The Documentary Impulse

The Documentary Impulse

<p><strong>Award-winning photographer Stuart Franklin's exploration of how we, as humans, are driven to visually document our experiences and the world around us.</strong></p><p>Stuart Franklin took one of the most powerful photographs of the twentieth century - the 'tank man' in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, 1989. From his insightful position as a photographer, Franklin explores why we are driven to visually document our experiences and the world around us. He focuses on photography but traces this universal need through art, literature and science.</p><p>Looking at photojournalism, war photography and work recording our culture, Franklin identifies some of its driving impulses: curiosity, outrage, reform and ritual; the search for evidence, for beauty, for therapy; and the immortalization of memory.</p><p>As our understanding of 'documentary' continues to expand, Franklin considers photographic staging - where, perhaps, the future of the genre may lie: in search of truth over fact.</p><p>"This book traces what I shall call the documentary impulse. Here I mean the passion to record, with fidelity, the moments we experience and wish to preserve, the things we witness and might want to reform; or simply the people, places or things we find remarkable... Photography (and journalism) practised respectfully has the power to educate us all towards a greater understanding and empathy towards others." —<em>Stuart Franklin</em></p>