'How Photography Lies, Even When it's Telling the Truth' by John Edwin Mason, and 'Sentiment' by June Howard

I've chosen the article 'How Photography Lies, Even When It's Telling the Truth: FSA Photography and The Great Depression' from John Edwin Mason's blog, and the keyword article 'Sentiment' by June Howard as the focus of my presentation. Sentiment can be defined as the perception of, or feeling of emotion, thought or sense toward an object, person, story or thought. Howard uses the term 'sentiment' in direct relation to the perception of emotions as being "social and historical", and discusses how feeling and emotion can be structured, even as they appear to be instinctive and personal. One of the main focuses in my FYP is the manipulation of images (mainly photography, and the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information photography programmes) in order to elicit an emotional response from their intended audience, which is the subject of Mason's argument in his article. My presentation will compare the two articles' views on the use of imagery to elicit emotion and feeling, and discuss the notion of manipulation in photography, with a focus on Depression era photography.