What Is Photography?

'I see, I feel, hence I notice, I observe and I think' Roland Barthes

In his book 'Camera Lucida' Barthes talks about the 'studium' and the 'punctum'.  The studium being a 'contact between creator and consumer' and the punctum being that accident which pricks me.'  There are many images that I like but cannot really explain why.  After reading about the punctum of a photograph it became clear to me that there does not necessarily have to be a reason behind liking or loving an image.  It is simply something in that image which catches your attention and holds it there.
  For example at the beginning of the year I became aware of Bill Hensons' photography and was immediately drawn to it.  All of his images have the same dream like atmosphere, which referring back to the punctum, is what I think attracts me to his images.  There is a freeness about them and a feeling of letting go.  The lighting used adds to the drama of the photo and a whole story can be thought up just by looking at one image.

references: Bill Henson Images
                  Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes

The Fame Game

Hello magazine is synonymous with gossip and the latest celebrity news.  It is a magazine that allows you into the homes of certain celebrities, dishes the dirt on their relationships, and apparently gives out free bars of chocolate.
  On this edition the fact that they have placed Kate Moss in the middle of royalty suggests that the editors don't really have a hierarchal system of celebrity, they are as important or unimportant as each other depending on how you look at it.
  The photographs themselves are nothing special, glossy and in Zara Phillips case unflattering.  To me Hello magazine appeals to housewives, or ladies on their lunchbreaks at work needing a quick fix of something not important.  I do not know of any young people wanting to read about Kate Middleton or Zara Phillips, but the free chocolate bar would be an attraction.