Sophistication (Mastery) – Page 6 – Critical Research Journal

Academic photography students regularly attempt a project using an old camera. Film alone has its own distinctive qualities, but working with a camera that could easily be a hundred years old adds to the results. Couple these with the different processing approaches and workflows, and it’s easy to see why students choose to stand out by adopting such an approach.

Among my own collection of cameras are the blue Box Brownie owned by my mother as a young woman, possibly given to her by my father, and his own cameras most of which have Voigtlander lenses.

Using a 100-year-old camera for a documentary or contemporary photography project invokes a unique blend of history, technique, and artistic expression, often producing images with a distinct texture and atmosphere that modern cameras typically don’t replicate. Such cameras often employ film formats like medium format or large format, which offer high resolution and dynamic range despite their age.

Every now and then, I contemplate doing a project like this. Here are some possibilities…

Street Photography in Historic Urban Areas: Vintage cameras blend seamlessly into the aesthetics of historic cities. They can capture the architectural details and urban scenes with a timeless quality that complements the subject matter. Photographers like Eugène Atget, who extensively documented old Paris with early 20th-century equipment, serve as classic examples. His meticulous compositions and focus on the urban landscape without people would resonate well with the output from a 100-year-old camera.
Portrait Photography with a Classic Feel: The natural rendering of skin tones and the soft focus effects possible with older lenses make vintage cameras ideal for portraits that aim to evoke a bygone era. Photographers like Julia Margaret Cameron, known for her ethereal and deeply expressive portraits from the Victorian era, exemplify this approach. While she worked more than 100 years ago, her style would be complementary to the capabilities of such cameras today.
Landscape Photography Capturing the Natural Environment: The slower pace of work with older cameras, including the necessity of using a tripod and potentially slower shutter speeds, is ideal for thoughtful, expansive landscape photography. Ansel Adams, though slightly more modern, often used large format cameras that share many characteristics with 100-year-old equipment. His detailed and high-contrast images of American wilderness areas could be a model for contemporary projects aiming to link historical photographic techniques with modern environmental concerns.
Documentary Projects on Craftsmanship or Old Trades: Documenting craftspeople or industries that have remained unchanged for decades can benefit from the authenticity and historical continuity provided by using a century-old camera. This can add a layer of depth and integrity to the project, resonating with the subject matter’s traditional nature. Walker Evans, famous for his work during the Great Depression capturing everyday life and the effects of economic hardship, often focused on old buildings and interiors that would align well with the aesthetic capabilities of older cameras.
Experimental Photography Using Historical Techniques: Artists interested in exploring the photographic medium itself might use old cameras for their limitations and peculiarities to create unique artworks. Photographers like Man Ray and his contemporaries in the Dada and Surrealist movements experimented with photograms, solarization, and other techniques that could be interestingly paired with the mechanics of older cameras to produce unexpected and innovative results.

These approaches not only match the technical capabilities of 100-year-old cameras but also enhance the conceptual richness of photographic projects by embedding the process itself as a component of the artistic expression.

[Written with the help of ScholarGPT and Dall-e.]

Sport as a Means of Social Control

Sport serves as a means of social control by promoting shared values, norms, and behaviours that align with societal expectations. In the context of football, this control is exercised by fostering a sense of community, national pride, and collective identity. It also provides a structured outlet for aggression and competition, which might otherwise manifest in less socially acceptable ways.

Necessity of Social Control

Social control is considered necessary to maintain societal order and cohesion. By encouraging conformity to cultural norms and laws, it ensures the smooth functioning of society. In sports, this control helps manage and redirect emotions such as aggression and rivalry into a controlled, rule-bound format, reducing the potential for social discord.

History of Football as a Tool of Social Control

The use of football as a tool for social control dates back to the Industrial Revolution. As cities grew and working-class populations increased, football became a way to channel workers’ energies and time into organized activities, away from potentially disruptive behaviours like drinking and fighting. It also served as a distraction from the harsh realities of working life during this period. The sport was promoted by factory owners and later by local governments as a way to encourage healthy, disciplined workers and to foster a sense of loyalty and morale within the workforce (Mason, 1980).

Political Use of Football

Throughout history, various political parties and regimes have used football to promote their ideologies and strengthen their control. In the 20th century, both fascist and communist states used sports, including football, as propaganda tools. In Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, football was employed to glorify the state and instil nationalism. In the Soviet Union, it was used to showcase the strength and success of the communist regime (Riordan, 1977).

In modern democracies, political parties have often used football success as a metaphor for national success, and politicians frequently align themselves with popular football events to gain public support.

Football as a Means of Social Control in Britain

In Britain, football has been used as a means of social control, particularly noticeable from the Industrial Revolution onwards. This use of football helped to manage and integrate the working class into the urban industrial society, providing a recreational outlet that promoted conformity and diverted energies away from potential unrest.

Industrial Revolution and the Early Uses of Football

During the Industrial Revolution, the rapid urbanization and the harsh conditions faced by the working class led to social tensions and potential unrest. Football clubs began to be formed in the late 19th century, many by industrial employers who saw them as a way to improve worker health, instil discipline, and reduce the likelihood of industrial action. Clubs like Manchester United, originally formed as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, are prime examples of this trend (Goldblatt, 2006).

Football and Community Identity in the 20th Century

As football clubs grew, they became focal points of local pride and community identity. This sense of belonging was important in cities that were experiencing significant social upheaval and migration. Football matches became occasions where the working-class community could gather, expressing local identities and loyalties which, in turn, diverted attention from the class struggle and political grievances. The ritual of Saturday football provided structure and regularity in lives that might otherwise be consumed by the toil of industrial labour (Mason, 1980).

Political Manipulation of Football

Throughout the 20th century, football’s massive appeal made it a tool for political engagement and messaging. During times of national crisis, such as wars or economic downturns, football was often highlighted as a symbol of normalcy and morale. Governments used football’s popularity to boost national morale and promote unity. During the Thatcher era, despite initial disinterest, the government recognized the utility of football in reaching and influencing the working class, albeit their approach was often more aligned with controlling rather than genuinely engaging with fan concerns (Critcher, 1991).

Football and Social Policies

Political parties have also used football rhetorically to connect with voters, citing football metaphors and engaging with football culture. The Labour Party in the post-war period and into the modern era often aligned itself with football’s working-class roots, using the sport as a platform to discuss issues of community and social justice.

Modern Era and Regulatory Changes

The transformation of the English Premier League in the 1990s, driven by significant financial investments and global broadcasting, marked a shift in how football was used for social control. The commercialization of the sport aligned with broader neoliberal policies promoting market-driven governance.

A prominent factor in the rise of conservative and right-wing libertarian organizations, political parties, and think tanks, and predominantly advocated by them, neoliberalism is often associated with policies of economic liberalization, including privatization, deregulation, globalization, free trade, monetarism, austerity, and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society (Springer et al, 2016).

Football became a global spectacle, managed and regulated to maximize economic benefit while maintaining its role in providing social cohesion and national identity (King, 2002).

References

Critcher, C. (1991). Football Since 1914: A History. London: Routledge.
Goldblatt, D. (2006). The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer. New York: Penguin.
King, A. (2002). The End of the Terraces: The Transformation of English Football in the 1990s. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
Mason, T. (1980). Association Football and English Society, 1863-1915. Brighton: Harvester Press.
Riordan, J. (1977). Sport in Soviet Society: development of sport and physical education in Russia and the USSR. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Springer, S., Birch, K., & MacLeavy, J. (Eds.). (2016). The handbook of neoliberalism. Abingdon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

[Written and illustrated with the help of ChatGPT 4.]