Benjamin and Documentary Photography

Documentary forms
Documentary photography developed  and came into widespread usage at the of the 20th century at the time when Walter Benjamin was writing?
2) It was widely understood to depict reality, at this time. This was understood as Indexicality.  The photograph was understood to record a passing moment in time.
3) Following Benjamin’s ideas photographers began to use photographic images to draw work events to the attention of mass audiences. Many of these images were distributed to mass audiences.
4) However, people were also aware that a photograph had to be constructed, and certain conventions were established such as leaving a black border,  or only using natural lighting as a way of confirming a photographs truth to reality. 

Reappraising Documentary
1) In the late 1970s Allan Sekula, and Matha Rosler re-appraised the status of the documentary genre. 
2) They criticised the neutrality of documentary photographers such as Walker Evans, who did not consider the actual political frameworks in which their images were going to be used. Along with Matha Rosler, Sekula continuously questioned the extent to which documentary images can initiate social change, in relation to the instituional mechanisms that distribute them, and the socially constructed meanings through which are interpreted.
3) Other artists such as Hito Steyerl focus upon conventions and social codes that infuse documentary. Her film November focuses more upon how documentary images are created in relation other genres.