2018-12-30

Towards an 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 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 been the Eureka moment for me. The puzzle was finally complete.
Besides that, a few months ago I read a very good anthology that I 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.
A little warning: it’s a long reading.

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2017-08-02

The quote below is from “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind”.
I find it pertinent to our times, as it seems it’s becoming very common to think Art doesn’t need rules.

[…] perfect freedom is not found without some rules. People, especially young people, think that freedom is to do just what they want, that in Zen there is no need for rules. But it is absolutely necessary for us to have some rules. But this does not mean always to be under control. As long as you have rules, you have a chance for freedom. To try to obtain freedom without being aware of the rules means nothing. It is to acquire this perfect freedom that we practice zazen.