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Sylvia Plachy and the role of "Recognition" in Photography


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In an article on Sylvia Plachy's new book <a href="http://www.

csmonitor.com/2005/0204/p16s01-alar.html">, click here,</a> she speaks

about memory, recognition and truth in photography.

 

I found these three elements very useful in thinking about

photographs. Does memory play a part in your choices of what you

shoot? Does recognition of something you already know play a part?

<p>

here is a quote....

<i>"The work of the artist is not so much what you say or what you

know, it's recognizing what you know. That's what life is about.

That's what photography is about. You see something, or you hear

someone say something, and you say 'That is a truth.' You know, deep

in you," she continues. "That's when you start shooting. That's when

you write it down. That's when you start thinking, or that's when you

start feeling, because you recognize it. You fall in love with that

truth. That's what it is, it's falling in love."</i></p>

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Thanks, I enjoyed the article. Maybe memory plays a part, but I think when I'm shooting, that panic at what I don't know, plays a part. I feel like I'm wildly peeling an orange to get at what's inside. And when I hold up the wet negatives before drying, I panic again at the shear rediscovery. Mary
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<i><blockquote> Z, that's not an audio link to her interview, it's about water pressure

</blockquote> </i><p>

 

Hmm, that was supposed to be the link for the entire 2-hour show, with the Plachy

segment fast-forwardable (after the Larry & Al Ubell segment). Here's the webpage

where I got the link: <p>

 

<u><A href =

http://wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/01122005>

http://wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/01122005</a></u>

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it's not the first audio link.........it's down further where the mention to James Horner's music is (the music is the lead-in to the interview)

 

anyhow, claudia...and jeff..........I'm not reading that quote the same way you guys seem to be. It's not memory of something you did, or saw, or experienced.........it's memory of a concept, or as she calls it a truth. Like falling in love. You never fell in love with "that" person before, but you "KNOW" that person the moment you see them. It's what your mind and soul has pieced together as THE person for you to love (.....albiet, things dont always stay that way ;o). It's the same with something you see while walking around with a camera. You've never seen THAT sight before, but when you see it, you KNOW it. You remember "feeling" like that before, albiet just a concept of feeling prior to this time, but now........there it is, the thing that makes you feel that way. And you KNOW this thing. That's when the camera gets utilized.........or when you write it down, if you're a writer.

 

Anyhow, that's what I think she's talking about.........it's how it happens to me, anyhow.

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<p>"<i>I prefer seeing things I don't recognize. It allows me to construct a much more interesting story.</i>"

 

<p>I dont' think that what Plachy meant was that we only photograph what we feel most comfortable seeing because we previously recognize it. surely she knew that creative photographers prefer to see new things and see old things anew. probably, by "recognition" she meant that we recognize what we train ourselves to observe (the seeing) and thereby realize what it is (the recognition) that we want to photograph. therefore, it is that process of "photographic observation" that creates the "recognition" of what a photographer "knows". indeed, haven't we all had moments, as photographers, of "'falling in love' at first sight" with what we are "observing"?

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Hi,

 

I feel that recognition is a huge part of enjoyment.

 

Think of certain styles of jazz, where the clarinetist, or the saxaphonist, teases

us by going in and around and through a well known tune, until we finally

think, "Oh, that's 'Fly Me to the Moon.'" And then we think of the other words to

that tune, and of our experiences with that tune, and all of the baggage that

that tune carries for us. And we apply all of that to the meaning of the

clarinetist.

 

I don't know what this has to do with "'truth' in photography." "Truth" is a very

slippery idea. But I think it has a lot to do with the role of "recognition" and

"memory" in giving meaning to artistic expression.

 

Tom

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