white
because they had missed the press
deadline for color and it's just
incredible almost a week later was the
first time that the public actually saw
the assassination and it it it was that
was the first time that they were
published take a look at this and I'm
not going to show you the whole the
whole clip but take a look at the parade
route there is not one person that has a
cell phone and not one person that has a
camera even so everyone was experiencing
the moment and I think that's something
that we've lost as we are always
recording everything is recorded and
today that could never have happened
that one man would have made that very
important document photographs become
influential when there is a perfect
storm a sweet spot where a photograph
technology platform and public opinion
collide there might be a very powerful
picture but unless it gets out there in
the right way and it's disseminated it
properly it doesn't become influential
I'm gonna go back this is one of the
first pictures on our list it was made
by luiz de Guerre in the early 1800s and
you might think it looks a little boring
but it was actually a revolutionary
picture at the time because those are
the first time it depicted a human being
and you can see on the left hand corner
a little person down there that was the
first time a human being was in a
photograph depicted instead of a
painting so the way that people saw this
picture they literally had to do a
pilgrimage to go to the studio and see
this one photograph on the wall and it
was influential because you got the
chance to see it and by word of mouth it
was so powerful fast forward almost a
hundred years later and this was the
next most influential place for
photography and when Life magazine was
launched by Henry Luce his idea for life
was that it would show you the world and
it really was the first time that we saw
the world because it was before
television I mean it's hard to believe
this right now but you saw your own town
you saw your own life you didn't get
outside of that and that is what Life
magazine did and it was such an
influential publication for pictures
another influential platform of course
is the the front page of the newspaper
and think about how much that's changed
over time eddie adams made this very
famous picture in vietnam i show this
because it was published in what i think
is the most important real estate on the
front page was which is the upper right
hand corner and it was published on the
front page of newspapers across the
country and it became an influential
picture because of the way it was
published certainly powerful but because
it was published and it landed on
people's breakfast tables and it landed
on people's front porch it became part
of the zeitgeist this was also an
interesting thing that we found which
was that the record album was a great
piece of real estate for photographs and
that no longer exists either now we have
songs we have Spotify and Pandora and
there's no like incredible art on the
record album cover this picture was
influential twice once when it actually
happened this was the Hindenburg in the
30s and it ended the whole idea of
ship travel and then when Led Zeppelin
put it on their first album cover it
became influential through pop culture
something that I've been very familiar
with obviously my career is the magazine
cover again very influential to be
putting this picture on the cover not
inside the magazine and this picture was
so provocative it was so daring Demi
Moore seven months pregnant and naked
and it was if the first time that we
changed the culture and how we saw
pregnancy think that you know everyone
kind of hid it and wore these tent
dresses and then this kind of changed it
shifted the way that we talked about it
and you know it was a very provocative
cover for a mass media to put that there
one of the most powerful pictures I've
been involved in and placing it on the
cover and the very big privilege that I
have of working at Time magazine is that
I'm on the front lines of deciding these
pictures and trying to figure out what
pictures should make the cover this
picture was made of a girl named Ayesha
she was 18 years old and her nose and
ears were cut off by the Taliban it's
horrifying and when we when we try to
figure out should we publish this on the
cover or inside the magazine there are
two things that really we were debating
and one was this would be the first time
a child might see a horrifying image and
we are responsible for that
so just ethically you know it's not just
on their newsstand it's on people's
living room table and I think that that
that was a very interesting discussion
and the second was as we always consider
what happens to the subject this girl is
living in a very remote place she
doesn't know what time magazine is and
she she's gonna become an icon what will
this do to her and you know we weighed
all that down as we do and she was safe
when we published it we knew that and it
led to it just ignited huge discussion
and it just became very powerful as it
you know as a as an idea about women
Afghanistan and the Taliban
the history of photography is a 190
years it's gonna go on for another 190
years I've only been involved in it for
this very small window of 20 years but
it's like it's like enough time I think
um but one thing that I have witnessed
in my 20 years is the evolution of speed
and what I mean by that and I'm just
gonna give you an example I worked at
the New York Times Magazine during 9/11
and I lived in New York I live downtown
and all the photographer's we worked
with worked with film cameras this was
15 years ago so not very long ago but
what that meant was at a time where it
like that it was changing every minute
and it was so confusing what was
happening in that story in real time I
was literally walking down to get the
film and bring it up to the office so
like people weren't emailing pictures to
us and we were publishing them we were
literally so and then you're editing the
pictures you're laying out the magazine
and then you know you're on deadline and
that the next news story that happened
right after that and I just remember the
so vividly because a lot of my friends
were photographers and they were going
off to Afghanistan to cover the war and
they were on the airplanes with digital
cameras which they had never used before
and they had you know their cameras an
instruction manual and a generator and
they were going off to the front lines
of a war that they had never covered
because it was a new generation of
photographers and it was it's just
amazing to think that that was so recent
and the generator was because they're
gonna be in the middle of nowhere and
they needed to file to us and as
publishers of those pictures we had no
idea how they were gonna reproduce so
it's just like again not that long ago
that that happened one of my favorite
photographers Robert Capa great great
war photographer 1944 he photographed
d-day he was there on Omaha Beach and he
made it
is it powerful pictures he risked his
life to think when he was finished with
shooting pictures that day that he had
to get his film across the channel to
London in London they developed those
pictures and there are lots of stories
about what happened but 10 frames
remained the next morning those 10
frames
went from London to Scotland Scotland to
Newfoundland Newfoundland to Washington
Washington to New York and then they
were published in Life Magazine and it's
just you know what I've what I've
witnessed in my career and like you know
just even from Robert Capa it's like the
the distance between taking a picture
and seeing a picture has collapsed today
we have photographers that work for us
that that photograph in some cases with
their cell phones and they upload the
pictures directly to Times Instagram
feed that means you are seeing pictures
in real time I mean it's not great for
my job because it kind of cuts managing
the process but what Lowood CAPA say if
he would you know it's just amazing to
think that that is how war is being
covered actually a mozole by some
photographers so it just has changed the
way that you know the way that we're
experiencing the news and the news cycle
has gotten so fast
so in conclusion obviously this has been
an amazing project and I it's been a
passion project and I learned so much
it's been like being in graduate school
and but the but the answer to the
question is can photographs be
influential with all these pictures we
made the answer is yes they can the
question is what is going to be the
hundred and first picture who is gonna
make it and what platform is it going to
be on what platform is going to be
introduced that's going to blow our ma
and thank you
you
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