Comparing the Depicted Message of Painted and Photographic Artifacts
Visiting the National Gallery, located in Trafalgar Square, one can admire a wide range of masterpieces of art that have been created by prominent artists. These works of art depict different scenes, people, and even entire history events. However, when visiting photography galleries, one can see a collection of frames that describe a scenario captured at a certain moment with the precision of a camera.
For instance, J. M. W. Turner’s “The Fighting Temeraire,” a depiction of a warship of the line on its last voyage up the River Thames, was created with the artist’s understanding and interpretation of the event. Although the ship and its voyage were real, their painting by Turner had creative elements. The message of the work of art, as well as the artist’s intent, has been interpreted in various ways. This is because visual art, in this case, photography, is a precise science as it captures light at a given moment.
As much as photography can be tricky, it remains one of the most accurate and authentic ways of depicting a scene, event, or object.
At the same time, one should also consider that photographers capture only the moment and that they can set the framing, lighting, and other conditions for their convenience and the realization of their creative intention. An iconic and well-known example of such a photograph is Terry O’Neill’s picture of Faye Dunaway on the balcony of the Beverly Hills Hotel, taken on the morning of 29 March 1977, right after she won the Academy Award for Network.
In the picture, Dunaway is seen with several newspapers recounting the previous night’s events, surrounding herself with her Oscar on the breakfast tray, which all had been set up by O’Neill, with his instructions to meet Mrs. Dunaway in the morning. Thus, Terry O’Neill recreated the sense of triumph and success following the Academy Award win.
To see more masterpieces of photographic art that depict culture’s history, visit the Iconic Images Gallery located at 16 Waterloo Place, St Jamess, London (SW1Y 4AR), or explore the online collection at iconicimagesgallery.com.