I’ve been reading philosophical examinations of what a photograph is. Some, like Roger Scruton see photography as nothing more than a mirror, as a way to depict the subject. Others, like Aaron Meskin and Jonathan Cohen talk about photography as being a spatially agnostic depiction of an object. In their eyes a photograph relays information about the visual aspects of the object, but do not relay information about the location, with respect to the viewer, of the object. Roland Barthes says photographs are messages without codes.
What these readings mean I can’t say, but I do hope that they will influence my photography. By thinking about the epistemic nature of photography I hope to be able to expose the punctum, to borrow from Barthes.
“A photograph’s punctum is that accident which pricks me (but also bruises me, is poignant to me).”
