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Between the Eyes: Essays On Photography And Politics
David Levi Strauss is a writer whose visual and intellectual sensibilities are both acute and expansive. His trenchant writings on photography and photographers have been collected for this volume from a broad range of magazines, including Aperture , Artforum and The Nation . In Between the Essays on Photography and Politics , Strauss tackles subjects as diverse as “Photography and Propaganda,” the imagery of dreams, Sebastiao Salgado's epic social documents and the deeply personal photographic revelations of Francesca Woodman. The timely issue of photographic legitimacy is addressed in the essay “Photography and Belief,” and in “The Highest Degree of Illusion,” Strauss discusses the media frenzy surrounding the events of September 11. As our world is shaped more and more by images and their slipperiness, what he calls a media “pandemonium” in its root meaning of “the place of all howling demons,” we need a mind and voice like Levi Strauss' to bring clarity to our vision.
208 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2003
About the author
John Berger
184 books2,256 followersJohn Peter Berger was an English art critic, novelist, painter and author. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to a BBC series, is often used as a college text.
Later he was self exiled to continental Europe, living between the french Alps in summer and the suburbs of Paris in winter. Since then, his production has increased considerably, including a variety of genres, from novel to social essay, or poetry. One of the most common themes that appears on his books is the dialectics established between modernity and memory and loss,
Another of his most remarkable works has been the trilogy titled Into Their Labours, that includes the books Pig Earth (1979), Once In Europa (1983) Lilac And Flag (1990). With those books, Berger makes a meditation about the way of the peasant, that changes one poverty for another in the city. This theme is also observed in his novel King, but there his focus is more in the rural diaspora and the bitter side of the urban way of life.
Later he was self exiled to continental Europe, living between the french Alps in summer and the suburbs of Paris in winter. Since then, his production has increased considerably, including a variety of genres, from novel to social essay, or poetry. One of the most common themes that appears on his books is the dialectics established between modernity and memory and loss,
Another of his most remarkable works has been the trilogy titled Into Their Labours, that includes the books Pig Earth (1979), Once In Europa (1983) Lilac And Flag (1990). With those books, Berger makes a meditation about the way of the peasant, that changes one poverty for another in the city. This theme is also observed in his novel King, but there his focus is more in the rural diaspora and the bitter side of the urban way of life.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 1, 2016
"It's not that we mistake photographs for reality; we prefer them to reality. We cannot bear reality, but we can bear images - like stigmata...we believe them because we need what we are in them."
From discussion of some great photographic works (Hotel Polen was a favourite), to some of the best poignant and telling quotes - this book sets many thoughts in motion. Thoughts about how images are used/can be used in propaganda or in dealing with difficult realities like 9/11 and holocaust, or how they are used to construct identities. It often roams in the sphere of politics - commenting on wars and capitalism, even democracy.
I just wish someone comes with a image book version of this - where the text is accompanied by the referred images.
From discussion of some great photographic works (Hotel Polen was a favourite), to some of the best poignant and telling quotes - this book sets many thoughts in motion. Thoughts about how images are used/can be used in propaganda or in dealing with difficult realities like 9/11 and holocaust, or how they are used to construct identities. It often roams in the sphere of politics - commenting on wars and capitalism, even democracy.
I just wish someone comes with a image book version of this - where the text is accompanied by the referred images.
August 18, 2023
some chapters piqued my interest. others reminded me that i’m stupid about art
January 16, 2008
check out his writing on alfredo jarr.
June 11, 2017
Definitely some food for thought in the essay "The Documentary Debate." I keep going back to his debate over the "aestheticization of photography" and find a lot of merit there with regards to how we capture and how people respond to images. I also keep turning over the phrase "elevating the messenger and not the message" in my head, and agree that we tend to fetishize and prop up certain photographers and make the work about them, rather than the people in the photographs.
Great, but slightly dated, read for any photographer who is ready to philosophize about the whys of photography.
Great, but slightly dated, read for any photographer who is ready to philosophize about the whys of photography.
January 28, 2023
'Between the Eyes' contains some excellent essays about how we see and perceive images, and how photography's power has diminished in recent generations. The essays on propaganda and how photography's use in telling stories accurately has been effected by its use in the mainstream are particularly memorable.
June 7, 2018
A book that I have read for the past 4 years - I often find myself turning to this book when i'm in between others. A great set of essays that touches base on ethics, journalism, documentary and history.
July 21, 2018
A prescient, provocative, and ultimately chilling collection of essays. Highly recommended.
December 28, 2016
BETWEEN THE EYES: ESSAYS ON PHOTOGRAPHY AND POLITICS is an important book even though it is a bit dated, perhaps even because it is a bit dated (2003). The book is truly a collection of essays, somewhat disparate and some inconsistently related to the overall theme. But don’t let that stop you. There is plenty of meat in this book and plenty of valid issues to contemplate.
An early topic is the “aestheticization of the documentary image.” This is a quandary that has been around for a long time and is a damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don’t issue. Do you photograph the unfortunates of the world in a way that preserves their dignity; and then be accused of masking & trivializing the “truth” – the War is Beautiful syndrome? Or take the low road of poverty porn? Which is closer to the truth? What is the truth? “Salgado’s images begin at compassion and lead from there to further recognitions. One of the first of these further recognitions is that starvation does NOT obliterate human dignity.” (p. 48)
Another major theme is the commodization of imaging in today’s world (or, rather, the late 20th century) strictly under the thumb of a global capitalist economic system. “The principle requirements of the audience have become passivity and obedience. We’re all becoming global village idiots.” (p. 156) A particularly frightening passage discusses democracy, corporate power, and propaganda: “One of the principal techniques of propaganda today is to overwhelm the viewer’s ability to process or store images.” (p. 180). Why is this frightening? It was written in the year 2000; four years before Facebook (the #1 “news” source for most Americans) was even founded.
The back cover of my copy gives equal weight to the bio of the author of the Introduction, John Berger, as it does to author David Levi Strauss himself. This is justified as Berger’s contribution is a political manifesto in itself. “Few things are said in black and white. Both military and economic strategists now realize that the media play a crucial role – not so much in defeating the current enemy as in foreclosing and preventing mutiny, protests, or desertion.” (p. xiv)
An early topic is the “aestheticization of the documentary image.” This is a quandary that has been around for a long time and is a damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don’t issue. Do you photograph the unfortunates of the world in a way that preserves their dignity; and then be accused of masking & trivializing the “truth” – the War is Beautiful syndrome? Or take the low road of poverty porn? Which is closer to the truth? What is the truth? “Salgado’s images begin at compassion and lead from there to further recognitions. One of the first of these further recognitions is that starvation does NOT obliterate human dignity.” (p. 48)
Another major theme is the commodization of imaging in today’s world (or, rather, the late 20th century) strictly under the thumb of a global capitalist economic system. “The principle requirements of the audience have become passivity and obedience. We’re all becoming global village idiots.” (p. 156) A particularly frightening passage discusses democracy, corporate power, and propaganda: “One of the principal techniques of propaganda today is to overwhelm the viewer’s ability to process or store images.” (p. 180). Why is this frightening? It was written in the year 2000; four years before Facebook (the #1 “news” source for most Americans) was even founded.
The back cover of my copy gives equal weight to the bio of the author of the Introduction, John Berger, as it does to author David Levi Strauss himself. This is justified as Berger’s contribution is a political manifesto in itself. “Few things are said in black and white. Both military and economic strategists now realize that the media play a crucial role – not so much in defeating the current enemy as in foreclosing and preventing mutiny, protests, or desertion.” (p. xiv)
February 27, 2008
While living in Boulder, Colorado this book served as essential reading. The introduction by John Berger is as much a gem as the following text. Intelligent essays focusing on the cross-over between photography and aesthetics. When does a photograph's social content become destabilized by the viewer? What kind of negotiations need to occur between photograph as object and viewer? Does the photographer's intent become lost through social codes ameliorating the conflict inherent in photographs of war? These are some of the questions that Levi-Strauss threads together in this book of essays.
December 28, 2011
The first essay is the best, but his observations about Alfredo Jaar and Rio Branco are also pretty great. His thoughts about photography's truth-claim and position within the media add little new to these areas.
November 25, 2007
Pretty obvious from the title, if you love photography and have an interest in politics or how photography relates to culture this is a must read.
April 13, 2008
Levi-Strauss brings a super-thoughtful, contemporary perspective to the topic of photography and politics.
Shelved as 'wish-list'
August 9, 2010weeeeeew judulnya keren. mari berburu :D
March 18, 2016
Vey good, can't believe it came out in 2003, how time flies! Great read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews