Chapter One: Images, Power and Politics

One of the main themes that caught my eye was the mention and idea that, like other practices, “looking involves relationships of power.” This idea is much like that of Foucault and Panopticism

According to The Practices of Looking, the role of images in providing views of violence, and of voyeurism and fascination with violence, is countered by a history of using images to expose the devastating aspects of violence. The poignant example was that of Emmett Till, a black boy that was murdered for whistling at a white woman. Till’s mother, knowing the effect it out have on the public, had an open casket for her son.

Representation
Representation refers to the use of language and images to create meaning about the world around us. I found it interesting that representation can be interpreted as either what the world "really is" (what is mirrored back to us) or what we really just precieve things as being. I agree with the idea that we percieve things to be as they are becuase of the things that we carry along with us -- our mental baggage.

One of the most interesting parts of the discussion was the idea of "this is not a pipe." Surrealist artist Rene Magritte created a picture of a pipe with the phrase "this is not a pipe" on the bottom. Though this is taken as a joke, it could also be pointing to the relationship between words and physical things. Of course the painting is not an actual pipe -- you cannot pick up the pipe and smoke it. That being said, if someone where to say "this is a pipe" or "this is a picture of a pipe" the general understanding would be the same.

The Myth of Photographic Truth
One of the most interesting points of the chapter was the discussion of the truth of photography. Many people often associate photography with being a snapshop of the truth. Though things can easily be posed and manipulated, via the photographer, photoshop or other digital technologies, there is a power in photography that makes the viewer believe that what they are viewing has to be the real thing.

Photographs can be used as both documents of how something is at a given time (like the snapshot at Tinamen Square) or they can be of more a symbolic stature.