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DPChallenge Forums >> Current Challenge >> "Without the Hand of man" challenge inte
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 12/16/2002 08:02:14 AM · #1
When I first read the assignment “Photograph a subject that shows NO signs of human intervention”. I understood “something unaltered by human activities in any way”. That took care, right off the bat, of â€Â¦humans, human creations, household appliances, automobiles, skyscrapers etc. Thinking a little more about it, there went domestic animals which all are results of human breeding techniques, most trees and other plants which have been either planted, manipulated, selected or dispersed voluntarily or not throughout the years. Pushing this line of reasoning a little farther, considering the fact that water and air anywhere in the world bear signs of human activity all the way to the ozone layer, there went the entire world biotope. The choices were getting skimpier. Volcanic lava could qualify, some manifestations of visible and ephemeral energy forms like fire and lightning could as well, or perhaps some hidden deep cavern bacteria (but probably not quite photogenic enough). Thunderstorms and volcanoes being unavailable at that moment, why not choose something in the sky? (Forget about clouds, the moon and a few planets of course). Imagining what justice my 4x zoom would do to the Milky Way, I was getting ready to abandon the challenge. This is when I re-read the assignment: “Photograph a subject that SHOWS no signs of human intervention”. The “SHOWS” made all the difference, there came back babies, plants, mountains, clouds and the moon (even with adequate professional equipment it would be hard to evaluate the ravages left behind by the Apollo space picnics). As the choice broadened many new questions came to mind: Does centuries of breeding actually show, for everybody, on a picture of a horse, cow or dog? Is the “hand of man” visible on a Coke bottle just out the carton? After all it just took water, sand and God only knows what for some sophisticated machines to create this item. In response to popular demand, was this becoming “Free Study 2, the Return?

In our critics, given the multiplicity of interpretations the assignment may inspire, it would probably be wise not to be too literal about our own interpretation of the challenge and stick to the photographic and emotional qualities of the images proposed.
12/16/2002 08:06:04 AM · #2
I agree with with this whole thing, although buildings, powerlines, roads, etc. would surely need to be counted off for.

-danny

Originally posted by jjbeguin:
When I first read the assignment “Photograph a subject that shows NO signs of human intervention”. I understood “something unaltered by human activities in any way”. That took care, right off the bat, of â€Â¦humans, human creations, household appliances, automobiles, skyscrapers etc. Thinking a little more about it, there went domestic animals which all are results of human breeding techniques, most trees and other plants which have been either planted, manipulated, selected or dispersed voluntarily or not throughout the years. Pushing this line of reasoning a little farther, considering the fact that water and air anywhere in the world bear signs of human activity all the way to the ozone layer, there went the entire world biotope. The choices were getting skimpier. Volcanic lava could qualify, some manifestations of visible and ephemeral energy forms like fire and lightning could as well, or perhaps some hidden deep cavern bacteria (but probably not quite photogenic enough). Thunderstorms and volcanoes being unavailable at that moment, why not choose something in the sky? (Forget about clouds, the moon and a few planets of course). Imagining what justice my 4x zoom would do to the Milky Way, I was getting ready to abandon the challenge. This is when I re-read the assignment: “Photograph a subject that SHOWS no signs of human intervention”. The “SHOWS” made all the difference, there came back babies, plants, mountains, clouds and the moon (even with adequate professional equipment it would be hard to evaluate the ravages left behind by the Apollo space picnics). As the choice broadened many new questions came to mind: Does centuries of breeding actually show, for everybody, on a picture of a horse, cow or dog? Is the “hand of man” visible on a Coke bottle just out the carton? After all it just took water, sand and God only knows what for some sophisticated machines to create this item. In response to popular demand, was this becoming “Free Study 2, the Return?

In our critics, given the multiplicity of interpretations the assignment may inspire, it would probably be wise not to be too literal about our own interpretation of the challenge and stick to the photographic and emotional qualities of the images proposed.

 12/16/2002 09:57:41 AM · #3
The point to this challenge was to take a photograph and leave out anything that was built by humans. Fences, buildings, etc. To really look hard for a landscape without any of those elements, or to find a good nature macro... or something else not related to technology. It gets people to look beyond the city (or the town) and find what would have likely been there before the buildings and such.
 12/16/2002 01:22:53 PM · #4
A coke can is fabricated by human hands and therefore out...I take this challenge to mean without any sign of human intervention and therefore things like horses should only be photographed if they are endemic to the region ie not imported by Spaniards. No domestic cows, no obviously bred/landscaped plants or trees, no farmers' fields, no contrails in the sky, no window reflections, no Santas, and no humans (duh).
 12/16/2002 01:33:57 PM · #5
Just a reminder, please try to refrain from talking about specific submissions in the challenge. Thanks!
~Heather~
 12/16/2002 01:43:01 PM · #6
jimmy
How do you know they are not landscaped plants or trees?
 12/16/2002 01:53:22 PM · #7
Originally posted by Sonifo:
jimmy
How do you know they are not landscaped plants or trees?


If you can't tell, it should be given the benefit of the doubt?


12/16/2002 02:04:41 PM · #8
exactly...that's why i said obviously bred/landscaped. anything you aren't sure of, including horses, should be given the benefit. i can't vote on that challenge, i'm just commenting.
 12/16/2002 02:17:01 PM · #9
We can not know what the photographer saw, or what he she was thinking.

snip>>If you can't tell, it should be given the benefit of the doubt?



PLEASE....and thankie.

Message edited by author 2002-12-16 14:17:29.
 12/16/2002 03:37:41 PM · #10
My 2 cents...

Humans have had a profound impact on every square centimeter of Earth... Land, Sea, and Air... A little latitude is probably warranted when voting on this...

A case in point... There has been talk about domesticated animals... Many species of UNdomesticated animals would be extinct without human breding programs, which may or may not have been needed if there had not been human invasion of their natural habitat... I think it could be honestly debated that not one single shot (my own included) would have existed in exactly the form it was in when the shot was taken had it not been for the 'hand of mankind'. There's one or two I may be wrong about, but...

To make a long post short (I know... too late...), maybe we need to give a little leeway :)
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