Leslie Mullen’s “Truth in Photography”

  November 29th, 2022

Leslie Mullen’s Truth in Photography

By: Connor Albaugh

        

Blog Requirements: Comment on Leslie Mullen’s Truth in Photography. Read the following in Chapter 4 The Nature of Art: The Function of Art (pg. 35 – 37) and Art as Persuasion (pg. 37 – 42). Choose 3 sentences and/or paragraphs, and comment on them.

        Leslie Mullen’s Truth in Photography was eye opening in multiple ways. Touching on “Art as a function” and “Art as Persuasion” and relating it back to photography and other beautiful forms of art was quite fascinating because there are more things to consider on behalf of art I hadn’t taken into consideration. With a lot to unravel, there were three sentences that really stood out to me throughout this reading that I wanted to discuss and analyze. They are bolded below. 

        The first sentence that stood out to me from this article is as follows: “Not only can art simplify in order to show what matters, but it can often show us things previously unseen: art shows us more” (Mullen, 36). In the beginning stages of this article, the meaning of “art” was an idea thrown in the air by many people. Some agree, while others disagree with the overarching meaning of art, what it means, and how it is portrayed. I have often been confused by the meaning of art myself because one thing I may think may have a deeper meaning or not give the best overall message on behalf of a piece of art. However, the one thing that I agree with as well as others agree with is the “understanding or appreciation” art gives someone when they view it (Mullen, 35). Within a piece of art, there is usually a point of reference or focal point the artist tries to articulate once their art is seen and viewed. Everyone, upon viewing a painting or photograph, for example, will see and take something different away from what they are looking at. This is the beauty of art, as most times, the overall message and meaning of an image or painting is left up to the viewer, and this creates a sense of individual imagination and creativity to put the pieces together. This leads me into the following line above that I found to be very important in regards to the article. There are a lot of things that happen behind the scenes when it comes to the creation of a painting or a photograph. The painting technique in a painting or the settings and area of capture for a photograph are all things that are unique to the creator of such pieces of art, but the public often doesn’t see this. All this hard work, determination, and delicacy on behalf of each person’s art is unique. When it is shown to the public, not all of the sweat, tears, and long hours spent thinking about and eventually creating something beautiful aren’t expressed to the people who view the painting or photograph. This is likely done in order to “simplify in order to show what matters” and this means that they have created something specific and unique for people to see without having an idea of why the image or painting is made. Having this revealed could alter what people think and wouldn't allow them to have a thought for themself. Additionally, art such as a painting or photograph does an excellent job of “showing things previously unseen”. This doesn’t necessarily mean that elements in a photograph or a painting are brand new to an audience, although it can be. For me, it means that the painter or photographer has provided a different angle or approach to their work to articulate something abnormal or passed up on in previous works. For example, this could be emphasizing the beauty of sunsets through a different depth of field or showing a hidden personality of an object or person in a painting taken for granted. Whatever it may be, there is always hidden meaning as well as specific things that are shown and honored in pieces of art that makes us appreciate the little things in life as well as expose us to new things not previously seen or taken into account before. 

        The second sentence that happened to be short, sweet, and to the point, yet incredibly poignant in art is the following lines: “Art persuades, in part, by evoking emotions and feelings” (Mullen, 39). The discussion following this quote is a perfect example of how something can invoke emotions and feelings. Commercials are a great example of this. The SPCA commercials often involve emotions of sadness and regret because of how some of the animals are treated in their previous home environments. Charming Ultra Soft is a commercial for toilet paper and often invokes feelings of comfort and happiness with the use of bears because of how soft and clean the toilet paper wipes and makes your body feel after using the bathroom. Both of these, with the emphasis on invoking some sort of feeling or emotion, persuade one seeing these commercials to buy or invest in their product. Interestingly enough, art strives to do the same thing, as much as to persuade the viewing to feel and invoke specific emotions. For example, “Rosalind Hursthouse, an art theorist,” happened to feel the same way as others do in regards to war which happens to be that “war is terrible” (Mullen, 40). However, when she had the opportunity to see “Goya’s painting on war and Picasso’s Guernica in Madrid,” her feelings and emotions changed on behalf of what war means (Mullen, 40). Instead of war being this horrible thing, it is simply a place where men and women fight with “courage, honor, and glory” to protect our freedom and to establish hostile relations in order to create peace. In some cases, this may not be the case due to past relations with certain countries, but this is how Rosalind had felt. Not only did Rosalind see what it took to go to and fight in a war, but it made her feel incredibly lucky for the country she lives in and that she would “fight for one’s country” as a lot of these paintings and pictures represent. Leslie selected this quote and person into one of her chapter brilliantly as it shows one example of persuading people to not only join the army, but invoke feelings of bravery and mental toughness on behalf of our troops as they risk their lives so that the people at home can be safe and unbothered by hostiles. Additionally, another example of how art can persuade people to feel certain feelings and emotions is through paintings, as discussed above, but can also be through photographs or other forms of art. One example for how photographs can persuade one to feel certain feelings or emotions happens to be photographs from third world countries. In a lot of the lectures we have been shown in class, there have been a lot of photographers who have taken controversial images of country conditions as well as personal hygiene and physicality through people like children. An image that stands out to me is the image where a child is bent over and curled into a ball where it shows his ribs and also that he didn’t have any clothes or shoes on except underwear. This image made me feel very sad and sorry, and invoked feelings of worry and disappointed at the current state of certain parts of the world. Looking at this photograph made me feel a sense of appreciation for my life and given the opportunity to be healthy and be raised appropriately with plenty to eat and a roof over my head. Such images like these are taken very delicately and often are used to push for support and donations on behalf of this child and other suffering children and other areas of great poverty and malnutrition. With war paintings and photographs of hungry children, there are two of many examples of how art can be persuasive in its ability to involve certain feelings and emotions. 

        Last but not least, the third and final sentence that resonated with me and spoke mediums to be is as follows: “And if they do not speak to you, that is because you are not ready for them, and words will only serve to make you think you have understood, thus cutting you off altogether” (Mullen, 41). This quote and line in Mullen’s second chapter happens to be in regards to a photograph and having the ability to see an photograph for what it is and develop some kind of meaning on behalf of what one sees. Like I said previously in this blog, everyone takes something different away from a photograph. Whether it is simply a short message upon a glance or a message that speaks to one through taking the time to analyze a photograph, everyone has their own way of being able to articulate what they see mentally, and potentially verbally. “If images do not speak to you, that is because you are not ready for them” is a very strong message. There are some things people see that they understand as well as things people may not understand or struggle to gain meaning from. In this sense, the photograph will speak to the ones who are heavily invested and do everything they can to see the photo and gather meaning from what they see and feel. For the ones who merely aren’t interested or give a photograph little attention, they will not be able to see the photograph for what is truly is and may speak on its behalf to give a short and simplified version of its meaning to that they may understand it. With this in mind, not only do they miss the full meaning or things they didn’t pick up on, but an opportunity to be overtaken and overwhelmed mentally and physically to the point where words couldn’t possible speak on behalf of an entire image. If you make it to this stage as a viewer and as you analyze a piece of art such as a photograph, you could say that the image “speak to you” and there would be no reason to be lazy and ask about its meaning because once this is done, you have relinquished you ability to develop your own personal meaning and interpretation in regards to a photograph. “Cutting you off altogether” is an exceptional bridge after my last point, as one may not be cut off from viewing an image, but essentially the opportunity of the photograph to speak to you in ways you may not understand or appreciate after the viewing process is out the door. This means that one may move onto the next photograph without giving a certain photograph a chance to speak to it, and if this is done for one photograph, it is likely something a person repeats as they may not be interested or accepting enough to allow a beautiful form of art to change how they think about something or someone appropriately. But, those who stick around and dedicate many hours thinking and analyzing a photo will find more and more meaning throughout the photograph emotionally and physically, giving them this idea of “speaking to the viewer”. 

        In conclusion, the reading of Leslie Mullen’s Truth in Photography was not only captivating, but informationally rich in analyzing art in its different forms. Not only can art be things such as paintings or photographs, each medium articulates something different and challenges the viewer to use their imagination and creativity to find meaning and develop emotions through the pieces they see. Art is simplistic in its approach, persuasive to the public on behalf of feelings and emotions, and speaks to people in ways words cannot depict or accurately display. Art is not only unique in its visual approach, but has “open arms” on behalf of personal articulation and gratification. This forces one to not only invest time to inspect and analyze art, but appreciate it for what it shows and the meaning it may convey about the past, present, or future which many of us haven’t seen or have yet to discover.