Oculus

 


 

From the preface:

We trade and measure the consciousness of our own existence, not so much as Rousseau would have it, 'from the judgment of others,' but through the images we behold and the images we've held and traded.

Vilem Flusser famously said:
"[Images] are supposed to be maps but they turn into screens: instead of representing the world, they obscure it until human beings' lives finally become a function of the images they create. Human beings cease to decode the images and instead project them, still encoded, into the world 'out there,' which meanwhile itself becomes like an image–a context of scenes, of states of things."

These 'context of scenes' and 'states of things' may act as 'maps turned into screens,' but images, whether we integrate them understood, or only partially digested, insinuate themselves intimately into our psyche. Because we are creatures attuned to the creation and projection of symbolic meaning, images hold a profound significance for us: we use images to understand and navigate concepts; they are intimately associated with our notions of self, and act as milestones and markers to that perceived notion; and they contain and convey our 'personal' perspectives and beliefs, allowing us to identify with (and integrate into) particular social strata. Images are the vehicles we use to mark perceptions and beliefs as our own.

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A personal note:

I thought about the images I held centering on my peers, my family, my work and myself. I was struck with the realization that the images I held, the images in my head, had become separated from the reality they once portrayed. I was taken off guard that my images could be so defining–not only in relation to who I was and how I saw the people that I loved, but also how those images colored my perceptions, swayed my judgments and influenced my actions. I had to take stock, my images no longer held up.

Oculus, a photographic book about images, memory, and the metaphor of light.

96 pages; 35 plates.
Published by Noorderlicht.

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