Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
Ebook288 pages6 hours
Picturing Ourselves: Photography and Autobiography
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this ebook
Photography has transformed the way we picture ourselves. Although photographs seem to "prove" our existence at a given point in time, they also demonstrate the impossibility of framing our multiple and fragmented selves. As Linda Haverty Rugg convincingly shows, photography's double take on self-image mirrors the concerns of autobiographers, who see the self as simultaneously divided (in observing/being) and unified by the autobiographical act.
Rugg tracks photography's impact on the formation of self-image through the study of four literary autobiographers concerned with the transformative power of photography. Obsessed with self-image, Mark Twain and August Strindberg both attempted (unsuccessfully) to integrate photographs into their autobiographies. While Twain encouraged photographers, he was wary of fakery and kept a fierce watch on the distribution of his photographic image. Strindberg, believing that photographs had occult power, preferred to photograph himself.
Because of their experiences under National Socialism, Walter Benjamin and Christa Wolf feared the dangerously objectifying power of photographs and omitted them from their autobiographical writings. Yet Benjamin used them in his photographic conception of history, which had its testing ground in his often-ignored Berliner Kindheit um 1900. And Christa Wolf's narrator in Patterns of Childhood attempts to reclaim her childhood from the Nazis by reconstructing mental images of lost family photographs.
Confronted with multiple and conflicting images of themselves, all four of these writers are torn between the knowledge that texts, photographs, and indeed selves are haunted by undecidability and the desire for the returned glance of a single self.
Rugg tracks photography's impact on the formation of self-image through the study of four literary autobiographers concerned with the transformative power of photography. Obsessed with self-image, Mark Twain and August Strindberg both attempted (unsuccessfully) to integrate photographs into their autobiographies. While Twain encouraged photographers, he was wary of fakery and kept a fierce watch on the distribution of his photographic image. Strindberg, believing that photographs had occult power, preferred to photograph himself.
Because of their experiences under National Socialism, Walter Benjamin and Christa Wolf feared the dangerously objectifying power of photographs and omitted them from their autobiographical writings. Yet Benjamin used them in his photographic conception of history, which had its testing ground in his often-ignored Berliner Kindheit um 1900. And Christa Wolf's narrator in Patterns of Childhood attempts to reclaim her childhood from the Nazis by reconstructing mental images of lost family photographs.
Confronted with multiple and conflicting images of themselves, all four of these writers are torn between the knowledge that texts, photographs, and indeed selves are haunted by undecidability and the desire for the returned glance of a single self.
Related to Picturing Ourselves
Related ebooks
The Miracle of Analogy: or The History of Photography, Part 1 John Heartfield and the Agitated Image: Photography, Persuasion, and the Rise of Avant-Garde Photomontage Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Words Without Pictures Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ethics of Seeing: Photography and Twentieth-Century German History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsImages on the Move: Materiality - Networks - Formats Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHelen Gee: Limelight, a Greenwich Village Photography Gallery and Coffeehouse in the Fifties Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sum of His Syndromes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInadvertent Images: A History of Photographic Apparitions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFred Ritchin: Bending the Frame: Photojournalism, Documentary, and the Citizen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBorder Aesthetics: Concepts and Intersections Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBenjamin's Passages: Dreaming, Awakening Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhotography and Its Shadow Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSouthern Cultures: The Photography Issue: Summer 2011 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhilip Gefter: Photography After Frank Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTod Papageorge: Core Curriculum: Writings on Photography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmbivalent: Photography and Visibility in African History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeyond the Mirror: Seeing in Art History and Visual Culture Studies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsToo True: Essays on Photography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGerry Badger: The Pleasures of Good Photographs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cruel Radiance: Photography and Political Violence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Public Image: Photography and Civic Spectatorship Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTouching Photographs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Boredom: Essays in art and writing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhotocinema: The Creative Edges of Photography and Film Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Flower Can Always Be Changing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhotography, Narrative, Time: Imaging our Forensic Imagination Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Beautiful Mysterious: The Extraordinary Gaze of William Eggleston Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhotography and Landscape: Photography and Landscape Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings25 Women: Essays on Their Art Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Photography For You
Betty Page Confidential: Featuring Never-Before Seen Photographs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Photography for Beginners: The Ultimate Photography Guide for Mastering DSLR Photography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bloodbath Nation Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jada Pinkett Smith A Short Unauthorized Biography Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Power to the People: The World of the Black Panthers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Photography Exercise Book: Training Your Eye to Shoot Like a Pro (250+ color photographs make it come to life) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConscious Creativity: Look, Connect, Create Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The iPhone Photography Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Humans of New York: Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wisconsin Death Trip Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Photography Bible: A Complete Guide for the 21st Century Photographer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Book Of Legs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Let Us Now Praise Famous Men Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Collins Complete Photography Course Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extreme Art Nudes: Artistic Erotic Photo Essays Far Outside of the Boudoir Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Bombshells: Glamour Girls of a Lifetime Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Fifty Places to Hike Before You Die: Outdoor Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Patterns in Nature: Why the Natural World Looks the Way It Does Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Photography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Workin' It!: RuPaul's Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Photography 101: The Digital Photography Guide for Beginners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Haunted New Orleans: History & Hauntings of the Crescent City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Photograph Everything: Simple Techniques for Shooting Spectacular Images Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Humans of New York Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fucked at Birth: Recalibrating the American Dream for the 2020s Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Declutter Your Photo Life: Curating, Preserving, Organizing, and Sharing Your Photos Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLegendary Locals of Savannah Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Photographer's Guide to Posing: Techniques to Flatter Everyone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Humans Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related podcast episodes
Mimesis: A Discussion with Alliya Dagman 100% found this document usefulAutotheory as Feminist Practice in Art, Writing, and Criticism: A Discussion with Lauren Fournier and McKenzie Wark 0% found this document usefulMeditation: Be Still (Be Still) ? 0% found this document usefulHal Foster on the Age of Art Theory 0% found this document usefulCatherine Grant, "A Time of One's Own: Histories of Feminism in Contemporary Art" (Duke UP, 2022) 0% found this document usefulEpisode 311: Jerry Saltz: Jerry Saltz is a Pulitzer-winning art critic for New York. 100% found this document usefulFran Lebowitz on Improvising 0% found this document usefulHow Art Changes Us 0% found this document useful205-The White Mouse: Journalist Nancy Wake became an intrepid secret agent in wartime France. 0% found this document useful223-The Prince of Forgers: Denis Vrain-Lucas sold 27,000 false letters, by everyone from Plato to Louis XIV. 0% found this document useful244-The Women's Protest: In 1943, hundreds of German women protested the roundup of their Jewish husbands. 0% found this document useful116-Notes and Queries: The love affair that lies behind the Rolls Royce hood ornament. 0% found this document useful
Related articles
Batia Suter Galaxies ApertureArticle
Batia Suter Galaxies
Sep 7, 2021
2 min readLeaning Into Vision Digital Photo ProArticle
Leaning Into Vision
May 30, 2020
6 min readEdges of Illusion ApertureArticle
Edges of Illusion
Sep 6, 2022
6 min readMonarchs Of monochrome CaptureArticle
Monarchs Of monochrome
Aug 16, 2022
10 min readFeminist Futures ApertureArticle
Feminist Futures
Dec 8, 2020
7 min readAlex Webb Digital Camera WorldArticle
Alex Webb
Nov 3, 2016
6 min readHeal Your Mind With Photography Amateur PhotographerArticle
Heal Your Mind With Photography
Oct 6, 2020
9 min readPostcards from America Amateur PhotographerArticle
Postcards from America
Feb 6, 2018
6 min readThe Ballad of Nan Goldin ApertureArticle
The Ballad of Nan Goldin
Jun 9, 2020
23 min readBackstory ApertureArticle
Backstory
Jun 11, 2019
In 1934, with plum assignments under her belt and a professional photography studio to her name, Dora Maar was a star on the rise. A profile of Maar in L’art vivant magazine that year described the photographer as “a brunette huntress of images,” an
2 min readLooking Out/Looking In Delhi ApertureArticle
Looking Out/Looking In Delhi
Jun 8, 2021
6 min readKunié Sugiura ArtAsiaPacificArticle
Kunié Sugiura
Nov 1, 2018
2 min readRadical Portraiture Art & AntiquesArticle
Radical Portraiture
Apr 1, 2021
5 min readAllan Sekula: OKEANOS C MagazineArticle
Allan Sekula: OKEANOS
Jun 4, 2018
“The sea is history,” wrote Saint Lucian poet Derek Walcott, referring to the site of so many lost souls in existential terms as a “grey vault.” Conversely, photographer, filmmaker and theorist Allan Sekula wrote in 1995 that, in fact, “the sea is mo
3 min readNothing But The Best Artist's Back to BasicsArticle
Nothing But The Best
Jun 7, 2018
4 min readRobert Polito on the Art of Iconoclastic Film Critic Manny Farber Literary HubArticle
Robert Polito on the Art of Iconoclastic Film Critic Manny Farber
Nov 18, 2019
8 min readLeonor Fini: Theatre of Desire The Paris ReviewArticle
Leonor Fini: Theatre of Desire
Aug 8, 2018
1 min readThe Purist Art & AntiquesArticle
The Purist
Apr 1, 2021
8 min readLooking for Transcendence ApertureArticle
Looking for Transcendence
Dec 10, 2019
7 min readJoan didion’s singular voice Journal of Alta CaliforniaArticle
Joan didion’s singular voice
Apr 5, 2022
8 min readDavid Hockney AnOther MagazineArticle
David Hockney
Mar 26, 2021
11 min readFive Hundred Glass Negatives The Paris ReviewArticle
Five Hundred Glass Negatives
Sep 7, 2017
6 min readA List of Favorite Anythings ApertureArticle
A List of Favorite Anythings
Sep 10, 2019
4 min readThe Mug Shot A Brief History ApertureArticle
The Mug Shot A Brief History
Mar 6, 2018
5 min readTom Sandberg Grayscales ApertureArticle
Tom Sandberg Grayscales
Sep 7, 2021
3 min readMarlene Dumas’s Metamorphoses The Paris ReviewArticle
Marlene Dumas’s Metamorphoses
Jun 20, 2018
5 min readDeana Lawson The Conjurer ApertureArticle
Deana Lawson The Conjurer
Sep 7, 2021
12 min readMaking Worlds ApertureArticle
Making Worlds
Dec 7, 2021
10 min readAngel, Fiend, Surrealist ApertureArticle
Angel, Fiend, Surrealist
Jun 7, 2022
6 min readCounter Culture WellBeingArticle
Counter Culture
Apr 15, 2020
3 min read
Reviews for Picturing Ourselves
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Picturing Ourselves - Linda Haverty Rugg
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1