ADDITIONAL READING BEFORE FINAL SUBMISSION

THE PHOTOGRAPH AS METAPHOR- MINOR WHITE

Sadly, without a subscription to Artdoc I am unable to access the whole article, but the parts that I can access give a good overview of metaphor in the work of Minor White.

The author sets out that White considered Equivalence as ‘the backbone of photography as a medium of expression creation’ (Artdoc2023) and explains why. Taking the image below, they explain that it both abstract and concrete and as such a basic form of visual language.

Minor White | Portland, 1964 Gelatin silver print image, The Minor White Archive, Princeton University Art Museum, bequest of Minor White (x1980-4083). © Trustees of Princeton University

This is a contrast to the traditional idea that a photograph represents reality. However, it suggests that this may only be starting point, as they must start with something visual, but that this may develop into something more perceptual. Sying that a photograph like this can be a bridge between matter and mind, external and internal.

The article also describes how a photographer’s consciousness, social and culture background and attitude infuses what he presents. Art historian Gombrich apparently calls this ‘mental sets.

They explain that to understand what a photograph is about we need to understand the ‘concealed layers’, and this by way of the sign and the relationship between the signifier and the signified – they call this learning to read the language.

This is how a photograph can be a metaphor, representing something that is visually absent, an individual concept of reality, that has been filtered by a photographer’s consciousness. It also connects the reality we know mentally with that we understand emotionally also.

These ideas resonate with the ideas that I have explored in my dissertation and expressed in my Body of Work photography.

Reference:

Artdoc (2023) The Photograph as Metaphor Minor White. At: https://www.artdoc.photo/articles/the-photograph-as-metaphor (Accessed 19/09/2023).

ART THEORY: LAUREL MCLEOD

Mcleod writes that the art world ‘dedicates’ itself to capturing emotions and feelings. I hadn’t realised That affect originates from the Latin ”affectus” meaning disposition, which she suggests that individuals are often unaware of themselves, unlike emotion which comes later in affect theory.

She emphasises that for affect to occur there must be an object of attention, something that a viewer engages with. She describes affect as part of an unintentional conversation that arises by just being with an artwork.

She returns to that which I’ve discussed elsewhere that affect as a ‘thing of the senses’ is beyond comprehension as its beyond rational thought.

Reference:

Mcleod, L. (2020) Art Theory: Affect. At: https://www.artshelp.com/art-theory-affect/ (Accessed 16/06/2023).

REPRESENTATION & THE MEDIA – STUART HALL

Representation is one of the central concepts of media studies. Hall talks of the notion of representation and that visual representation especially is complex. He subverts the idea of representation suggesting that something that is depicted and something that stands in for something else are both contained in the term. In media he says that representation is about giving meaning to depicted objects – this could lead to work on measuring the gap between a true meaning and how it is presented.

Hall suggests representation as constitutive. Saying that meaning doesn’t exist until it has been represented, this representation can take different forms and therefore the meaning can change. Consequently, representation doesn’t occur until after an event and is constitutive of an event, the representation is part of an event.

Hall says that conceptual maps in our heads, that help us to understand the world are a system of representation. These concepts let us store and refer to objects that are no longer in our sight. These concept images are not mirror images, as they are constructed in our minds. We may have shared conceptual maps or not, so communication and language complete the circle of representation. When Hall talks of varieties of language, such as spoken, musical, gestures; anything that that can be a language. Hall asserts that we need a shared language for the circle of representation to be closed, that discourse is essential for meaning to be exchanged.

Hall also considers signification saying meaning is produced when a symbolic or signifying process has been involved, though he suggests this is often linked with having the power to assert this. Hall looks at how if meanings of representation are subjective how meaning might be fixed, but determines this can only be when power intervenes, and this power to fix a meaning may not be permanent. He concludes that it is important that subjectivity of meaning is never foreclosed by systems of power, that being able to contest meaning is vital.

This interview leads me towards further research on representation.

Reference:
Hall, S. & Jhally, S (Dir.,) (1997). Stuart Hall: Representation & the Media [Video file].

Media Education Foundation. and the transcript of this is in the references.

https://www.mediaed.org/transcripts/Stuart-Hall-Representation-and-the-Media-Transcript.pdf (accessed 12..8.23).

DOCUMENTARY FICTIONS? IAN WALKER

My Tutor suggested I read this article, as an example of how the author uses his own voice to describe theories and terms. It was a very useful exemplar of useful for this.

Reference:

Ian Walker (2023) At: https://ianwalkerphoto.com/documentary/documentary-fictions/ (Accessed 19/09/2023).