What is the history of Documentary / Reportage Photography?
Ever since the invention of the camera, photographers have been working to document something – but one of the earliest recognised documentarians was a photographer called Lewis Hine. Hine used photography to show the exploitation in American industry at the turn of the 20th century. The Farm Security Administration’s exploration of America between the wars produced many inspirational photographs (such as Dorethea Lange’s Migrant Mother).
In 1947, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, George Rodger and David ‘Chim’ Seymour founded the Magnum photographic agency, originally set up to document the realities of post-war life, with important members including Eve Arnold and Stuart Franklin – and these photos are still a huge influence on photographers working today.
As time went on inspirational photographers continued (and continue) to blur the lines between art and straight documentary storytelling – giving us a rich tapestry of styles and influences to draw on. Photographers such as Nan Goldin, Larry Fink and Sebastio Salgado bought fresh new styles to the genre.
Around the turn of the millenium, documentary photography started making itself into the wedding world and has been an approach that has been taken on by many photographers as the best way to tell such personal stories.