"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera." - Dorothea Lange

Friday, March 04, 2011

punctum: a gift from the photo goddesses



In Roland Barthe’s book "Camera Lucida" we learn his view of the two main factors that make a photographic image stand out. One of these is punctum.

Punctum is a detail that stands out: “that accident which pricks, bruises” the viewer. Punctum is an element that rises up from the scene and unintentionally fills the entire frame. It is a detail that attracts you to an image, that changes your reading of it. Punctum is usually accidental, but it elevates the images to a higher and more provocative level.

I was so excited when this boy walked by carrying the heads of two freshly slaughtered goats (the goats were dinner that night at the orphanage – a special Christmas feast.) I knew I was making a photograph I was going to like. But it wasn’t until I made the print and had time to really take it in that I noticed the playful polka dots on the boy’s flip-flops.

Those, rather than the goat heads, are actually what “prick” and “bruise” me.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love discovering what the camera recorded that my eyes missed!! It's the medium's strength. Great picture, Gloria.

Gloria Baker Feinstein said...

..."the medium's strength": I agree. Thanks for the comment and the compliment, Suzanne.

ben.prinz said...

This is such an incredible photo.

Gloria Baker Feinstein said...

Thanks, Ben. You know it wouldn't have happened if not for you!