Created in the summer of 1826 by Joseph Nicephore Niepce, photographs have been, currently are, and will continue to be an important part of daily lives around the world; no matter where you are. For example, if you compare a newspaper from New York and a newspaper from Tokyo, you are going to find many differences. This includes content and language to list a couple. However, photographs will always be photographs, even if they are of different subjects. Photographs are the closest thing there is to a universal language.
They also can bring about a set of emotions that words are not capable of. Whether it’s a sense of happiness, pleasure, grief, fright, pity, or just amazement; one single image can change one’s life or perception of something. In one specific way, photographs taken during a war have an impact on people that words can never reach. For example, during the Battle of Gettysburg, Matthew Brady truly captured the blood that was shed and the magnitude of the violence that occurred in the battle. Words can not show someone groups of dead bodies laying on the ground, shot to death.Photographs may be taken at a news event, a party, of someone’s family, of their pets, at a sports event, or anything else that captures the moment. That’s what photography is truly about, capturing a moment and documenting life.
A famous expression, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” is very true; especially with certain photographs. Such famous photographs that had impacts on people around the world include the kiss at times square, man walking on the moon, the flag being raised on Iwo Jima, the flag being raised at ground zero, the I have a dream speech, the portrait of Che Guevara and the list goes on. In fact, author Michael Casey recently wrote a book on how big an impact the image of Ernest “Che” Guevara has had on the globe. The book is titled Che’s Afterlife.
In a time when technological advancements are being made nearly everyday, some things are not being used anymore, but photographs will never disappear.
..There's some history mixed with my view of photography for you. Hopefully you see through this how passionate I am towards it. To end on a single quote, "The acts were terrible, but the pictures themselves are innocent, because pictures seldom lie, no matter how often they accused of lying. Rather, they expose lies. The camera never apologizes. That is left to us to do."