Is not the most erotic part of the body wherever the clothing affords a glimpse?
Roland BarthesRead
The realists do not take the photograph for a 'copy' of reality, but for an emanation of past reality, a magic, not an art.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that photographs are not mere copies of reality but rather reflections of past experiences infused with a sense of magic.
Roland Barthes highlights the distinction between capturing reality in photography and merely replicating it. He proposes that photographs hold an emotional and magical connection to the past, going beyond simple representation to evoke memories and sentiments, making them an expression of lived experiences rather than just a documentary tool.
Themes
PhotographyRealityMemoryMagicEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
In a photography workshop, this quote could inspire participants to think deeply about the emotional impact of their photos.
More from Roland Barthes
All quotes βIf I acknowledge my dependency, I do so because for me it is a means of signifying my demand: in the realm of love, futility is not a "weakness" or an "absurdity": it is a strong sign: the more futile, the more it signifies and the more it asserts itself as strength.)
Roland BarthesRead
The gesture of the amorous embrace seems to fulfill, for a time, the subject's dream of total union with the loved being: The longing for consummation with the other.
Roland BarthesRead
The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture.
Roland BarthesRead
I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived with passion by unknown artists, and consumed in image if not in usage by a whole population which appropriates them as a purely magical object.
Roland BarthesRead
All those young photographers who are at work in the world, determined upon the capture of actuality, do not know that they are agents of Death.
Roland BarthesRead
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