"So how does it sound to you, how does it read?" my tutor asks...
Well with difficulty i think to myself. And also like a train of thought of someone who is not a photographer... But this text is important in photography, i have been recommended it numerous times and have occasionally taken it out the library to look at specific areas (like the student i am). So why is it so well known and considered within the field?
(hops onto amazon and orders a copy... after reading thinks...)
Well as it sounds like a thought process, for me it made me think of questions i have about photography. Like when you share a conversation with someone and suddenly all your own thoughts and ideas come to the front of your mind. I begin to question 'what does make a good photograph?' and i do agree with Barthes's comment "the photograph becomes 'surprising' when we do not know why it has been taken". Surely this is what draws you into a photograph? You begin to think and consider the details of an image.
Barthes categorises those details into 2 groups, the Studium and the Punctum. The Studium is the part of the image you first take in, for example the cultural, linguistic and political interpretations and a sense of 'general enthusiastic commitment' like a general overview that all people see. The punctum is something within the image that might catch just one persons eye and be something that they connect with. It 'punctuates' the studium in Barthes's words.
In reflection i am glad i have taken the time to read this book, even though at times it was a real struggle to get a grasp of! But i now understand just why my tutors over the years have repeatedly mentioned this title, and i recommend it to you too!
Barthes, Rowland. Camera Lucida, Vintage, 1993.
So, how does it sound to you now? (your tutor asks again?!)
ReplyDeleteEvery time I read Camera Lucida something else appears to me/worries me/ seems different! I guess a piece of writing such as this will differ depending on how you feel at the time of reading!