In the final section of his essay about the “vision” of the blind, Sacks concluded that the power of the human imagination lies in its ability to “transform, unify, and create” based on existing memory and affiliation (Sacks, 2003: 11). Walter Benjamin’s A Small History of Photography also mentioned about the “aura” of images and its ability to be revisited and reinterpreted. He also uses the term “optical unconscious” to describe a person’s tendency to seek the “tiny spark of contingency” in a photograph (Steiner, 2010: 60). Simply put, photographs possses the ability to evoke one’s sense of the past as well as potential future through the immediacy of the ‘now’ that lies before the viewer’s eyes.
Based on these ideas, I prepared a portfolio of images to exemplify the discrepancies between what the actual image that the physical eyes see and the interpretation that stems from the “eye” that lies in the mind of the viewer. Through the use of iconic images, visual ‘disturbance’ and text, I have raised questions about the authority, credibility and perception about the way one views photography.
In the image of what appears to be River Thames, bunk boats from Singapore River and the steps leading out of the river create a sense of displacement to the viewer.
This is also demonstrated in the image of an up-close shot taken of a single capsule of London’s Eye whereby the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel appears on the left hand side, but is again contradicted by the presence of the Tower of London on the right hand side.
Illustrating the point on the human’s instinctive nature to seek familiarity within an image is the subtle presence of the Singapore Merlion, Singapore’s national icon, on the extreme left of the photograph with the “Gherkin” in the middle.
In the image of the cable car, the sense of displacement is experienced through the presence of a ‘disturbance’ – depending on which geographical context it is interpreted, the sheer proportion of the stadium on the left and the cruise ship in the foreground compels one to confront the presence of an element of the scene that does not ‘belong’.
The role of text in shaping one’s memory and evoking familiarity is demonstrated through the images of what
appears to be Chinatown and Oxford Street in London. The image of Chinatown is a digitally merged image of two Chinatowns – one located in Central London and another in Singapore. The appearance of the “Singapore Pools” signboard on the left-hand side serves almost as a source of authenticity, proving its location as Singapore and significantly diminishing any possibility of it being any other location.
The role of text is again present in what appears to be Oxford Street, the shopping district in Central London, through the destination sign on the front of the bus. However, the words “Wisma Atria” prominently displayed in the middle of the image, creates a sense of confusion for viewers.
References:
Sacks, O. 2003. The mind’s eye. New Yorker, 28 pp. 48--59.
Steiner, U. 2010. Walter Benjamin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Sacks, O. 2003. The mind’s eye. New Yorker, 28 pp. 48--59.
Steiner, U. 2010. Walter Benjamin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
