On Photography
The
Losing Your Soul
The 19th century philosophers defined the
soul as a created thing, materially existing as it were in itself. Such was
an inescapable thesis of Descartes' own philosophic existence: "I think therefore I
am." Existence walked merrily along, until the big bang in 1837
when the art of
photography was born.
Now, to make that which is incomprehensible
comprehensible to us today, imagine for a moment the soul is change in
your pocket and each photograph costs you $.75 You've got 3 bucks left.
With horror the primitives ran from the camera.
Now you may laugh at the primitives all you
want, but have you ever looked around, or read the paper?
We've got web cams spying on us from every
nook and cranny, if you want to win your day in court simply bring a
photo, and if you want to prove those little green men from the
twilight zone, forget the white house lawn, just provide a photograph.
A photo is seen as not a photo, but real
lifelike evidence a soul.
It's likeness is not a picture of Suzie, no, rather it is in some
mystic or stange way, it is
Suzie. Photography however doctored emulsified manipulated transmitted
digitized fettishized stretched or coerced is unmistakably, inarguably,
evidentially Real.
How many offenses, how many crimes can be
attributed the act of picture making? Rather, the crime is
always the reality photo is seen to depict, that to some simply should not be.
It's like stealing the soul.
The moment the picture is taken as a picture,
a photo as a photo, the possibility of imagination happens. Art is made
possible and might flourish.
But alas, perhaps we are but a wee bit too
primitive for that?
© 2006 Timothy Martin Gillan
Photography
