I don't really write book reviews, but I re-read Camera Lucida this week, a book I revisit every few years and find it relevant time and time again. Written in 1980, Barthes' observations on photography, the photographer, and the photograph are still thought-provoking.
Now, once I feel myself observed by the lens, everything changes. I constitute myself in the process of 'posing,' I instantaneously make another body for myself, I transform myself in advance into an image.
We can all relate to this. The feeling that someone is looking at us, taking our image, it creates self-awareness. I straighten my back and smile wildly; occasionally posing or pulling a face.
I can only imagine how he would react to our world, a camera in every pocket, instantly connected via satellite to all our friends, family, and distant acquaintances. The constant need to document the minutiae of life. No meal left unphotographed. No moment undocumented. No meeting unshared. The private IS public or at least the “private' version we must share.
Barthes goes on to observe:
In an initial period, Photography, in order to surprise, photographs the notable; but soon, by a familiar reversal, it decrees notable whatever it photographs. The 'anything whatever' then becomes the sophisticated acme of value.
The phrase, “decrees notable whatever it photographs” resonates with me. The artistic shot of a mixed cocktail is posed, filtered, and shared instantaneously. Our friends signify their approval; voting with likes, hearts, re-blogs, and pluses. And so the circle continues. I like your dinner, you like my cat.
Our consumption of photographs has only increased. When I was an undergraduate, one of my professors had us shoot a roll of film documenting every image we encountered throughout the course of a single day (it may have been over a week). 36 images? I consume 36 images before coffee! And surely hundreds each day.
I think Barthes would find much to say (surely none of it good) on this phenomenon. How can we possibly critique images and look at their symbolism when they fly by so very fast? How can an image evoke feelings and emotions when displayed on a pocket-sized screen? He would surely be critical of our choices. But I can't help but imagine a world where I could follow his Instagram or Facebook feed. What would he choose to put in front of his lens? Or would he stand by? Always the observer.
Roland Barthes photo source