4 ms·

Photography hardly created compassion. It could maybe be said that photography can instill such feelings, but I find it hard to believe that compassion did not

by mym1990 4y ago

Photography hardly created compassion. It could maybe be said that photography can instill such feelings, but I find it hard to believe that compassion did not exist before 1860(unless the article is referencing an instance of compassion being created in a given moment).

coldtea 4y ago
Many sentiments, compassion included, were "invented" in the sense of being popularized in different times (and in different cultures), as opposed to being always inherently the same across time and place. That doesn't mean they didn't exist, but that they were much more subdued. Romantic love, for one, has inspired artists and caught plain folks off guard for millenia, but our modern understanding of it, the idea of passion as important to love and marriage, a big part of life, and so on, and even particular expressions of it, came from around the 15th century or so, and then was made even more prevalent by books like Werther and early romances and then with movies.
- eternalban 4y ago
  That's all true however that doesn't mean photography created compassion. In context of the hugely transformative society of 19th century Europe and America, it is more likely that the emergence of the bourgeoisie and more generally a middle class who, unlike the aristocracy, did not consider the worst off people as suffering the lot allotted to them by God or providence, gave rise to expressions of compassion, equality, etc.. It may even be that thoughts along the lines of "by the grace of god there go I" stirred compassion in their hearts. [Photography then simply was a tool to communicate these thoughts and ideas.] (edit) p.s. I also found the assertion about photography and painting rather shaky. They didn't have photographs when this man was painting: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20140826-the-time-travelling-painter https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20140826-the-time-travel...
- mym1990 4y ago
  All fair points, but again, photography did not create compassion any more than photography created any other emotion. Humans have a rich history and our understanding of suffering amongst ourselves surely did not come about in the past few hundred years.
brianpan 4y ago
It created compassion in the sense that you cannot be compassionate about something you don't know about. Having reproducible images means a greater awareness of far away events. In some cases (like the ones mentioned in the article), photo documentation can make things "undeniable" in a way that just knowing about some terrible, but far removed, thing cannot.
- mym1990 4y ago
  I agree with this. I felt like it was unclear whether the article was saying that photography created compassion itself, or photography created instances of compassion around the events in the photographs(which totally makes sense).

coldtea 4y ago

Many sentiments, compassion included, were "invented" in the sense of being popularized in different times (and in different cultures), as opposed to being always inherently the same across time and place. That doesn't mean they didn't exist, but that they were much more subdued. Romantic love, for one, has inspired artists and caught plain folks off guard for millenia, but our modern understanding of it, the idea of passion as important to love and marriage, a big part of life, and so on, and even particular expressions of it, came from around the 15th century or so, and then was made even more prevalent by books like Werther and early romances and then with movies.

eternalban 4y ago
That's all true however that doesn't mean photography created compassion. In context of the hugely transformative society of 19th century Europe and America, it is more likely that the emergence of the bourgeoisie and more generally a middle class who, unlike the aristocracy, did not consider the worst off people as suffering the lot allotted to them by God or providence, gave rise to expressions of compassion, equality, etc.. It may even be that thoughts along the lines of "by the grace of god there go I" stirred compassion in their hearts. [Photography then simply was a tool to communicate these thoughts and ideas.] (edit) p.s. I also found the assertion about photography and painting rather shaky. They didn't have photographs when this man was painting: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20140826-the-time-travelling-painter https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20140826-the-time-travel...
mym1990 4y ago
All fair points, but again, photography did not create compassion any more than photography created any other emotion. Humans have a rich history and our understanding of suffering amongst ourselves surely did not come about in the past few hundred years.

brianpan 4y ago

It created compassion in the sense that you cannot be compassionate about something you don't know about. Having reproducible images means a greater awareness of far away events. In some cases (like the ones mentioned in the article), photo documentation can make things "undeniable" in a way that just knowing about some terrible, but far removed, thing cannot.

mym1990 4y ago
I agree with this. I felt like it was unclear whether the article was saying that photography created compassion itself, or photography created instances of compassion around the events in the photographs(which totally makes sense).