Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tracing the Individual Body: Photography, Detectives, and Early Cinema – Ellie Monobe
I found this essay interesting but not as captivating as previous ones. One particular topic of interest that this essay conveyed was explanation of the origin of mug shots and CSI photography and research. This essay gave me a sense of relief due to the fact that we were not reading about the ontology or the continuous debate of photography as an art, but more about the capacity of its usefulness. One particular quote that caught my attention was stated by Benjamin, “Photography made it possible for the first time to preserve permanent and unmistakable traces of a human being.” This quote reflects the exact opposite of what we were discussing the other. Instead of photography capturing the perfect moment in time before its corruption by human kind, this photography being discussed is about capturing the right moment in time where humans make mistakes, thus to put in use later to catch the corrupted human. This new discovery of a different use for photography “became the ideal tool of the process of detection, the ultimate modern clue,” and its remarkable to think that photography is often viewed as this sort of art form used for the good of human kind rather than the traditional art form of perspective and imagination.
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"It directly bears the entity's impront and can therefore supply evidence about the object it depicts". While reading this passage I though "finally!" Finally someone is discussing the modern use of photography. Finally there is a writer the writes not simpy of the discussion of photography as an art but as a means to be an intregal part of the madern world. The passage discusses the use of photography as evidence in detective cases as well as its ability to capture acutal truth. One part that i liked about the article was its discussion of photography as simply a means of identifying criminals. I have always thought that it was extremely interesting in modern criminal cases that in the event of a photograph or an image of the culprit, the person on trial as seen as a person without a chance. The photograph revolutiionized the act of catching and putting away criminals. "The sence of the camera as the nonhuman agent of truth." The photograph is seen as the absolute truth because "photography made it possible for the first time to preserve permanent and unmistakable traces of a human being." The article as mentions mug shots and the early ability of the culprit to fake out the camera by moving while the shutter is still taking the picture. But then it mentions that with the modern shutter speed that the camera now helps the authorities to have "power over the criinals body and image." I thought this was an interesting look at the idea of taking mug shots. That the political authorities now have branded you as a criminal and they own that reputation for you, simply by taking a photograph. This article was refreshing to read after the many that we have lately because it looked at the more modern aspects of photography and how it can be used to better the community around us. Photography is a unique invention and it can be used in many different ways, even to trap someone in their own skin, "his own body supplying evidence of his guilt."
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