Photography

Visual Romanticism as a Subversive Affect. The Polaroids of Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979-1983

by Gawan Fagard

published in East European Film Bulletin, no. 5 vol. 2, May 2012

The Polaroid photograph is often seen as a forerunner of the digital camera for its ability to render the picture... more The Polaroid photograph is often seen as a forerunner of the digital camera for its ability to render the picture instantaneously, thus playing a central role in amateur production and consumption of images roughly from the 1950’s up until its decline in the late 1980’s. However, more profound features come into play while investigating the substantial aspects of the Polaroid print as a visual object. More than any other photographic medium, the Polaroid is able to capture certain atmospheric tones of light and blurry layers of texture, which are not necessarily present in the reality exposed to the camera. The lack of perfection of the Polaroid technology is thus responsible for a visual quality beyond the control of the photographer. In this paper I will argue that this feature is responsible for the almost mystical affect with which people often respond to Polaroids. The Polaroid image is indeed able to engender a visual and psychological depth by suggesting a palpable space in between the viewer and the image, in which romantic longing for its lost time is welcomed. Investigating a series of Polaroids by the Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, I propose a reading of the Polaroid as a medium for overcoming nostalgia by romanticizing the present as an instance of eternity.

In terms of digital imagistic practices today, this notion of visual romanticism becomes highly problematic. When both the material uniqueness and the substantial depth of the image as an instant imprint of light on paper disappear, one wonders what remains of its immediate affective power on the viewer. The many digitally produced pictures imitating the aesthetic aspects of the real Polaroid through digital effects in postproduction (one can think of very popular iPhone apps such as Polarize), thus challenge Tarkovsky’s position: is the supposed depth of psychological response to the Polaroid dependent on its mere aesthetic appearance as an image, or is there a more substantial experience of material wholeness and directness which is needed to make the Polaroid such a unique and powerful image? The answer to this question implies more than only a specific theory of a medium, but invites to reflect in depth on the state of visual romanticism today as a subversive affective state in response to a digitized image culture.

A Review of the Relevant Merits and Disadvantages of the Current Assessment Methods used in the Photography BTEC Extended Diploma Course

by Ben Macloughlin

This paper explores the current assessment method used in a Photography BTEC course. It reveals the role of formative... more This paper explores the current assessment method used in a Photography BTEC course. It reveals the role of formative and summative assessment methods in Photography. It identifies the differences between the use of sketchbooks, PowerPoint and blogs to track learner progress and for receiving feedback. The research takes into account the views of the learners and their tutors and offers an insight into teaching and learning styles. The aim of the paper is to discover which assessment method best suits Photography and can possibly raise the standards of teaching and learning in the UK.

Photography - Encyclopedia

by Jan-Christopher Horak

Munteanu, D. G. (2012, forthcoming). Images of Memory and Memories of Images: Suggestions for Exploring Idiosyncratic Visual Environments in Selected Photographic (Micro)Blogs. Beyond Representation: Photography, Humans & Computers, 24-25 May 2012, Centre for Media & Culture Research, London South Bank University.

by Dinu Munteanu

FORMA URBIS, Maggio 2012, "Rappresentare l'antico oggi: Archeologia virtuale e fotografia archeologica. Ediarché 2012. Editoriale

by Simona Sanchirico

Articoli: Editoriale. Di SIMONA SANCHIRICO 1) Comunicare in digitale: dagli acquerelli ai tablet? di SIMONE GIANOLIO... more Articoli: Editoriale. Di SIMONA SANCHIRICO 1) Comunicare in digitale: dagli acquerelli ai tablet? di SIMONE GIANOLIO 2) I musei virtuali nel panorama italiano. Di AUGUSTO PALOMBINI, SOFIA PESCARIN, EVA PIETRONI 3) Il ruolo dei restauri virtuali nella documentazione archeologica. Di PIETRO GALIFI e STEFANO MORETTI 4) Oltre la divulgazione. Esperienza estetica e ricerca scientifica nelle ricostruzioni virtuali. L'esempio della Domus Aurea. Di STEFANO BORGHINI e RAFFAELE CARLANI 5) Boni e il Genio. La nascita della fotografia aerea archeologica. Di LAURA CASTRIANNI, ELISA CELLA, PATRIZIA FORTINI 6) Nuove indagini archeologiche a Palazzo Valentini. Il tempio dei Divi Traiano e Plotina. Di PAOLA BALDASSARRI con la collaborazione di ANTONELLA LUMACONE e LUCA SALVATORI

Fotoğrafın Toplumsal Tanımı (çev.) ‘La définition sociale de la photographie’ Pierre Bourdieu

by Özgür Yaren

Bourdieu, Pierre, ‘The Social Definition of Photography’, Photography A Middle-brow Art, Shaun Whiteside (Trans.), Cambrdige:Polity Press, 1998. 73-98.

Pierre Bourdieu et al., Un art moyen: Essai sur les usages sociaux de la photographie, 1965. Pierre Bourdieu et al., Un art moyen: Essai sur les usages sociaux de la photographie, 1965.

"My Daughter Shout Pouch," "That Your Are Sold Over the Throwing," "Say Providence," "Winnowing Sieve"

by Farid Matuk

published in Critical Quarterly

(2012), My Daughter Shout Pouch. Critical Quarterly, 54: 109–110. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8705.2012.02033.x

†
Title references KenGonzalez-Day'sLynching in the West: 1850–1935 (Durham: Duke University Press, 2006). Opening quotation taken from same.

(2012), That You Are Sold Over the Throwing. Critical Quarterly, 54: 111–112. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8705.2012.02033_1.x

(2012), Say Providence. Critical Quarterly, 54: 112. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8705.2012.02033_2.x

(2012), Winnowing Sieve. Critical Quarterly, 54: 113. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8705.2012.02033_3.x

Publication History
Issue published online: 13 APR 2012
Article first published online: 13 APR 2012

Seeing Double. 9/11 and its Mirror Image

by Gérôme Truc

published on laviedesidees.fr

Why is the photographic record of 9/11, the most photographed event in history, limited to an endlessly repeated loop... more Why is the photographic record of 9/11, the most photographed event in history, limited to an endlessly repeated loop of a handful of images? In a book as rich as it is concise, Clément Chéroux, a historian of photography and a curator at the Pompidou Center, dissects this “9/11 paradox”.

March 11 as a New September 11: The Photographic Coverage of the 2004 Madrid Bombings

by Gérôme Truc

Published in "Etudes Photographiques", n°27, 2011, p. 125-163 (in French and English) [The  on-line version is only in French and without images unfortunately.]

The Madrid bombings of March 11, 2004, were immediately hailed as a ‘new September 11.’ This article seeks to... more The Madrid bombings of March 11, 2004, were immediately hailed as a ‘new September 11.’ This article seeks to determine whether this analogy is also pertinent to the photographic coverage of the two events. It is based on the statistical treatment of a sample of 248 photographs that were featured on the day following the attacks on the front pages of newspapers in Spain, the rest of the Europe, and the United States. As in the case of September 11, the entire body of these photographs can ultimately be reduced to six ‘images-types’ or ‘master images’ that were endlessly repeated. But the relative frequency of each of them and the actual photographs most widely reproduced vary from one geographical area to another. This is especially the case for images of the dead and wounded, which were much more visible in Spain than in the United States. This observation then becomes an occasion to identify the effects of globalization on the distribution of news photographs in the United States and Europe, as well as to explore the journalistic practices and types of intericonicity that lead to different ways of photographically representing death.

Can Photographs Make It So? Several Outbreaks of Valie Export’s Genital Panic,” in Hilde van Gelder and Helen Weestgeest, eds., Photography between Poetics and Politics. (Leuven: University Press Leuven, 2008)

by Mechtild Widrich

Differs in some parts from the revised version of 2012, particularly at the end.

Employing the term "performative" I look at the Marina Abramovic's restaging of Valie Export's Genital Panic... more Employing the term "performative" I look at the Marina Abramovic's restaging of Valie Export's Genital Panic at the Guggenheim Museum--I discuss the relationship between the photographs that were staged in the photographer's studio in Vienna, the claims of an actual action (first said to have happened in a porn cinema, a story later changed to "art cinema"--with various dates), and Abramovic's decisions to include the historiography of the piece in her performance. The text is relevant for the discussion of photography versus live event, but I am also trying to figure out how the imagine a performance as ONE work through sometimes conflicting fragments.

"La perception de l’image selon Wittgenstein"

by Hugo Clémot

publié in Philosophies de l'image, Editions M-Editer, 2010.

Ludwig Wittgenstein nous aide à saisir l'importance du rôle joué par les images en philosophie. Il est des images,... more Ludwig Wittgenstein nous aide à saisir l'importance du rôle joué par les images en philosophie. Il est des images, c'est-à-dire des théories, des idées préconçues comme celle de la définition ostensive, qui nous emprisonnent lorsque nous philosophons.
La notion d'image mentale se voit également souvent attribuer un rôle explicatif qu'elle ne peut avoir la plupart du temps.
Mais le philosophe d'origine autrichienne peut aussi nous aider à mieux penser les images comprises en un troisième sens qui est aussi le sens le plus littéral, à savoir comme ces tableaux, ces figurations que sont les peintures, les photographies ou les films. En effet, ses considérations sur la perception de l'aspect nous permettent de résoudre ce que l'on appelle le paradoxe de la vision des images. Ce problème tient à ce que lorsque nous voyons une image, nous ne disons pas spontanément que nous voyons ce qui est sous nos yeux, l'image, mais plutôt que nous voyons ce qui est absent, à savoir ce que l'image représente. En fait, la solution consiste à comprendre pourquoi « certaines choses dans le voir nous paraissent énigmatiques, parce que le voir dans son ensemble ne nous paraît pas assez énigmatique.

« Ostension ou pourquoi et comment les images posent des problèmes aux philosophes selon Wittgenstein »

by Hugo Clémot

Ressource pédagogique sur l'espace pédagogique numérique de l'Académie de Nantes (2009)

Cette ressource propose de réfléchir la perception de l'aspect à l'aide de textes philosophiques et d'une vidéo... more Cette ressource propose de réfléchir la perception de l'aspect à l'aide de textes philosophiques et d'une vidéo conférence de 6'.

Reconstruire ses souvenirs : le nettoyage des photographies emportées par le tsunami à Kesennuma

by Coralie Castel

Published in Ebisu n°47, the Journal of Japanese Studies from the Maison Franco-Japonaise in Tokyo, 2012

In Kesennuma, a city affected by the tsunami, an association of inhabitants undertakes the washing of thousands of... more In Kesennuma, a city affected by the tsunami, an association of inhabitants undertakes the washing of thousands of personal photographs found in the ruins, in order to return them to their owners. This collective action of “saving memories” is supported by volunteers from all the country, and eventually contributes to the reconstruction of the local society.

Naef. P. (In press). 1991-2011: Traces iconographiques des «Guerres Balkaniques». Essais en anthropologie visuelle. TSANTSA – Revue de la Société Suisse d’Ethnologie, Vol. 17

by Patrick Naef

La région des Balkans a connu des conflits armés violents dans les années quatre-vingt-dix et près de vingt ans après,... more La région des Balkans a connu des conflits armés violents dans les années quatre-vingt-dix et près de vingt ans après, les traces de la guerre sont encore visibles. Si les immeubles en ruines, les mines antipersonnelles, les impacts de balles et de mortiers disparaissent progressivement suivant un processus de reconstruction, certaines traces sont encore présentes, conservées volontairement ou laissées à l’abandon. De plus, certaines pratiques - muséales, artistiques, ou commerciales - participent à la mise en mémoire de ces guerres, par la production de graffitis, la vente de souvenirs ou encore la réalisation de divers projets artistiques. Cette contribution vise à exposer certaines représentations iconographiques de ces conflits, par l’exploration d’objets contemporains à ces guerres ou par la présentation d’éléments produits a posteriori. Les «roses de Sarajevo» (photo 1) - des impacts de mortiers remplis de peinture rouge et repérables dans différents endroits de la capitale bosnienne – peuvent déjà illustrer une forme de patrimonialisation et de mise en mémoire de la guerre.

The Lost Path of Waqqa. Art and Culture.

by Marcel Reyes-Cortez

1994: An exhibition of photographs by Marcel Reyes- Cortez’, in The New African, London.

Bailando con las ánimas de San Juan Yayeé

by Marcel Reyes-Cortez

2009: Cuartoscuro. Nov/Dec, Vol 98, pp.32-37, Mexico D.F.

Communicating with the Dead: Social Visibility in the Cemeteries of Mexico City

by Marcel Reyes-Cortez

2010: Die Realität des Todes: Zum gegenwärtigen Wandel von Totenbildern und Erinnerungskulturen (Visibility of Death), Dominik Groß, Christoph Schweikardt (Edts), pp.33-62, Frankfurt: Campus Verlag.

The Qualitative, the Quantitative, and the Creative

by Allison Mickel

Mickel, Allison. 2012. "The Qualitative, the Quantitative, and the Creative." Anthropology News 53(5): 11.

Contribution to the Anthropology News issue on Methods. Contribution to the Anthropology News issue on Methods.

“Alvin Gilens’ Images of Dora”

by William Coleman

Exposure, v. 40, no. 1. (Spring 2007), p. 54.

Snapped Shut

by Liam Considine

Review of "Snapshot: Painters and Photography" at the Phillips Collection