Compared to the previous eras, terms such as “minute” and “childhood” acquired greater significance in the lives of the inhabitants of Europe and other areas affected by the Industrial Revolution. The diffusion of iron railways caused a shift in the everyday perception of time. Due to the rising life expectancy, more attention was being given to the childhood period. In the second half of the nineteenth century, specially‑designed clothing for children, children’s toys, nurseries and playgrounds started appearing. However, the upbringing of children was dominated by harsh discipline. It was only at the beginning of the twentieth century that the progressive circles of the intelligentsia started developing a new trend of treating children as partners, as well as raising and teaching them through play.
Photography, an invention of the nineteenth century, gained large traction in everyday life. Even today, photography seems to be a reliable source of information – a view that dates back to the nineteenth century. That is, however, not the case. In order for it to play such a role, one needs to know its source, and know why and when particular pictures were taken. They may constitute depictions of a given object or symbols of the events they show. Ever since the beginnings of photography’s existence, it was used as a tool of propaganda and disinformation.
Task 1
Acquaint yourself with the selected nineteenth‑century uses of photography. Do they not remain valid today?
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Acquaint yourself with the selected nineteenth-century uses of photography. Do they not remain valid today? 1. Family photography, popularized at the beginning of the twentieth century, became a ritual for urban and intelligentsia families, and an opportunity to manifest cross-generational ties. Ever more often, the children were asked to stand in the foreground. Families would also have separate photographs of them taken. Ernest Hemingway with his family., 2. Sometimes, a photograph would be used as incriminating evidence. The police of Paris, for example, would use photographs as grounds for arresting the Communards. Photography was also employed for ideological battle. A cycle of biased photographs that was meant to emphasize the criminal activities of the Communards has been preserved. Even though they were based on real events, they were entirely fabricated – the doctored photographs show actors in the studio of a Parisian photographer, with their faces swapped for the faces of known people. The French government prohibited spreading them – a testament how effective photography was as an instrument of political propaganda. A fabricated photograph of the Parisian Communard insurgents’ massacre of Dominican friars., 3. Photography was acknowledged as scientific evidence. The poor and the inhabitants of colonies were oftentimes photographed in their environment: in shabby outskirts and in exotic sceneries. Combined with descriptive or statistical data, they were treated as “evidence”. The appearance of humans captured in the picture was supposedly revealing of their inner character. Even today, it is believed that, while photography may distort whatever it shows, if something was captured on a photograph, it must either exist or have existed. However, is that really the case?Look at the trick photography, dating back to the turn of the nineteenth century, below. It was meant to promote a “magical show”. It shows the “transformation of two living people into one, in a haunted apartment”. Do you believe that it shows the truth?
Acquaint yourself with the selected nineteenth-century uses of photography. Do they not remain valid today? 1. Family photography, popularized at the beginning of the twentieth century, became a ritual for urban and intelligentsia families, and an opportunity to manifest cross-generational ties. Ever more often, the children were asked to stand in the foreground. Families would also have separate photographs of them taken. Ernest Hemingway with his family., 2. Sometimes, a photograph would be used as incriminating evidence. The police of Paris, for example, would use photographs as grounds for arresting the Communards. Photography was also employed for ideological battle. A cycle of biased photographs that was meant to emphasize the criminal activities of the Communards has been preserved. Even though they were based on real events, they were entirely fabricated – the doctored photographs show actors in the studio of a Parisian photographer, with their faces swapped for the faces of known people. The French government prohibited spreading them – a testament how effective photography was as an instrument of political propaganda. A fabricated photograph of the Parisian Communard insurgents’ massacre of Dominican friars., 3. Photography was acknowledged as scientific evidence. The poor and the inhabitants of colonies were oftentimes photographed in their environment: in shabby outskirts and in exotic sceneries. Combined with descriptive or statistical data, they were treated as “evidence”. The appearance of humans captured in the picture was supposedly revealing of their inner character. Even today, it is believed that, while photography may distort whatever it shows, if something was captured on a photograph, it must either exist or have existed. However, is that really the case?Look at the trick photography, dating back to the turn of the nineteenth century, below. It was meant to promote a “magical show”. It shows the “transformation of two living people into one, in a haunted apartment”. Do you believe that it shows the truth?
Exercise 1
Fotografia wykonana w sepii przedstawia mężczyznę z koniem idących po polu. Na zdjęciu, w miejscu gdzie znajduje się koń, ołówkiem dorysowane zostały linie. Linie przecinają się tworząc kratkę. Jaki jest cel narysowania tej kratki?
Fotografia wykonana w sepii przedstawia mężczyznę z koniem idących po polu. Na zdjęciu, w miejscu gdzie znajduje się koń, ołówkiem dorysowane zostały linie. Linie przecinają się tworząc kratkę. Jaki jest cel narysowania tej kratki?
Arrange the pieces. Look at the worn‑out photograph of 1884, made near Leszno in the Prussian Partition. What is the purpose of the intersecting lines?
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Fotografia czarno-biała przedstawiająca mężczyznę z koniem.
Fotografia czarno-biała przedstawiająca mężczyznę z koniem.
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Select the correct answer. Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. this is a blueprint of fencing for horses, 2. this is a log of the measures taken down by the veterinarian, 3. this is proof that photography became a helpful tool for the painters and graphic artists; thanks to it, the artist that possessed this photograph could faithfully convey the movement of the animal
Select the correct answer. Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. this is a blueprint of fencing for horses, 2. this is a log of the measures taken down by the veterinarian, 3. this is proof that photography became a helpful tool for the painters and graphic artists; thanks to it, the artist that possessed this photograph could faithfully convey the movement of the animal
Select the correct answer.
this is a blueprint of fencing for horses
this is a log of the measures taken down by the veterinarian
this is proof that photography became a helpful tool for the painters and graphic artists; thanks to it, the artist that possessed this photograph could faithfully convey the movement of the animal
Task 2
Własnymi słowami zdefiniuj wybrane terminy ze słownika.
Własnymi słowami zdefiniuj wybrane terminy ze słownika.
Prepare the dominoes. Play a board game from the 19th century.
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Ilustracja przedstawiająca Domino z XIX wieku.
19th century dominoes
Source: between 1880 and 1910, United States Library of Congress, licencja: CC 0.
Komunardzi – nazwa uczestników Komuny Paryskiej z 1871 r. Wielu komunardów poległo w czasie walk w 1871 r. oraz zostało straconych z mocy wyroków rządowego sądu wojennego, pozostała część została deportowana do Nowej Kaledonii, skąd wróciła do Francji dopiero po amnestii ogłoszonej w 1880 r. W Komunie Paryskiej działali i walczyli liczni Polacy, m.in. generałowie Jarosław Dąbrowski i Walery Wróblewski jako jej przywódcy.
Propaganda rządowa – sterowanie poglądami ludzi w celu pozyskania zwolenników, rozpowszechnianie czegoś przez przedstawianie tego w korzystnym świetle , szerzenie informacji korzystnych dla rządu
