Photography in Advertising and its Effects on Society Essay examples --

Photography in Advertising and its Effects on Society Memory has been and always will be associated with images. As early as 1896, leading psychologists were arguing that memory was nothing more than a continuous exchange of images. (Bergson) Later models of memory describe it as more of an image text; a combination of space and time, and image and word. (Yates) Although image certainly is not the only component of memory, it is undoubtedly an integral and essential part of memory’s composition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Photography was first utilized over 100 years ago in an attempt to preserve life as it existed before the industrial revolution. Over time photography has gradually corrupted memory in a variety of ways, despite its original intention to preserve it. From there, photography has evolved to become a pressing threat not only to memory, but also to consciousness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As seen in paintings of battle scenes and portraits of wealthy Renaissance aristocracy, people have always strived to preserve and document their existence. The creation of photography was merely the logical continuum of human nature’s innate desire to preserve the past, as well as a necessary reaction to a world in a stage of dramatic and irreversible change. It is not a coincidence that photography arose in major industrial cities towards the end of the nineteenth century.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The industrial revolution created the societal circumstances necessary for photography to be born. The first and most obvious condition is that of technological advancement. Industry was advancing and expanding so rapidly that history appeared to be distancing itself from the present with unusual speed. Up until this time period life had not changed much from decade to decade or even from century to century. Photography’s popularity during the industrial revolution was, in large part, a result of people’s desire to slow down the perceived acceleration of history (McQuire). It has been argued that the acceleration of historical time is â€Å"leading to the possible industrialization of forgetting† and that â€Å"we will not only miss history†¦we will also long to go back to space and times past.† (Virilio)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The desire to stop time and preserve the way things were are the primary reasons why the majority of photography in the late nineteenth century focused on documenting dying traditions, practices, and ways of life... ...dvertising.† Picturing the Past: Media History & Photography. Ed. Bonnie Brennen, Hanno Hardt. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1999. 158-181. Freund, Gisele. Photography & Society. Boston: David R. Godine, 1980. How Much Information?. 9 May 2002. University of California. Kramer, Edith. â€Å"The Art Therapists Third Hand: Reflections on Art, Art Therapy, and Society at Large.† American Journal of Art Therapy Feb. 1986: 71-86. Liss, Andrea. Tresspassing Through Shadows: Memory Photography & The Holocaust. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1998. McQuire, Scott. Visions of Modernity. London: Sage Publications 1998. Miller, Denise., et al. Photograpy’s Multiple Roles. New York: Distributed Art Publishers, 1998. Schwartz, Donna. â€Å"Objective Representation: Photographs as Facts.† Picturing the Past: Media History & Photography. Ed. Bonnie Brennen, Hanno Hardt. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1999. 158-181. Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Anchor Books Doubleday, 1973. Virilio, Paul. The Art of the Motor. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995. Yates, Frances. The Art of Memory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966.