Analysis Of The Arguments On The Social Function Of Photography
The word transmission is defined by statements such as “convey”, “deliver”, or “transfer”. It also can be clarified as a movement that we usually transfer items, letters, messages or sounds from one place to another. For instance, the Telegraph is one of the important inventions of industrial society and also the earliest use of electrical communication method in the nineteenth century. It helps ancient to send messages in some emergency situations.
During the American Civil War which broke out from 1861 to 1865, the armed forces used the telegraph to spread the battlefield news and that was the world’s first use of telegrams for military use. A reasonable analogy of geology or movement is the transmission perspective of correspondence and it is the most notable and widely recognized in our way of life. The ritual view of communication is another competing definition of communication. The word ritual can be explained as “ceremony”. As Carey (1992) mentioned, ‘we have not explored the ritual view of communication because the concept of culture is such a weak and evanescent notion…’. It is worried about how social orders and societies duplicate themselves through correspondences rehearses, briefly speaking ritual communication is equivalent to reproduce culture. So, from which perspective can we perceived as a ritual communication? Cite a case, the Olympics Games opening ceremony can be perceived as a form of ritual communication because people all around the world will have a deeper understanding of one country especially the organizing nation. In other words, a country’s national culture has been shared through the social networking, for instance, a live TV broadcast will bring the opening ceremony internationalization. As Bourdieu mentioned, ‘… photography captures an aspect of reality…’. Yes indeed, the camera is a tool that people used to capture moments using angles and lightning. During the age which was lacking supplies, a camera is considered as a valuable thing. Occasionally, people would take a family portrait in photo studio once in a blue moon and the amount was not everyone can afford. In my cognition, previous photos are in monochrome. The photos are put up on the dividers to gotten to be a potential visual sign of the modern hereditary adore. And yet, that is the reason why it is extraordinarily precious in this contemporary society and this is the witness of the process of time.
Nevertheless, with the advances in science and technology, humans gradually disregard the spirit and invention of photography. Less consideration has been paid to how early photography was molded by a more extensive cast of individuals sets in both metropolitan and territorial systems of science and applied arts. One time previously, an individual who knows how to require pictures with a camera was exceptionally strange. In recent years, the development of the social networking is developed promptly and people in today’s world can capture every moment as they like using their smartphones. It is not a necessity for us to use a Film, a Digital Camera (DC), a Single Lens Reflector (SLR) or even a Digital Single Lens Reflector (DSLR) to capture the moment at present. As Daniel (2010) remarked, ‘… the exhibition and distribution of personal photographs have quickly followed…’. Try to think about what are the reasons that make people nowadays shooting everywhere and always busy uploading their photos via assorted social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat? This is because the Web has given a capacity for an ever-accumulating document of individual visual encounter, memory and feeling as well as the social media has become a platform for us to affirm and investigate their possess personality.
Photography is not so unusual, is not a technical activity as days of yore, people from different age bracket can be a photographer as long as they own a multifunctional camera phone. The two biggest manufacturers of the year such as Samsung and iPhone are now always improving their own products by providing consumers with a High Distinction (HD) pixels camera phone, but not a phone with various functions. Oddly enough, consumers seem to be brainwashed, they will be convinced by the phone which has a better pixel to support them in their life. Photographs of millions of particulars are presently associated with each other by a hyperlink, tag, or search term. Nowadays, social interaction between two unknown persons to acquainted is not as challenging as years ago. Photos will speak for itself, therefore, people can use photos to “get the connection” with strangers. As an example, Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service that provided hashtag and location function for the users. Captions within outline as well as post comments underneath others user’s photographs is a way for users to interpret their pictures. By such a motion, people could easily make friends with a like-minded person. It is more straightforward for people to get a connection while they are swiping through the page and look at what are the photos that posted from each other. Under the speedy development of science and technology, these social applications went viral in the last few years not only among the juveniles including people from different disparity age. It can be said that the whole world is to be crazy about this upsurge.
Aside from the functions that I mentioned above, the other social function of photography is to consolidate and prolong the relations between friends, family members, beloved, or even a business connection. There is no fire without smoke, I would say that photography as a “tool” for people to strengthen their relationships because a picture is worth a thousand words. Take myself as an example, I am a student who is currently studying at a university which is 300km away from home. Because of the invention of photography and the combination between technology and the former, I can partake my everyday life as well as experiences through the WhatsApp or WeChat group to my parents and friends who located in different time zones. No matter how far away, regardless of the weather, we can still keep in touch rain or shine. Photograph is a way to narrow the gap between humans, to base on the combination of photography and technology, we are allowed to have the qualification to use smartphone sharing our life in spite of any space-time. From a business connection perspective, photography in this twenty-first century carries a big weight. The previous time, people used to go to a shopping mall, supermarket, or even hypermarket to bargain for their daily necessities otherwise luxury goods. However, there will be no more window shopping in subsequent time. To give an example, e-business platforms such as Amazon, Shopee, Yamibuy, Lazada and Taobao are now started inch by inch. Various types of commodities is available on these e-business platforms, even from top to toe. Merchants on these e-business platforms generally retail their goods, trying to convince consumers using the superiority of photos. They are no longer dependent on the power of words, they use photos as a product catalogue and trying to get the opportunity to attract consumers. As Sarah (2014) pointed out, ‘we are in a photo economy’. Exactly, this “photo economy” appears in everywhere, every time. Retailers nowadays are no longer hire any salespersons to help them promote their latest product as before, they “pay salary” to those social websites also the e-business platforms that mentioned above, to help them advertise or make an announcement on their productions using photos. Thus, it can be seen that online shopping seems like a trend for people in this modern age as well as the development of transport and logistics, the goods will be received in a few days’ time.
By the same token, photography possesses its own role as well in the tourism advisory. I remembered that my father told me a fact which is about photos or images are always having the potential to make a good impression on somebody. Absolutely, it is! Try to recall when a person told you something about the Coca-Cola, I’m sure that you will link to its logo which is red in coloured immediately. And how about the Toblerone, a legendary triangular Swiss chocolate bar brand? Surely you will associate with its logo with a bear nestled within the Matterhorn Mountain design on the spot. And yet, this is the influence that making by photos, help people to fix appearance in their mind. From my point of view, photography is the backstage of every international landmark and tourist attractions. There are seven continents and five oceans in this world, and it’s a mission impossible to make everyone know everywhere that contain in our Mother Earth. In this case, photography really plays an important role in this situation. As Brian (2009) mentioned, ‘photography and tourism are widely considered to be intrinsically linked’. This grass is always the greener on the other side of the fence, people are longing of foreign state-owned furthermore travelling has become a type of leisure activity nowadays. Travel agency used to publish flyers and brochures with a lot of attractive scenery photos to attract people taking part in their tour, usually those beautiful places which appear on the flyers or brochures. They wish they can visit the places that they admire.
Last but not least, photography is a kind of invention as well as technology that has accomplished for two centuries. It is the witness of the changes of time, it documented the history and it experienced changing times. As one example, the photo “V-J Day in Times Square” known as the “Victory Kiss” is a paradigmatic photo of Alfred Eisenstaedt, a well-known American-German photographer in the twentieth century. It is a symbol which has significantly led the World War II comes to the end and bring the world towards peace in 1945. Alfred Eisenstaedt was the innovator who touches upon the photojournalism to bring pieces of knowledge by the way of photography to people in years before. From this point of view, photography has a great effect on human development, it calls attention that war is a frightful calamity, we should not take the same disastrous road in the future. For recollecting and developing historicity that identifies with an individual comprehension of the past, photos also work as an apparatus. With this dynamism, photography provides humanity with an obverse teaching material, especially for our next generation. So that, the younger generation would notice how cruel was the war together with the fragrant that how peaceful the world is. In a nutshell, everything possesses the essential quality of the two-edged sword, technology develops at a tremendous speed nowadays is indeed satisfying. But, the general public will gradually lose their mind and control as well as neglect the initial meaning of these inventions. As Daniel (2010) claimed that, ‘the photograph’s traditional role is simultaneously undermined and reinforced’. Nevertheless, communication tools are originally formed to shorten the time for every delivery information. On the other hand, it is a human invention that has created a miracle. It brings countless benefits to this contemporary society, it makes cultures in different countries integrate, it frames people of all ranks and classes along with skin colour to build their own identity, reproduce culture with all sort of sciences and technologies inspiration.
An individual’s future memories will not be printed out and formed in a photo album as our parents’ generation with writing some words beside the photos, moreover, these interesting memories will be uploading through many social media platforms and might be a content that everyone can see.
