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Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognises before it can speak.
The relationship between what we see and what we know is never settled
The way we see things is affected by what we know or believe
Always looking at the relation between things and ourselves
Soon after we can see we learn that we can also be seen
An image is a sight which has been recreated or reproduced. It is an appearance, or a set of appearances, which has been detached from the place and time in which it first made its appearance and preserved - for a few moments or a few centuries.
photographs are not as is often assumed a mechanical process
aware of a photographer choosing a sight/scene from an infinity of other scenes/sights
the photographers way of seeing is reflected in his choice of subject
the painter is reconstituted by the marks he makes on the canvas or paper
Our perception or appreciation of an image depends also upon our own way of seeing
Gradually became evident that an image could outlast what it represented
How the subject had once been seen by people
A record of how X has seen Y
resulting of an increasing awareness of history - conciousness of indivuduality
"When an image is presented as a work of art, the way people look at it is affected by a whole series of learnt assumptions about art. Assumptions concerning: Beauty, truth, genius, civilisation, form, status, taste, etc." p11
these assumptions obscure the past
"the past is not for living in; it is a well of conclusions from which we draw in order to act''
Camera destroys the uniqueness of the image, (mainly paintings which once were one of a kinds)
its meaning multiplys or fragments into many meanings p19
lends meaning to their meaning, painting shown on television screen it enters their environment
I need to be careful with what I am going to be talking about in this chapter, because uyes I am basically stating wyat I actually mean by representation and identity in this dissertation but perhaps I can go into some of the problems involved with this identity
If we reproduce the human face... seen in a different context
One might argue that all reproductions more or less distort, and that therefore the original painting is still in a sense unique.
mystification
authenticity
Things such as self-portraits are unique in I think they often don't have to worry about other problems other photogrpahs have as obviously they are of a person and they are taken ina certain time and that is captured in the camera, i.e we can tell we have ages and the passing of time is recorded in our face and bodies... They have to worry more about manipulation of frames, of photoshop, lighting, technique, the things around the frame which may serve to distort and confuse the seer
This needs to introduce the thing that my dissertation will be looking at, it needs to suggest that we need to look at how ones actions can affect the outcome through the consious and unconcious actions and then it can be dwelled upon to look more upon how the seeer interprets the image to be the deciding factor and finally context is what brings it all together, perhaps.
SO, I need to define what I mean by self-portrait as in what exactly constitutes a self-portrait for me ''one that conveys a sense of identity and in this I would argue one that generally would portray the face but again is open for debate as everything is, the act f photographing is proof of the photographers presence and imposing upon a situation is it not?
SECONDLY, I need to define then what is meant by representation or an ACCURATE representation.. what exactly am I looking for in this dissertation a sense of truth? is that even possible? well it shall be ascertatined and I would suggest now that the truth is not some tsngible thing that can be pulled apart by this dissertation as the past is gone forever and we shall be forced to reconstruct it from the available data we have left.
Consequently a reproduction, as well as making its own references to the image of its original, becomes itself the reference point for other images. The meaning of an image is changed according to what one sees immediately beside it or what comes immediately after it. Such authority as it retains, is distributed over the whole context in which it appears. - 29
At present I haven't thought so much about the context but then this may be more relevent in the latter half of my dissertation.
Walter Benjamin - the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction
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3 - differnces to perception of women to men
5 - concept of possessing when it comes to painting
Seems to me with the introduction of photography (as opposed to painting) the idea of possession has expanded greatly to encompass a lot more, images are easily downloadable and printable and so easily posessed by anyone and everyone
7 - publicity of images
Simon Johnson
www.thephilosophicalphotographer.co.uk
Ways of Seeing - Berger
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