civilized ku # 2196 ~ inherently good
Friday, May 11, 2012 at 04:55PM ;)
Street corner ~ Plattsburgh, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenA comment, left on my recent civilized ku # 2193-94 entry, by Ulrik F. T. stated in part (choosing to ignore his ad hominem-ism, nice guy that I am):
... there is nothing inherently good about an image rooted somewhere/sometime imo
my response: I emphatically disagree with that opinion - some might even state that it is an uninformed opinion (but I won't go there) - if for no other reason than the fact that every picture, by the very nature of the medium itself, is rooted, intentionally or not, in place and time. In the making of a picture we "stop" / capture/ time and invariably represent a person(s), place, or thing. Hell, between EXIF data and GPS technology, we can know exactly at what time and in what place a picture was made.
However, leaving those technical considerations aside, every picture ever made (or will be made) was also rooted in the societal / cultural construct of the time/era in which it was made. A picture is as much a societal / construct as it is a visual / physical construct.
Consequently, a viewer of a picture, knowing where and/or in what era that picture was made and possessing at least a rudimentary knowledge of that place and its societal / cultural paradigm, has a much greater ability to understand and appreciate that picture. In other words, the more you know, the more you can know (ain't knowledge grand?).
IMO, the time and place rooting to found / seen in a picture, whether it is transmitted via the written word or visually within the picture itself, is inherently a good thing. In fact, a very good thing.
Reader Comments (1)
In your first sentence you in fact did go there, and finally having descended your steed, the rest of your response made sense.