The Definition of "Documentary" (Preliminary Questions)

Is "Documentary" work defined by an interest in the specifics of the real world, combined with the conviction that real documents can be interrogated?

While we think of documents as evidence, is it not more sophisticated and pragmatic to understand "documents" as playing the role of companion to an artist?

Is the practice of "Documentary" simply art practice informed by real material?

HCB at SFMoMA

I went to SFMoMa to see a curator's talk on Henri Cartier-Bresson today. I was particularly interested in HCB's transition from artist to magazine photographer, as I think that gets to the heart of our discussion of documentary photography. I'll have more on this soon.

Above: A person on a catwalk at SFMoMa, December 7, 2010.

What Would Walker Evans Do?

"When you say 'documentary,' you have to have a sophisticated ear to receive that word. It should be documentary style, because documentary is police photography of a scene and a murder ... that’s a real document. You see, art is really useless, and a document has use. And therefore, art is never a document, but it can adopt that style. I do it. I’m called a documentary photographer. But that presupposes a quite subtle knowledge of this distinction."

-- Walker Evans