THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY

There is a realm which lies somewhere between words, the words mark points of interest as though on a map, but they are merely indicators. The depth of meaning must be imagined and it has to be felt to be understood. Though I am using Philip-Lorca di Corcia's remarkable Heads Series to illustrate this thought, this is not a post about photography directly, but rather the insufficiency of language as a mode of self expression. The other day I thought to myself, I am only 32 and I am already running out of things to say! Though really what I meant was, I am running out of the words to say them with. The language I use now feels only adequate but not complete.
I relate this back to photography and art in general. What it can get at is those spaces between, the direction and area the words simply point to. The trouble is, to share the experience it must be put back into words, reconstituted and therefore of course, degraded.

WATCHING YOU WATCHING WE

You don't need me to explain the impact of this the most recent example of a photograph gripping the public's imagination and emotion. Surely you don't need me to mention the power of this one image. You don't need me to tell you how our eyes collectively stare into his eyes as he singularly stares back through the single lens which recorded this single moment shortly after one of the most upsetting and nauseating acts of violence in recent time. A particular American tragedy.
I'm reminded of a New York Times blog post I read several years ago by Errol Morris. In one entry he explained the importance of understanding context when viewing a photo, that generally a photo without context (or caption) is rendered meaningless and perhaps even dubious. However in this case, though we don't lack an understanding of the events, the expression and gesture contorted onto the face of this person and recorded in that one split second confirms to us (the collective) all we need to know about him.

MAMMA MIA MADONNA

 

Madonna is so iconic and (I guess I should just say it), so old, that she is in a position where she can reference herself in earlier incarnations. And who but her exemplifies the slutty Catholic miscreant we all now know as archetypal?
Archetype and persona; her genius has been to manipulate these concepts, and once again, she nails it. No pun intended.
These photos appeared last year in Interview Magazine.

MATA MATA MATADOR.

More from and about this collection of photographs from the much admired Tina Barney soon, but I was impatient just now.