⧉ The language of photography
Welcome to the eleventh issue of OVERLAP ⧉
The language of photography
I’ve been taking a break from photography for the past few months. Not by choice, exactly. Over the years, I’ve noticed that my interest in film photography ebbs and flows, and a few months of frustrating weather are sometimes enough to tip the balance toward ebbing. But a few sunny days are usually get me back in the groove; a certain slant of light will catch my eye and activate the visual part of my brain.
Time away from a hobby or side interest can be refreshing when you’re not stressed about being blocked. Without a camera in my hands, I’m free to observe other photographers in the wild: oblivious tourists blocking sidewalk traffic, dudes mansplaining their favorite gear at B&H, entrepreneurial hustlers posturing on Instagram.
I’m a photographer who is increasingly forced to admit that the culture of photography can be extremely obnoxious. It’s easy to blame Instagram for ruining photography — and you know my feelings about that particular platform — but these problems have existed for decades.
In the first essay of her 1977 book “On Photography,” Susan Sontag was already pointing out the medium’s impact on cultural norms: “In teaching us a new visual code, photographs alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking at and what we have a right to observe.” Does a person’s attitude change when they hold a camera?
Sontag also noted the language of photography and its violent metaphors, “named without subtlety whenever we talk about ‘loading’ and ‘aiming’ a camera, about ‘shooting’ a film … a camera is sold as a predatory weapon.” Words have a strange power to shape the way we think and act, whether we are conscious of them or not, and I can’t help wondering if some of photography’s worst inclinations are rooted in the language photographers use to talk about what they do. What does a photographer really mean when they say they want to “take” a portrait or “capture” a scene? Do they feel entitled to appropriate the image of a person or the character of a neighborhood?
It’s warmer and brighter now, and this time of year, golden hour is truly golden. I’m not going out to “shoot” photos — but I’ll go back to wandering the streets with my camera and exploring new ways to articulate what I see.
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The tenth issue of this newsletter featured a list of 10 podcast episodes I’ve enjoyed lately. One of those shows was an interview Jenny Odell; I’m in the middle of reading her book, “How to Do Nothing.” Let me know if you’ve read it (or plan to read it) ... OVERLAP ⧉ book club, anyone?
I’d love to hear what you think — reply to this email or send a note through my website. You can also forward this to a friend or two and invite them to subscribe. If you missed a previous issue, all the archives are online.
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Auntie Jess recommends:
Old-fashioned street photography. Some photographers are still out there keeping it real.
Buzzfeed’s style guide. “Style and language guidelines for the internet.”
Always Be My Maybe. If there’s such a thing as a perfect rom-com, this might be it.
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Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear from you — hit reply to share your favorite photographers, style guides, rom-coms, or anything else that’s on your mind.
Until next time,
Jessica
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