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Essay / Book Review: Sight and Focus
One of the senses that a human being has is sight. Sight allows human beings to see things in the environment (Mertz, 89). This can also be described as a vision or a vision. All human beings have received from nature the power to see things. This is what allows them to see and judge what to do. However, this has been photocopied by different companies to come up with technology similar to human eyesight. This includes the automotive sector and even more so the field of photography. Focus, on the other hand, can be described as the central point of attention or interest placed by an individual or something (Mertz, 89). Without concentration, one cannot produce a clear visual definition of something. From the definition of sight and concentration, it can be seen that they are interdependent and go hand in hand. In the book Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes, it is more about explaining imagination and the nature of human consciousness. This is evident in the conclusion of the book when the author says that “the imaginary process relies on intentionality.” The main theme addressed in the book is that of presence and absence. The book is entirely structured as the subject of death. This is seen from the beginning when the writer speaks of death as eidos. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In the book, there is a relationship between presence and absence. Absence can be a kind of presence and presence a kind of absence. The photography used to demonstrate absence and presence in the book is seen as having some sort of direct connection to some form of presence, truth or reality. Roland Barthes is struck by the link between the representation of absent photographs and the presence of truth in them: “what is produced by photography ad infinitum has only happened once; what cannot be repeated separately can be achieved through photography. The forms represented according to Barthes by photography refer to something or someone real, but the event does not exist at all but only in the photograph. This can therefore mean that a photograph can be categorized as an element whose presence is absent. But for Barthes, it is not an absolute truth because it has a meaning that is subjective. An assessment by Barthes agrees on the relationship between truth and photography, but in a way that transcends the binaries of absence equals falsity and presence equals truth. In his writing of the book Camera Lucida, Barthes illustrates photography just to make his audience believe in the past in all the incongruities that occur. The question he asked is: How can people see their own historical lives without photography? According to him, the inner and outer interplay of our relationship with photography divides the history of the entire world. Barthes says people want their photos to match themselves, even in different postures over time. This shows a notion of more self than solid core. Each time an individual poses for their photo, the future viewer is assured that the photo will be beautiful. Words like “I am beautiful” or “I am happy” are often used. But a photograph can never resemble someone. Barthes says that his image never coincides with him because the image is immobile, heavy and stubborn but he is scattered, light and divided. The Camera Lucida book shows interesting ways to view photos through the puncta and stage. Punctum illustrates the wounds and tactile details of the person which bring a direct relationship withthe person or object photographed (Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida, pp.27). The punctuation provides a detailed explanation and it punctuates and disrupts the stage. The viewer's experience can anchor the punctum. Studium, on the other hand, illustrates the linguistic, political and cultural interpretation of photography (Camera Lucida, pp.26). Barthes identifies it with the general interest of the image. The viewer can be informed of the historical context, how the photograph is meant to be viewed and where it was taken from the stadium, directly illustrates what the image is communicating and exposes its meaning to the general viewer. According to Barthes, a tear spot on a photograph is an accident that stings it, but also bruises it. Many of the photos don't sting though, but only convey polite interest as they are taken with the stadium in mind. Barthes further illustrated the point in the photograph as “The Winter Garden,” an acknowledgment signifying that “It has been” and “It will die.” The stadium expands to be the field of careless desires and inconsequential tastes. For example, photos of a family posing, publicity photos, and those of hotel lobbies that barely reveal the people there. Barthes says of the studium that what he can name cannot sting him. Barthes can read and identify the personal and contextual elements of the photograph through the punkt and the stadium. The family photograph of his mother turns out to be the most punctual; with his recent death is still on his mind. The fact that he pours out and analyzes the photographs of his mother shows that Barthes has a desire to recognize and know his mother. The image of his mother as a child helps Barthes understand the relationship between death and photography. Barthes can never deny that each photograph carries meaning for its referents. On reality and the past, there is no superposition on photography (Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida, pp. 76). It has been many years now, and now in the garden, Barthes cannot refute the presence of his mother before knowing her. The concept of erotic photographs was applied by Barthes to explain photographs. Eroticism is truly important in that it takes the viewer outside the frame of a photograph, but that does not make the central object being viewed a sexual organ. People primarily think about photography by shaping and reflecting rather than recording. This is why photography has always struggled to find its place in art because it seems as simple as pressing a button to open and close a shutter. Anyone who has ever attempted to take a portrait knows how much more it is than just a snapshot. According to Barthes, “the great portrait painters are the great mythologists”. Camera Lucida reflects not only on photography but also on death. The blend between photography and death offers a perfect way that no other art offers. Barthes suggests that the past is not evoked by photography but that the effect it produces in it is not only to restore what has been abolished either by distance or by time but to test what he sees it exist. The images were taken by photographers and photographs of his mother which, analyzed by Barthes, illustrate the relationship between death and time (Camera Lucida, pp81). Thus the photograph of the “Winter Garden” explains the reality that Barthes knew and recognized that at the time she was going to die. In many cases, photography is associated with death by Barthes. Photography is a medium through which one can experience the reality of death in today's modern world. People choose to look at photos of those they love.