Design Process of Documentary Pictures

The project will explore poietic productions of technical images, particularly the design processes of documentary photographs that are yielded in a documentary style or by artistic strategies. From the perspective of reception, the characteristics of these include an implicit withdrawal of authorship and the assumption of authenticity to an event. However, the aim of this study is to show that documentary pictures are produced in a tension-filled field of representation and presentation whereas the interferences are explored within design processes through strategies of photographic documentation. Which conditions of possibilities can be found in the course of design processes of documentary photographs, by reference to documentations of public places? Therefore a distinct logic of its media, technical equipment and procedures, substantial conditions, collective ideas, individual motivations and changing historical interpretations among others have to be taken into account. To gain knowledge about the meaning of documentary images, methods of image analysis and “Practice-Led Iconic Research” are combined in order to develop on the one hand a systematization of outstanding techniques for the production of documentary photography, which on the other hand leads to a series of first-hand photographic explorations in the sense of exploring the documentary spectrum.