For this post, read Kracauer's "On Photography" (available on Blackboard).
Then watch this video by Feist.
Finally, find one quote from Kracauer's essay that helps answer one of the questions from the "Questions to Consider" post. Provide the quote, and write a brief explanation as to its significance/meaning. Be sure to give the page number of the quote as well.
What function/purpose/utility do photographs serve for us as individuals?
ReplyDelete“The aim of the illustrated newspapers is the complete reproduction of the world accessible to the photographic apparatus; they record the spatial outlines of people, conditions, and events from every possible perspective. Their method corresponds to that of the weekly newsreel, which is nothing but a collection of photographs, whereas an authentic film employs photography merely as a means. Never before has an age been so informed about itself, if being informed means having an image of objects that resembles them in a photographic sense” (432). Replace illustrated newspapers with any number of media outlets and Kracauer could be speaking of contemporary society. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow people to visually connect and communicate their ideas. Through these media outlets the context of a photograph can shift, and it allows for a variety of perspectives. Photography through the evolution of technology has become more complex and captures the physicality and message of a fixed point in time. It does not create a memory, but rather it creates a sort of permanence and essence of a person, event, or perspective. I think this quote states that photography better serves the historical memory of a person or event, rather than the personal memory. I agree, because by recording the “spatial outline” of a person or event it allows for the depth of details to be remembered, and it removes any depth of emotions that would be associated with a personal memory.
Why do people take photographs?
ReplyDelete"Since photographs are likenesses, this one must have been a likeness as well. It was carefully produced in the studio of a court photographer. But were it not for the oral tradition, the image alone would not have sufficed to reconstruct the grandmother." (423)
I think the point of this quote in context was that without the back-story to go along with the picture, you don't get the whole gist of who this person was. However, I think that with just the 'oral tradition' you also don't get the whole picture. What we look like is important. I love to look at old photographs and have my mom explain to me who the people in them were. It gets her talking and hours later, I've learned so much about our family. Without those photos, I don't think we'd have had the conversation in the first place. The photos also help me to 'picture' the people in the stories that she was telling. I think we take pictures to chronicle our lives and record our history - plus it's fun.
How is photography different from other forms of art?
ReplyDeleteIn Kracauer's essay photography is depicted as being a form of temporary art; in other words it is only popular in it's contemporary time. For example a fashion trend, or a hip hop song may only be an outstanding popular hit for a limited time, but it will slowly fade away. Kracauer describes photography as a sub form of art, as time passes and a photograph ages and starts to get dusty and damaged, it's content is only seen as a memory. Art is eternal, real art that is. We can still cherish and admire artwork from Da Vinci, Picasso, Michael Angelo and numerous artists from many years ago, yet there art is impeccable and never loses it's exquisite category. " Once a photograph ages, the immediate reference to the original is
no longer possible. The body of a deceased person appears smaller than
the living figure. An old photograph also presents itself as the reduction of
a contemporaneous one. The old photograph has been emptied of the life
whose physical presence overlay its merely spatial configuration (429)."
What function/purpose/utility do photographs serve for us as individuals?
ReplyDelete"The grandmother dissolves into fashionably old-fashioned details before the very eyes of the grandchildren. They are amused by the traditional costume that following the disappearance of its bearer, remains alone on the battlefield- an external decoration that has become autonomous. They are irreverent, and today young girls dress differently" (424).
Based on my interpretation, this quote conveys the idea that not everyone looks at a photographs in the same way. To the grandchildren, the significance of this photograph was reduced to the clothing that a woman would wear during this time period. If the grandmother herself were to look at this photograph, she might reduce the photograph to something else of more significance, like the setting. The grandchildren, who were not around during this time period, can only imagine the setting in which the image took place. The grandmother, on the other hand, is able to retrace her life and relive a memory through this photograph. I think people ultimately take photographs to capture time, which essentially assists us in reliving memories. People can reference photographs for many different things like analyzing clothing, older settings, captured memories, and even too examine picture quality.
Q: How is photography different from other forms of art (like literature and painting)?
ReplyDelete“It is the task of photography to disclose this previously unexamined foundation of nature. For the first time in history, photography brings to the fore the entire natural shell; or the first time the inert world presents itself in its independence from human beings” (p.g. 435).
What I think Siegfried Kracauer means by this quote is that objects, people or nature can now be seen without judgment from people. A photograph of the inside of an office can show every aspect of it like how the papers were stacked up, how the door was shut or even if there was a stain on the floor. Sometimes in literature we feel like we know how everything is located because it is described to us by the viewer. We can only picture what the writer sees and may believe that is all that needs to be described. If we see a photograph, we can take what we want from it not only what is given.
How is photography different from other forms of art (like literature and painting)?
ReplyDelete"For in the artwork the meaning of the object takes on spatial appearance, whereas in photograph the spatial appearance of an object is its meaning."
This quote indicates that paintings are interpretations of the image being painted. A photograph is the art and does not obtain variations of the image. The photograph is a pure form of art without altercations.
How is photography different from other forms of art (like literature and painting)?
ReplyDelete"For in the artwork the meaning of the object takes on spatial appearance, whereas in photograph the spatial appearance of an object is its meaning" (427).
This quote indicates that paintings are interpretations of the image being painted. A photograph is the art and does not obtain variations of the image. The photograph is a pure form of art without altercations.
ReplyDelete
Why do people take photographs?
ReplyDelete"No matter which scenes a person remembers, they all mean something that is relevant to him or her without his or her necessarily knowing what they mean."(Pg.425)
I found this quote to be very insightful. This is because, I too always wonder why people take photographs? Kracauer's quote allowed me to realize, whoever took the photo found something special in that moment whether they know it or not.Thus, even the person who took the photo may not have a full conscious understanding of the photo. Rather, could have a subconscious understanding of the photo they may not even realize.
Why do people take photographs?
ReplyDelete"If it is only the photograph that endows these details with duration, it is not all they who outlast mere time, but, rather, it is time that makes images of itself out of them." (424)
I found this quote significant because its time that makes photographs so special. Photographs outlast time, they do not become old in the sense of what the context of the image is. It may lose its color or it may become damaged but it does not lose the meaning of the picture. People take pictures because they want to look back at the memories. They want to relive that moment through looking back at their pictures. Time may change other things around us but a picture will never change through time. Time will only make that picture much more special with days passing.
What function/purpose/utility do photographs serve for us as individual?
ReplyDelete"Photography presents a spacial continuum. historicism seeks to provide the temporal continuum. According to historicism the complete mirroring of a temporal sequence simultaneously contains the meaning of all that occurred within that time. " (425) I find this quote significant because photography captures a moment in time. Photography can literally capture all of the meaning that occurred in the moment in time when you snap a picture. Photography can also mirror what a person is feeling in a picture it captures emotion and the event all in one.
How is photography different from other forms of art (like literature and painting)?
ReplyDelete"In order for history to present itself the mere surface coherence offered by photography must be destroyed(427)".
In the forth segment of this article, Kracauer is discussing how paintings capture history as it should be remembered. A painting of history is focusing in on what the artist believes matters most, captures the beauty that has already passed but lives on in his memory. But a photograph will only capture the surface. It does not leave out the "trash", the unnecessary. This is important to notice the difference of these two, because a painting only captures what the artist wanted us to see... The photographer perhaps does not have this luxury. Well they didn't at the time, they do now because photo editing can delete unwanted details, such as scars and wrinkles, or people from the picture, or even buildings or billboards. Modern technology gives a new twist to photography that Kracauer did not predict.
Q: How is photography different from other forms of art (like literature and painting)?
ReplyDelete"In a photograph a person's history is buried as if under a layer of snow" (pg. 426).
I personally think that photography is a form of art, but according to Kracauer a photograph does not show a person's history. In a painting an artist's emotions are transferred to the painting with the way they stroke their brush and the different colors they use. For literature the author's emotions are expressed through the diction and tone they use. I think that Kracauer tries to explains how a photograph cannot express the emotions of the photographer and the person being photograph as well as literature or a painting.
Q: Why do people take photographs?
ReplyDelete"The last memory-image outlasts time because it is unforgettable; the photograph, which neither refers to nor encompasses such a memory-image, must be essentially associated with the moment in time at which it came into existence" (pg. 428).
I find this quote meaningful because it photographs captures the memorable moments, and whenever we go back and look at those pictures it refreshes the memorable moments. Through photos, special moments connects with our memory. Photographs save the memories and experience and help us to save the moments that we want to remember for a longer period of time. Photographs make the moments unforgettable through providing the view of the moment.We remember people and memories better when those are saved in images.
Why do people create art?
ReplyDelete"If photography is a function of the flow of time, then its substantive meaning will change depending upon whether it belongs to the dominion of the present or to some phase of the past" (pg 429).
People use photography and other art forms as a way to capture a moment in a specific time. This art can be used to give future generations an idea of what a certain moment was like and further help them to understand the culture of any given time in the past. Photography of past generations is useful to help create a mental image of what could have happened or what a time in history might have felt like on a emotional level. This art work is essential for future generations to grasp just the slightest insight into the cultures of any generation. Photographs from past generation only hold a certain amount of meaning to those in our generation because it is hard for us to grasp exactly what was going on. Photographs from only one generation ago will have more meaning because we will have some sort of context to go along with those photographs. The quote above sums the importance of photography up and makes a valid point of this art form being a function of time.
What function/purpose/utility do photographs serve for us as individuals?
ReplyDelete"Photography is bound to time in precisely the same way as fashion. Since the latter has no significance other than as current human garb, it is translucent when modern and abandoned when old." (pg. 430)
When the photograph is barely taken, everyone wants to take similar ones. The style is in; this serves us as individuals as fashion. It captures the time and moment that the picture was taken in but it is "abandoned" when the style becomes old. This is a reminder of all the memories and happy times when the individual was young, but just like in fashion it comes back. In the video by Feist, it shows that these photographs serves us as a fun memory that can be redone to see the difference between the past and present. Even if the photography is bound by time like fashion, it will always come back to future generations; it will allow photographs to serve the same purpose as they did to us. It also serves as documented history of the past generations of family trees or world.
What is a photograph? A souvenir?
ReplyDelete"The last memory-image outlasts time because it is unforgettable; the photograph, which neither refers to nor encompasses such a memory-image, must be essentially associated with the moment in
time at which it came into existence." (p.428)
A photograph is a lifetime souvenir that is taken at a particular moment. This quote is meaningful because it answers the question about a photograph being a souvenir. This quote indicates that a photograph comes to existence just like a memory.
Why do people take photographs?
ReplyDeleteThe photograph does not preserve the transparent aspects of an object but instead captures it as a spatial continuum from any one of a number of positions. (428)
Photos capture person or object they are at that moment in time when the picture is taken but it dons not stop time with this specific object or person.
Q: Why do people create art?
ReplyDeleteA: One of the reasons people create art to display something that they imagine or perceive and to go beyond nature.
On page 426-427, Kracauer quotes a conversation between Goethe and Eckermann. Eckermann criticizes a painting for having lighting that “is quote contrary to nature.” Goethe responds: “This is how Ruben proves and shows to the world that he stands above nature with a free spirit, fashioning it according to his higher purposes. The double light is indeed violent and you could even say that it is contrary to nature. But if it is the bold hand of the master whereby he demonstrates in a brilliant way that art is not entirely subject to natural necessity but rather has laws of its own” (pp. 426-427).
People create art for numerous reasons. Kracauer quotes Goethe to show a couple reasons people create art. First, art can go beyond natural laws and constraints and represent idea(s) the artist has. Art is a way to go beyond just what we can see and weave in ones perception, interpretation, and/or feelings about the subject. Another reason is that art illustrates “higher purposes”. That is to say, something that is impossible or unique to the artist's mind can be expressed to other in an unparalleled way.
ReplyDeleteCan photography be art?
"...the 'artwork' is indeed faithful to nature whose specificity reveals itself more and more during this period. But by penetrating this nature the artwork orients itself toward 'higher purposes.' There is cognition in the material of colors and contours, and the greater the artwork the more it approaches the transparency of the final memory-image in which the features of 'history' converge" (Kracauer 427).
There are differences between artwork and photography that the author states. For example, Kracauer believes that the object in artwork takes on spatial appearance, while the meaning is the spatial appearance in a photograph (427). I believe that for photography, the object can represented in various ways, meaning it can be art. Photography is an extended version of artwork but should be categorized as art for both are an expression of nature and humanity.
Why do people take photographs?
ReplyDelete"While time is not part of the photo-graph like the smile or the chignon, the photograph itself, so it seems to them, is a representation of time." (424)
Photographs are all in the past. A photo is a picture of something that already happened. I found this quote meaningful because when you look at an old photograph you are looking in the past. You remember things that happened years ago. If you are looking at a photograph before your time, you imagine what it was like then. They bring back old memories or even spark your imagination. All photographs represent a different time or maybe a different era.
Why do people take photographs?
ReplyDelete"Photography grasps what is given as a spatial (or temporal) continuum; memory-images retain what is given only insofar as it has significance" (425).
This quotes has meaning to me as I try and answer this question because people do tend to take pictures to have something to look at and remember. But is it the picture or our memories that capture the moments? I like to think that memory only seems better because it captures what is significant to us but photos capture the details we tend to overlook. The details that could hold just as much significance as a memory but better because unlike a memory a picture can last for ever if taken care of.
How is photography different from other forms of art?
ReplyDeleteQuote: "A man who had his portrait painted by Triibner asked the artist not to forget the wrinkles and folds on his face. Triibner pointed out the window and said: "Cross the way there's a photographer. If you want to have wrinkles and folds then you'd better hire him, he'll put 'em all in; me, I paint history." In order for history to present itself the mere surface coherence offered by photography must be destroyed. For in the artwork the meaning of the object takes on spatial appearance, whereas in photography the spatial appearance of an object is its meaning." (427)
I just found this quote very interesting. With art you assign objects meaning and with photography the objects assign themselves meaning. With a photograph you get all the imperfections left in on purpose to record exactly what something looked like, whereas with art you either ignore or diminish imperfections. This of course is done for the sake of pleasing the aesthetic sense of sight. There are not a lot of people who would want an ugly painting.
Why do people take photographs?
ReplyDelete“Thus, if the connecting links of the Erfurt coadjutant election or the recollections of the Weimar high school student were missing in the presentation of Goethe, for the historicist, such an account would be lacking reality. Historicism is concerned with the photography of time. The equivalent of its temporal photography would be a giant film depicting the temporally interconnected events from every vantage point.” (425)
Photography is often used to capture a memory or an event. Sometimes it strives beyond that in an attempt to document time. Kracauer’s quote suggests that to preserve reality we would need more than just a single image from a single point of view. Feist’s video was a series of attempts to recreate a moment in time. The funny and charming second photos illustrated the impossibility of that task. It was especially evident in the instances when a still would break into video motion depicting an entirely different scene than what sure was happening in the first photo. I think it hinted at a certain futility in attempting to recreate one reality from another. I am reminded of a short story by Neil Gaiman called “The Mapmaker”. In this story a Chinese emperor who is obsessed with making an accurate detailed map of his territory goes to extreme lengths to construct one on an island created for just that purpose. He becomes dissatisfied, demanding an even larger reconstruction disregarding the burden on his land and people. He finally announces that he plans to have built a full-scale tree for tree, house for house, man for man model of his territory. He dies mysteriously in his sleep. There are other stories of this sort and I think they illustrate a human desire to document and preserve what we care about. Maybe I’m overreaching. :)
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ReplyDeleteHow is photography similar to other forms of art?
ReplyDeleteOn page 427, Kracauer describes the difference between art and photography. He states, "in the artwork the meaning of the object takes on spatial appearance, whereas in photography the spacial appearance of an object is its meaning." I think that what the author is saying is that when an artist expresses himself he creates a spatial appearance; for example a painting or a sculpture. The artist thoughts are expressed by the object created. A photograph is completely different because instead of expressing yourself you are capturing an expression.