Liquid Intelligence

Jeff Wall seemed to be a bit passive in this essay. He makes subtle claims but they all are really important. He describes the more traditional forms of photography with water and liquid, in relation to nature and the use of it as a material in the production of a photograph. This reminded me of "The Pencil of Nature" where photography and nature and man controlling nature (water in this case: he explains how precise you had to be with the water, so as not to destroy anything) were all related closely. Not only do we have a great impact on the photograph but " in photography, the liquids study us, even from a great distance". It is a back and forth relationship that goes both ways. He then moved on to the dry aspect, which would be the more modern techniques : the optics and mechanics. I feel like that is how everyone really perceives photography today with digital photography, like it is not the same raw act it used to be, but rather it is just a click of the button that does all the work for you. For example, what we talked about in the museum with the older camera's and their focus versus the limitations of digital cameras. Lastly, I enjoyed his twist on cinematography, describes his images as that. He says that it is really the same thing since the collaboration and technique and equipment are all the same.