literature and photography; photography and literature

8/9/2019 Literature and Photography; Photography and literature

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University of Rijeka

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department of English

Literature and photographyPhotography and literature

(Essay)

Student !arijana !avi"

Su#ject $he %ulture of Reading!entor dr& sc& Sintija 'uljat

Septem#er *+



Contents

i. Introduction

ii. History

iii. Relationship between literature and aesthetics

iv. Relationship between photography and aesthetics

v. Photography and Literature

vi. Literature and Photography

vii. Idea of reality

viii. Imagination

ix. Conclusion

References



i. Introduction

,hat is the relationship #et-een literature and photography. /re they even related. Ho-can literature #e affected #y so much younger media. 0s literature art. 0s photography art. $hese

are some of the 1uestions that -ill #e discussed in this paper& 0 -ill not try to provide a clear

ans-er #ut -ill rather try to approach these 1uestions from a philosophical point of vie-& Some

might even say that there is no need to discuss this topic and see as o#vious that literature

#ecause it is older2 has influenced photography& 0ndeed2 literature had influenced photography

and still continues to do so2 #ut this relationship cannot #e seen as a one -ay relation& Even

though literature is older than photography and some see photography as a threat not only for

painting #ut also for literature2 history sho-s us that there is nothing to #e afraid of& 3n the

contrary2 -e can say that literature helped photography and vice versa& 4oth literature and

photography can #e seen in isolation #ut -hen put together they form a different2 uni1ue art

form& Discussion a#out their artistic and aesthetic value is still very present especially no- -hen

the num#er of 5-orks of art5 is increasing rapidly& Deciding2 -hether something is art or not2

depends not only on e6perts2 #ut also on society and culture& $he aesthetic status of one -ork can

change during time depending on cultural changes of society&



ii. History

3ne of the main assumption -hen talking a#out the relationship #et-een literature and photography is that literature is older2 the #roader2 the more regulated and the more esta#lished

cultural form2 -hile on the other side photography is the ne-comer2 the alien (4runet2 72 p&

8)& Histories of #oth photography and literature are marked #y significant events that help us

identify them and -hen considered together these histories sho- us that neither literature nor

photography is easily defina#le according to some conventions and definitions of media and

genre (%unningham2 Fisher 9 !ays2 82 p&:)&

,ord 5literature5 has its o-n history& 4efore it changed its meaning in English as -ell in Frenchand ;erman in the first half of the nineteenth century2 -ord literature had #een a very inclusive

term& 0t covered every aspect of -ritten or printed culture& Science -as routinely defined as a

literary pursuit& ,hen talking a#out the #eginnings of photography this older definition 5literary

pursuit5 must #e #orne in mind #ecause photography -as very deeply enmeshed in -ritten and

printed culture (4runet2 72 *)& $he #irth of photography coincided -ith the advent of a more

strictly delimited and increasingly prestigious realm of literature& 0n *8+2 in ,est European and

<orth /merican dictionaries2 the -ord literature changed its meaning2 no- it -as considered as a

la#el for the collective production of -riters and for literary practices2 fiction and poetry (4runet2

72 p& *)& $his redefinition of literature resulted as the major cultural e6pression of #oth the

Enlightenment and Romanticism (4runet2 72 p& *)& $he creation of the -ord photography

reflected the print tradition (lithography2 chalcography) rather than popular glosses such as sun

painting image (4runet2 72 p& *+)& 3n /ugust *7th2 *8+72 at a joint meeting of the /cademy

of Science and the /cademy of Fine /rts in =aris2 photography -as represented to the -orld (,&

!arien2 >)& Even though tradition casts Daguerre as the originator of photography2 history of

the development of photography is much more complicated story (,& !arien2 >)& $heinvention of photography has #een told so many times2 from different perspectives and -ithin

different frame-orks so it seems that -riting a#out photography has #ecome some sort of a

literary genre (4runet2 72 p& +*)&



iii. Relationship between literature and aesthetics

/esthetics is usually considered the same as the philosophy of art2 #ut that is not the case&

Aesthetics is the philosophical study of beauty and taste, closely related to the philosophy of art

concerned with the nature of art and the concepts in terms of which individual -orks of art are

interpreted and evaluated 1& /ccording to philosophers of art2 #oth literature and photography are

considered to #elong to aesthetics and they #oth have their place in the realm of philosophy& So

let us first see -hat is the nature of the relationship #et-een literature and aesthetics&

Literature stands for written works especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic

merit 2& 0n a #roader sense -e use literature to refer to any -ritten -ork2 from creative -riting to

more technical or scientific -orks& =hilosophers of art think that literature is related to aesthetics

and that literature has its position in aesthetics2 -hile on the other hand literary critics sho-

reluctance to ackno-ledge the relevance of aesthetics to literature (?amar1ue2 82 p& *)& $here

could #e many reasons for sho-ing this reluctance@ one could #e the narro- vie- of -hat

#elongs to and -hat counts as aesthetics& =hilosophical aestheticians accept a place for literature

-ithin aesthetics and -hat is curious they often share many of the reservations found among

literary critics& ?iterature has a natural place in the philosophy of art2 -hich is often mistaken to

#e identical -ith aesthetics& 3nly fe- aesthteticians dou#t that literature should count as one of

the arts& ,hen the fine arts -ere initially characteriAed in the early *8th century poetry -asincluded along -ith painting2 music2 sculpture and dance& $he idea of ars poetica goes #ack

#eyond Horace to the ancient ;reeks (?amar1ure2 82 p&+)& So even in the ancient history

literature in the shape of poetry -as considered to have artistic value&

?iterary -orks are not entities that are separate from criticism and discussion of them@ they

depend not only on author #ut also on an understanding pu#lic& $his pu#lic responds to the

-orks as artifacts directed intentionally to an audience& ?iterary -orks are capa#le of affording pleasure (this pleasure is usually referred to as aesthetic pleasure) and they cannot e6ist

1 Encyclopedia Britannica

2 Oxford dictionaries



independently #ecause they are constructed in acts of reading and interpreting& 0nterpretation is

fundamental to literature as an art& $he intrinsic value of a -ork cannot #e independent of all

effects& ,orks cannot #e valued for itself #ecause -orks of art only have value for human #eings

(Strayer2 7)& /s ?amar1ue claims aesthetic elements identified in literature are not simply

-ell crafted turns of phrase or e6pressive images2 #ut rather emergent 1ualities that #ecome

salient -hen appropriate attention is directed to -ork (?amar1ue2 8)& Understanding and

interpretation are crucial for deciding -hether something has aesthetic value or not&

%ritics still continue to discuss and analyAe literature and her pro#lematic relation -ith

aesthetics&



iv. Relationship between photography and aesthetics

Photography is the art or practice of taking and processing photographs3& =hotography -as at

first used to sho- and capture reality and -as not considered as art& Early photographers -ere

not -orried -ith the 1uestion -hether photography is art or not2 they -ere rather considered -ith

finding ne- photosensitive materials and taking pictures (Friday2 n&d&)& <ot long after the

invention of photography this 1uestion a#out -hether photography is art or not popped out&

$his 1uestion has a long and comple6 history and de#ate2 even though photography is no-

considered an art form as valid as any other2 is still very much alive& $hroughout history -e can

say that photography itself demonstrated the capacity of the medium to #e a source of great art

#y creating -orks that captured the aesthetic interest of art lovers (Friday2 n&d&)& =hotography is

not just a mere reproduction of reality@ it is much more as -e can see no-adays and the -orld

-ould #e lost if suddenly all the photographs disappear& ,hen it finally gained acceptance in the

museum in the t-entieth century2 photography -as finally considered as art& Until then it -as

just a mechanical -ay of capturing reality&

$he pro#lem arises -hen someone has to decide -hether one photograph is art or not& ,ho can

decide and according to -hat rules. Deciding -hether something is an art has to #e the matter of

aesthetics& 0f -e -ant to identify something as a -ork of art -e have to attri#ute value to it&

E6posing -orks in museums and galleries doesnBt mean something is a -ork of art #ecause it

e6plains nothing (Friday2 n&d&)& Conathan Friday claims that the 1uestion -hether photography is

art or not is #adly formulated& He gives us an e6ample -ith painting& ,e may ask ourselves is

painting art. 0f -e suppose that painting is something like the application of color onto a surface2

the ans-er to the 1uestion can #e sometimes yes and sometimes no& So the 1uestion -e have to

ask is not -hether painting is art or not2 #ut -hat e6plains the value that some instances of

painting possess (Friday2 n&d&). $his value is aesthetic value and if -e have some understanding

3 Oxford dictionaries



of -hat it is to aesthetically value an o#ject as a picture then the correct ans-er to the 1uestion

-hether photography is art or not is sometimes yes and sometimes no&

v. Photography and literature

0nvestigation of photography usually consists of e6ploring -ritten sources rather than

relying on photographs themselves (4runet p& *+)& History of photography is -ritten so if -e

-ant to find out ho- and -hen did it happen -e have to search for -ritten sources that -ill

e6plain to us the miracle called photography& Everything that -e -ant to kno- a#out

photography is -ritten starting from her invention2 people involved in her discovery2 description

of material used2 everything& ?ike all nineteenth century inventions2 photography -ase6perienced as an event in -riting #efore it -as encountered visually& Even though it is a visual

media2 photography -as first received as a te6t and not as a picture (4runet p& *>)& Famous

<icephore <iepce2 kno-n as the father of photography2 #efore discovering photography

e6perimented -ith the copying of -ritten or printed documents& 4ut he -as not the only one -ho

-as e6perimenting& ,hile <iepce e6perimented -ith lithography2 Hercules Florence

e6perimented -ith diplomas and $al#ot -ith manuscripts (4runet2 p&*+)& <iepce -as also

inspired #y literature -hen he -as doing his research& He -as very much inspired #y reading

$iphaigne de la RocheBs fantasy novel ;iphantie (4runet2 p& +)& 0n this novel a narrator visits

the hollo- of the earthBs center -here a group of spirits creates highly illusionistic paintings&

?ater canvas is smeared -ith a mysterious material and placed #efore the scene and after an hour

the picture #ecomes permanent& 0t seems like $iphaigne de la Roche predicted the creation of

photography predicting the use of light sensitive chemicals2 #ut -hat his story did not involve

-as human operator and lighttight #o6 (,& !arien2 >)& So2 -e may say that literature had a

crucial role in inventing photography& 0t influenced researchers to e6periment and introduced the

-orld to the phenomenon called photography&



vi. Literature and photography

$he #irth of photography is crucial for the history of the visual arts2 especially for painting2 #ut

on the other hand2 there is much to suggest that it is e1ually crucial as a moment in literary

history& Surprisingly it is generally a#sent from the standard histories of literary modernism and

postmodernism (%unningham2 Fisher 9 !ays2 p& :)& $here is a num#er of evidence that sho- us

ho- present -as and still is photography in literary practices& 0 -ill provide some of the famous

e6amples -here photography -as used as a part of telling a story&

3ne of the #est contemporary French novelists2 =hilippe Delerm2 -rote his novel #asing

it on the Ro#ert DoisneauBs photography 5?e 4asier de lBHotel de ille5& !ain character -ho is

also the narrator of the novel -orks in a #ookshop and has an intimate connection -ith the

DoisneauBs photograph2 a photograph of his parents& From the very #eginning of the #ook

relationship #et-een the literature and photography is present& First pages of the #ook reveal

intriguing details of that photograph

(Ringrose2 n&d)&

Robert oisneau

!Le "asier de l#$otel de %ille& 1'()



/nother very good e6ample of the relationship #et-een literature and

photography is the novel /usterlitA #y ,& ;& Se#ald& $his novel

has dou#le narrative2 it has no chapters or paragraphs and it contains8 images2 some of them are photographs2 others are diagrams and

dra-ings& $he authors of these images are unkno-n& /usterlitA is a

story a#out Cac1ues /usterlitA -ho -as sent on a kindertransport

from %Aechoslovakia in *7+7& /usterlitA gre- up thinking that he

-as Dafydd Elias until his headmaster told him to #e Cac1ues

/usterlitA& ?ater he tries to construct his identity through historical

understanding and meeting those -ho kne- him as a child

(Ringrose2 n&d&)&

/ndy %arpenter2 /usterlitA

$his #ook can #e seen as a testimony for those -ho lost their family and home in the Second

,orld ,ar& /usterlitA is a#out memory and forgetting and as Se#ald himself said the moral

backbone of literature is about the whole *uestion of memory and + have always collected stray

photography there#s a great deal of memory in them- Some of the photographs in the novel do

not necessarily have any memory@ instead they are manipulated #y the te6t& Here -e canrecogniAe the distinction #et-een the studium and punctum proposed #y 4arthesG& /usterlitA is

dominated #y studium2 photographs of fortresses2 prison2 massive #uildings& 4adly composed or

odd snapshot photographs serve as punctum2 a response of pain& /s readers -e can decode the

image in terms of studium and Se#ald creates punctum for us in the #ook& %over photo of the

#ook is not the picture of /ustelitA #ut of one of Se#aldBs friends inserted into the narrative&

Using narrative and photographs Se#aldBs creates punctum& $he relationship #et-een images and

-riting in this novel is #oth comple6 and contradictory& ,ritten te6t provides meaning for

images in the #ook (Ringrose2 n&d&)&

4 Roland Barthers, Si!etla "o#ora



/nother famous e6ample is /ndre 4retonBs novel <adja& ,hen in the *7 4oiffard took

photographs of =aris2 4reton decided to use them to illustrate his #ook& <ajda consist of forty

four photographs -hich forms an integral part of the -ork& 0an ,alker claims that #y using4oiffardBs straight photographs in his #ook2 4reton did not

support his assertion that <adja is a true story& $hese photos

function as documents #ut -hat they 5document5 is transformed

#y their presence in the te6t (!acFarlane2 +2 p& :)& $here are

different various pictures of people2 o#ject2 places -hich the

author visits in <adjaBs presence&

.ac*ues/Andr0 "oiffard,

ous nous faisons servir dehors par le marchand de vins, 1'2

=hilippe 3rtel claimed that photography determined an invisi#le revolution in literature #y

creating a ne- frame-ork that2 -hether e6plicitly ackno-ledged or not2 invades the code2 topics

and functions of fiction@ as he notes in the nineteenth century photography is every-here and

no-here2 meaning that -hether or not -riters e6plicitly registered opinions a#out it their -ork

-as affected #y its u#i1uity (4runet2 72 p& +*)&



vii. Idea of reality

,e live in a visual -orld2 -e look2 o#serve and in the end capture and store images that surround

us2 images that are at the same time real and unreal& ,e are surrounded #y photographs2 they are

omnipresent2 in the media2 on the internet2 in #ooks2 the list is endless& $he 1uestion 0 -ant to

propose is follo-ing 0s the visual era affecting reading and are -e #ecoming literal. Every day

people read less and less2 itBs like they are too laAy to read& For instance2 -hen reading an article

on the internet or in the ne-spaper people skim through it and -atch photos near the te6t2 then

may#e if they find photo interesting they -ill read the article& 0t seems like the photo is sufficientfor us to #elieve that something happened& 0ts like -e trust photos more than -e trust something

that is -ritten2 does that imply that -e trust photographers more than -riters& Danger lies in

manipulation& Cust like people can #e manipulated -ith -ords same can #e done -ith

photography& <ot everything -e see is true and not everything -e read is true& 0 am not talking

here a#out art and manipulation for the sake of art2 0 am talking a#out #ad manipulation that can

ruin peopleBs life& Susan Sontag in her #ook 4n Photography claims that only narration can give

us an accurate understanding of the -orld (Sontag2 )& ,e could agree -ith her #ecause

photography is influenced #y the photographerBs -ish to capture something and in some -ay he

limits our understanding of the -orld& Despite that -e cannot #e sure that everything that is

-ritten is true2 it doesnt have to #e&

$ranslation from one language to another is very similar to the act of taking pictures& Cust like

photograph -ill never #e the e6act image the photographer sa- -ith his #are eye2 the same

translation is not the e6act te6t of that -hat the -riter -anted to say in his o-n language& Every

ne- translation is a ne- step a-ay from the original te6t2 taking into consideration that language

changes every day and that translator have to adjust language to the ne- time in order to #eunderstood& $his process is similar to the process of fading color in photography ( !itrovich

in Sontag)&



viii. Imagination

4oth literature and photography can #e products of imagination& Cust like -e can

manipulate -ith literature -e can also manipulate -ith photography& ,riters use their

imagination -hen creating ne- -orlds2 ne- identities and they drag us into different -orlds

-here -e can allo- ourselves to #e someone else& =hotographers manipulating -ith light2 lenses

and materials (no- programs) create a different reality2 something that is at the same time real

and unreal& 0t e6ists in the reality #ut in the shape -e see in the photograph& =hotos hide stories

and stories hide photos& Same as -e read literature -e read photography& ,hen reading -e

create our o-n images of the story2 and -hen looking at the photo -e create our o-n stories&

Similarity #et-een poetry and photography is that on one side they can take the simplest and

least meaningful su#jects and make them into something #eautiful& 3n the other side #oth

photographs and poems can #e manipulated& For e6ample2 -e can have a photo of a -oman

smiling as if she -as happy and a poem descri#ing this -oman in the photo as happy and

#eautiful& 4ut that -oman doesnBt have to #e happy at all2 she could #e hiding her sorro- and

misery pretending that everything in her life is perfect& 4oth poems and photographs can #e

made so that they hide the truth ($ravnells2 *)&

/s 0 see it2 there are t-o sides in #oth photography and literature& First one is the one that can #e

seen #y everyone and the second one that #elongs only to me& / photograph of my father is very

special to me2 it touches me2 it means something to me and it #elongs to me -hile others in that

photo see a man -ith mustache2 just another person irrelevant for them&



ix. Conclusion

$he relationship #et-een literature and photography is very comple6& ?iterature and

photography have a lot in common& $heir histories are marked #y significant events2 they are

considered to #elong to aesthetics #y #oth philosopher of art and literary critics and they can #oth

#e manipulated -ith&

=hotography -as first e6perienced as a te6t and not as a picture even though it is a visual media&

$he #irth of photography is crucial as a moment in literary history #ecause it determined an

invisi#le revolution in literature creating a ne- frame-ork& Understanding is very important for literature as -ell as for photography@ this understanding helps us to get into deeper meaning and

provides 5pleasure5& 0f -ork of art doesnBt provide 5pleasure5 than it doesnBt have any value

especially not aesthetic value& ?iterature and photography possess intrinsic value only in relation

-ith their pu#lic& $heir value depends not only on author #ut also on understanding of pu#lic&

$his relationship can #e seen in famous literary -orks such as 4retonBs <adja2 Se#aldBs

/usterlitA and many more& ,orld -ithout photography and -orld -ithout -ritten -ords -ould

#e lost -orld&

?iterary critics as -ell as philosophers of art are still investigating and analyAing this comple6

#ut interesting relationship&



References

• 4arthes2 R& (+)2 5vi6etla komora, bil6e7ka o fotografi6i2 0Adanja anti#ar#arus

• 4runet2 F& (7)2 Photography and Literature2 Reaktion 4ooks ?td

• %unningham2 D&2 Fisher2 /& 9 !ay2 S& (8)2 Photography and Literature in the

8wentieth 9entury, 9ambridge 5cholars Publishing

• Flusser2 &()2 :ilo;ofi6a fotografi6e2 4i#lioteka 5Scientia52 Scara#eus I naklada

• Sontag2 S& ()2 4 fotografi6i2 <aklada E3S2 3sijek

• ,& !arien2 !&2 (>) Photography< A cultural history, Second Edition& Upper Saddle

River =earson

• ?amar1ue2 =& (8)2 Aesthetics and Literature a Problematic Relation=, University of ?eeds2 Sheffield and Jork2 =hilosophical Studies *+: (*)

• !acFarlane2 D& (+)2 9ity >orged ?ith reams< 5urrealism and ocumentary

Photography in +nterwar Paris by +an ?alker 2 Surrealism 0ssue *2 -inter +

• !arculescu2 %& (**)2 Postmodern transformation of art and authorship< from art

production to image consumption2 University of 4ucharest Revie-2 ol& 02 no& * (ne-

series)

• Ringrose2 %& (n&d)2 Photography and ?riting< "arthes, elerm and 5ebald

• Strayer2 C& (7)2 9onsciousness, Literature and the Arts2 /rchive2 olume *2 <um#er

2 /ugust



• iires2 =& (7)2 +n 5earch of the Lost Aura2 !0$ > !edia in $ransition Store and

=apyrus2 Storage and $ransmission2 /pril G>

• $ravnells2 C& (*)2 =oetry vs =hotographs

/vaila#le at httpKK---&#riancro6all&netKlittechK*K*K+*KpoetryvsphotographsK

• Encyclopedia 4ritannica

/vaila#le at http$%%&&&'(ritannica'co#%EBchec"ed%topic%)4*4%aesthetics

• 36ford online dictionary

/vaila#le at http$%%oxforddictionaries'co#%de+nition%english%photography

httpKKo6forddictionaries&comKdefinitionKenglishKliterature

• Res =u#lica2 intervie- -ith Conathan Friday #y /rtis Svece

/vaila#le at http$%%+loo+!a'lu'l%eng-interi!a.'ht#l

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7484/aesthetics

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/photography

http://filozofija.lu.lv/eng_intervija6.html

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/photography

http://filozofija.lu.lv/eng_intervija6.html

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7484/aesthetics

literature and photography; photography and literature

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