Author: Piero

Towards the identification of the medium.

Why and how?

I’m always interested in learning more about the beginning of photography.

I establish a stronger connection and deeper respect for the discipline when I study it, which often ends up revealing unexpected findings. By going through this research, it just so happened I have found one. It’s been right under my nose for a long time, only I didn’t connect the dots.

A recent trip to Italy took me to my old favorite bookstore in Bologna, laFeltrinelli. I noticed a small book, “L’immagine Infedele _ La Falsa Rivoluzione della Fotografia Digitale” by Claudio Marra (roughly “The Unfaithful Image _ The Fake Revolution of Digital Photography”) which I immediately bought. In his book, Marra quotes the French essayist Jean Clair. That quote alone, it’s a eureka moment for me. The puzzle is finally complete.

Besides that, a few months ago, I read a very good anthology that I would recommend to anyone who is interested in this topic: “Classic Essays on Photography”.
In the following analysis, along with my understanding of art, I’ll refer quite often to the Classic Essays with the hope to trace a philological route of how photography evolved throughout time.
Be prepared: it’s a long read.

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