Prominence Given, Authority Taken

I found this interview to be different than anything that we've read so far. Here, we actually get to see exactly what the photographer was thinking and what she was going for with her work. Talking about her book, "An Arrangement of Pictures", Louise Lawyer actually provides direct commentary on her ideas and what her work means. Although the definition was as confusing as her work, it was a rare occurence that we do not have to guess what was trying to be accomplished in a work.

Also, while talking about "An Arrangement of Pictures", there actually is an arrangement of her pictures throughout the interview. I do not know if they are compiled in the same way that they are in her book, but we get to see her work on the side of the conversation. I wish there was text like she says she has accompanying her photographs in her book because I don't understand them. Even with her discussion, I don't get her photographs. I find the display of other people's work in them an interesting idea, but some of the stuff she does goes a little far for me to understand. "Federal Offense" is one of them.

I like her idea of approaching something without any prior knowledge of it. She says on page 195, " You know, I'm not even comfortable taking photographs when I know what I'm taking. I feel as if approaching something with too much clarity in advance could eliminate possibilities". It would probably be a unique experience to explore a realm of unknown dimension or venture into an unfamiliar place to work with it. The pictures would probably show your interpretation. It would be even greater to learn about what you were photographing or explore what you were trying to do later. I can see why Lawyer would enjoy this type of photography, but as an outside viewer, it is hard to see what was going on. Later, on page 198, she discusses her playing with the different views you get after seeing something again: "The recognition factor changes perception." This is the exact opposite of her previous approach. Instead of knowing nothing about something, you have a different memory of it and can now examine it from a different view. Like she said, this changes perspective and asks questions about what you really know about a subject.

This was not a very interesting text until I started to put myself in Lawyer's shoes and thought about why someone would take these kinds of pictures. My reflection of what I think her process could be with this type of photography made it interesting.