The Art of Capturing Life Through The Lens
Radhika Shankar
“Photography is the story that cannot be put into words.”
People click photos to create memories, to save them for everlasting time. A tiny frame of the picture tells a story that a million words cannot. Every photography genre is unique, from portraits to landscapes, fashion to sports. Some captured misery and tragedy, and some captured joy and happiness. Every picture has an attached meaning to it. It creates a deep and everlasting impact on some minds. For some, it is something that they can keep with themselves and cherish forever. Photographs are what people look back on to recall something, as Andy Warhol said “The best thing about a picture is that It never changes even when the people in it do” Different events of life are what a camera captures throughout, the ability to click those memories and preserve them is what photography is all about.
Some of the photos Captured…
LOVE
It depicts a British soldier reuniting with his family after the Second World War in 1945. The family is shown expressing their relief and joy when they meet their beloved after months of cruel separation and fear of the war.
HOPE
A man’s hope for his survival, He held on to the name of God for giving him strength before going on to his toughest battle. It dates to the 1943 Russian War when a soldier was departing for the fight.
HELPLESSNESS
During the 9/11 attacks, amidst horror and fright, a photographer named Richard Drew captured this image of a man (who has not been ever identified) falling from the World Trade Center during the plane crash. This image portrayed the vulnerability people went through during the attack. There was no choice and the only escape was death.
SOCIAL DIVISION
This Pulitzer-winning picture displayed the disparity between two social classes: the white privileged and migrants, where the white ones were sitting peacefully, being ruthless for the other migrant’s lifeless body, who was trying to reach the land of Europe with the hope of a better life.
MISERY
One of the most famous photographs ever taken by the noted photographer Dorothea Lange signified social realism. It showed devastation after a crop failure and a mother going through a million thoughts about the upcoming difficulties in her and her children’s lives.
VICTORY AND LOSS
Italian footballer Robert Baggio missed the crucial decisive penalty against Brazil resulting in Brazil winning the 1994 FIFA World Cup. It shows the contrast in emotions between Italy and Brazil. Happiness and sorrow, joy and despair.
POWER
The power of one woman was massive on an army of soldiers, She defied them in the need of her justice. This picture also won the Pulitzer Prize for capturing the exact moment.
REUNION
People of West and East Germany reunite after 30 long years of being separated. The handshake signified Germany becoming one for both of them and also the end of the Cold War.
