Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Taking the wall


wall

The kitchen wall: it could be a canvas, but it isn’t. It’s just a photograph I took…I’m interested in the way we use the verb ‘to take’ when we talk about photographs. We take a photograph – take or appropriate an image. It suggests that the image (the sign/the meaning?) is there for the taking.

I’m sure Barthes says something about this in Image, Music, Text or Camera Lucida. In contrast we compose writing, we make meaning, we weave in hyperlinks and we make sure we do not take (or at least we hide our takings).

Some people take photographs seriously. There’s as much composition as appropriation on this photoblog. And this skyscraper image is amazing. Surely, this is more about making meanings than taking them. Nevertheless, straight comparisons with another mode (eg writing) just won’t work. What would the equivalent to the irony of The Dullest Blog in the World be, I wonder?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Mr. Merchant, sorry to hear that you were poorley.... hope you're felling better.... do you think that poorpley comes from being poor and if so, why would we use it to mean being unwell? ANd did you know that the origanal meaning for silly was blessed? I think I share your passion for lanuage and linguistics... is all so very interesting and rather incestious at times... and since I've been learning Afrikaans they're lanugae is so simply based, that I often over look meanings of words as I think it can't be that simple.... thier word for fridge is yskak which literally means ice cupboard... anyway, you take care and try not to fall PSx

Kate said...

I love the dullest blog in the world it really cheered me up and got me out of my angst.

Mary Plain said...

Agreeing with Kate here, the dullest blog is superb- how did you find it?!

Guy Merchant said...

Yes, I thought it was pretty amazing ...a sort of art form in its own right. As to how I found it, I played leapfrog through a number of blogs sidelinks and hit lucky! That's the sort of thing I do for amusement.