jazzy_dave: (bookish)
jazzy_dave ([personal profile] jazzy_dave) wrote2019-10-06 09:10 pm

Book 85 - Roland Barthes "Camera Lucida"

Roland Barthes "Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography" (Vintage)




Personally, I found this book to be of uneven quality. It has flashes where it is very good indeed, and then there are sections where I thought that he was meandering.

This is one of those books I have read before as it needs a close read to get the best of it. The overall tone is sombre, and the parts that I like are when he discusses a photograph because this made me a lot more sensitive to what is in the photo, and what the story could possibly be. This is the singular most achievement of these sets of writings. I enjoyed it as a philosophical journey, an intellectual inquiry into the preception of photography and what it reveals or leaves hidden.

I am not sure about that section on his mother, but the pain of her loss and his love for her shine through. This part is deeply personal, and I must admire him for being able to share this.