"A copy of an original that does not exist." The moment I heard this I got that "third meaning" feeling. What an erie and delightful approach to photography. Simulacrum is a new concept to me but since it has "pierced" my thoughts I seem to be infinitely intrigued by the possibilities. Instead of the therapeutic deliverance Kuhn gets from analyzing a photograph, I believe the return of the repressed would find a more effective outlet in shooting photographs. The subconscious is actively engaged in the composition and detail of the present instead of trying to sift the reality from the past. Since the present is an important feature in memory work it seems to be the ideal mind frame to operate in. All of our memories and experience are then included (as we can not take back what has made us who we are in this moment) as well as actively engaged as a contribution to the image we will eventually decide to capture, decide we want to remember. This so seemingly personal action is then broadcasted in print as a flag that bares your name , waiting to be blown by the criticism and compassion of society. "A radial system has to be constructed around the photograph," says (John) Berger, "so that it may be seen in terms which are simultaneously personal, political, economic, dramatic, everyday and historic (p.9)." This passage in particular is hopeful to me that we do not loose all that is our own because of the personal/ collective dichotomy. Even though the photograph will be consumed into the network of shared memory, Berger suggest that it all radiates from the photograph which seems to be in an instant completely my own. It is my original before the copy is made by me pressing down on the button that will capture another thought to provoke us all.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together..
"A copy of an original that does not exist." The moment I heard this I got that "third meaning" feeling. What an erie and delightful approach to photography. Simulacrum is a new concept to me but since it has "pierced" my thoughts I seem to be infinitely intrigued by the possibilities. Instead of the therapeutic deliverance Kuhn gets from analyzing a photograph, I believe the return of the repressed would find a more effective outlet in shooting photographs. The subconscious is actively engaged in the composition and detail of the present instead of trying to sift the reality from the past. Since the present is an important feature in memory work it seems to be the ideal mind frame to operate in. All of our memories and experience are then included (as we can not take back what has made us who we are in this moment) as well as actively engaged as a contribution to the image we will eventually decide to capture, decide we want to remember. This so seemingly personal action is then broadcasted in print as a flag that bares your name , waiting to be blown by the criticism and compassion of society. "A radial system has to be constructed around the photograph," says (John) Berger, "so that it may be seen in terms which are simultaneously personal, political, economic, dramatic, everyday and historic (p.9)." This passage in particular is hopeful to me that we do not loose all that is our own because of the personal/ collective dichotomy. Even though the photograph will be consumed into the network of shared memory, Berger suggest that it all radiates from the photograph which seems to be in an instant completely my own. It is my original before the copy is made by me pressing down on the button that will capture another thought to provoke us all.
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You're really hitting on the crux of the matter here: how can we retain individuality, while not being solipsistic or narcissistic, in the face of collectivity. How can we have collective work that values the individual? Maybe you're right...maybe the original originary moment...that moment that is fleeting as a mote of dust on the breeze. Hmmm...
In terms of the potentialities of the "return of the repressed" in the creation of the photograph...let's tease this out a bit more. I do wonder if our conscious mind is so involved in the framing of the photograph that our subconscious is overwhelmed. Of course, as Barthes notes in several pieces, the "3rd meaning" or the "punctum" comes out of those seemingly minor details...the things that we don't consciously frame. So, we could argue that when we capture that which we don't know we are capturing, our subconscious mind is at work.
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