Week 3 - Response 2 - POL Chapter 1

Chapter 1 is an abstract look at what images can do for a person. Images invoke different kinds of emotions from different people and one image can be perceived various different ways. The section that had me thinking the most was labeled "The Myth Photographic Truth." In this section, a brief history of photography is given. Photographs were mainly taken for two reasons. The first is document existing proof that an even occurred or that people actually existed at on point in time. A French theorist named Roland Barthes uses the term studium to describe this truth function of a photograph. Photographs are also objects in which we invest emotional content and are a primary means in remembering events. They also enable us to forget those things as well. Barthes uses the term punctum to characterize the affective element of photographs that pierce ones heart with feeling. The photograph called Trolley-New Orleans shows a divide/segregation between the 3 photographed people. As described in the book, there is "a white matron looking suspicious, a white boy in his Sunday best, and black man looking mournful." As I look at this picture, a lot of emotions run through my mind and I often find myself asking what these people truly felt at the time this picture was taken. This photograph is proof that both studium and punctum exists.