Rhetoric of the Image

The first quote I found interesting was on page 269: "According to an ancient etymology, the word image should be linked to the root word imitari. Thus we find ourselves immediately at the heart of the most important problem facing the semiology of images: can analogical representation (the 'copy') produce true systems of signs and not merely simple agglutinations of symbols?"
First, this is what agglutination means: a clumping of bacteria or red cells when held together by antibodies (agglutinins).

wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

I liked this quote because I did not know that image basically comes from imitate. Also, a picture is just a memory captured, it's not the actual memory, it brings up emotions that we felt but a picture is not as true as being there and experiencing what happened. He questions the representation the picture holds and how true this image is. I just think it's interesting since to be there in the photo you know the truth, versus having a photo of what happened you can assume it's the truth. The second quote is on page 276: "...we never encounter (at least in advertising) a literal image in a pure state." This when connected to the media happens all the time. We don't know what is behind that picture in the magazine or on the billboard. How airbrushed is the man? How actually skinny is the model who looks so flawless? This quote just makes me think how mean advertising can be to society. This photo is my daughter's first haircut- kind of. She had just turned 5 and her friend was getting a trim so I decided she could get one. The catch was I had to trim her hair first. This lady did not want me to trim her hair. I as a parent decided it's my God-given right to the first haircut and was about to go buy scissors or not let her get the trim when finally the stylist caved in and let me trim her hair outside real quick. This picture means nothing but a haircut to many, but I see it and remember the frustration and triumph I had that day over an inch of hair.

Kracauer's analysis

The first quote I took from the reading is on page 423: "But the now-darkened appearance has so little in common with the traits still remembered that the grandchildren are amazed when urged to believe that it is the fragmentarily remembered ancestor whom they encounter in the photograph."
I chose this quote because my great grandmother had a photo on her wall when I was younger. In it, she is about 16 years old and dressed very differently than I'd ever seen and she's laying on her stomach touching her toes to her forehead. My grandmother could hardly move and slept on a special bed- how was I to believe she at one point could touch her toes to her forehead??! This quote is true in my life because when you see an older photo you instantly are like, "Really? That's you?".  So I just like how true the quote is even though it's not in plainer terms.
    The second quote I found interesting is: "The last image of a person is that person's actual 'history'." This quote also rings true to me, but is interesting because at the same time would the last picture of me show my history to others? Would it be that worthy of a picture? My uncle recently passed away, and I know the last picture that I have of him shows that he is a happy, fun, care-free man. But that's my last picture of him. If there is another picture of him going through the illness that lead to his death, does that mean that his history is only what shows through in his illness? Or would a smile in that same photo change it all?

This picture is a picture I took with my cell phone at work. After work there was a carnival and we all stayed an extra ten minutes to race the kindergarten tricycles. It's just funny to think back that we all after work on a Friday decided tricycle riding was the thing to do.

"The Image World"

While reading "The Image World" by Susan Sontag, I did find two ideas that were particularly interesting to me. The first is: "But some trace of the magic remains for example, in our reluctance to tear up or throw away the photograph of a loved one, especially of someone dead or far away. To do so is a ruthless gesture of rejection" (p 160). This quote made me think about all the times growing up I or my friends would tear up a picture of someone, be it an ex or an old friend, once you tore a picture up it was the finalization of a relationship that was; since there was no going back (unless you had another copy). I have also found a destroyed photograph of myself and I did feel rejected, as well as hurt and disgusted with the action. I don't like to destroy pictures. I hold pictures my most valuable possession, they are stored in boxes, frames all over the house as well as computer folders. Every time I look back on a photo, even if the person hurt me or I'm hurt because I've lost them, it still makes me happy that I have that moment captured. It is in a sense, "magical".
          The next idea I chose is: "photographs are a way of imprisoning reality as recalcitrant, inaccessible; of making it stand still. ...One can't possess reality, one can possess (and be possessed by) images...". I did shorten this down to take the main points of area. Photos are really a moment of time captured, whether you wanted it captured or not. You may have been aware that you were in the picture or you may have no idea. I think back to all my friends and family of past and present who have photos of me. There are some I may not even have seen I'm sure. It's strange to know that people may have a moment I may not want shared and I have no access to it. I think this idea really can get deep with where society is today. We know have the internet where our photos can be posted for the world to see. People really can imprison our images, and at many times we have no control over it. I just think that there are some people who could possess a picture of me that I may not want them/or not know that they have and it's a disturbing thought.

This is a picture of two really large lemons on my lemon tree. I can't reach them, so they have grown to look like lemons who have been fed steroids. I am going to be sad when they fall down because it's fun to see how large they've gotten over time.