Helmuth Pirath

PHOTOGRAPHY AND
INTERMEDIATELY
Ana María Clemente Puigserver

HELMUTH PIRATH, 1956

ABSTRACT
The next essay is an analysis of a photograph taken in 1955 by Helmuth Pirath, a
German photographer who captured the way back home of a German soldier who took
part in the World War II.
In it, will be a detailed explanation of the picture (in the foreground and in the
background), thehistorical context in which that photo was taken, to understand the
meanings that this could provoke like, the face of the little girl who appears, the
expression of the father, or the people behind the whole family. And for the conclusion
a personal point of view of the image

KEYWORDS
Helmuth Pirath, Photography, Photojournalism, Analysis, World Press Photo
OBJECTIVES
The principal objective ofthat analysis, is to be able to interpret a photography in
different ways, trying to explain what does it mean for us, the physical and emotional
things that this transmit.

INTRODUCTION
Photography as memory support, fold the past into the present, as it does not show the
immobility of that past but its continuity. The photographic image contains the actual
moments of the different eventsthat are happening and, no doubt, reflects the
spontaneity of a given period.
The image of every age, time or generation is formed by the projection of the
photograph that reflects the reality of the moment.

This has served, since its invention, to document and reflect the reality of things.
Through the pictures we can see aspects of daily life and the appearance of places,
things andpeople.
Photojournalism is what reveals us a picture through everything that happens in one
place, these displays give us great information and for this, we have visual ideas of what
happens in one place.
The appropriate button in the right place can report criminal acts, showing the beauty of
a sunset anywhere in the world, or make us meet some public figure.
For Walter Benjamin (1992)photography is “the first truly revolutionary means of
reproduction, transformed the way humanity sees the world, and therefore how it looks
to the other”.

1. Photography and photojournalism
Historically, the oldest and most primitive procedure in photography was the
daguerreotype, announced in 1839 by Louis Daguerre. That invention experimented
with the image to get a system, which allowedrepresenting the real world by a
continued exposure to light. The disadvantages that this had were that it needed a high
shutter speed to capture and bright scenes. So the first pictures of the story were in open
places that met both conditions. Despite its faults this spread around the world opening
the way to photography.
In 1880 appeared, for the first time, a photograph in a newspaper,particularly in the
New York Daily Graphic. That invention which had a transmission range of
revolutionary events, integrating the image as a meaning of a representative and
objective fact. Until then, rarely were seen photographic reproductions in press.
Innovations continued after this and in 1887 the flash was invented. That allowed
journalists to make shooting outdoors.
Paradoxically, thedevelopment of photojournalism has been made especially in the
time they have carried out most of the political conflicts, or war.

The twentieth century signified a great development of photojournalism.
That period of time is known by “The Golden Age” of photojournalism, and is located
between 1930s-1950s. During this time, there was a remarkable technological
advancement on photography, alongwith a greater range in the journalistic profession.
Some magazines such as The Daily Mirror of London, or the New York Times, won a
great reputation due to readability and wide use of the photographic materials,
highlighting various authors like Henri-Cartier Bresson, considered the father of
photojournalism, and Robert Capa, among others.
For Henri-Cartier Bresson “Photogrphy is not like...