Photography and Cinema

makingofopticalimpressionsoftheworld,bothrequiresubjectmatter.

Infact,wemightsaythatphotographyandfilmarealmostmeaningless

withoutsubjectmatter.Theyaretoagreatextentthesumofthekinds

ofimageswehavechosentomakewiththem.Inthissenseitisalmost

impossibletoseparatewhatwethinkphotographyandfilmarefrom

whatwethinktheyarefor.If,forexample,wethinkofphotographyas

amediumfor‘capturingmoments’,‘treasuringmemories’or‘recording

facts’(allfamiliar,evenclichéduses),doesthismeanthatthesefunctions

areinherentinthemedium,orisitthatthesearerolesthathavebeen

giventophotographyforalongperiodofitshistory?Similarly,ifwe

thinkfilmisamediumofmovementandnarrative,isthisatechnical

definitionoradescriptionofitsmorefamiliarapplications?Itisthis

interplayofthetechnicalandthesocialthathasfundamentallyshaped

howphotographyandfilmhavedeveloped.Thecapturingofmoments

andrecordingofvisualfactswerepotentialsofphotographythatshaped

everythingfromcameramanufacturetotheexpectationsoftheirusers.

Filmdidnothavetobecomethecommercialmassmediumofpopular

narrativecinema,butasignificantpartofitdid,andindoingsoitshaped

thedirectionofitsevolutionandtheviewinghabitsofitsaudiences.

WhenthefilmtheoristChristianMetzattemptedtomapoutthe

fundamentalrelationbetweenphotographyandfilm,henotedthatthey

shareatechnicalsimilaritywhilehavingdifferentrelationstotime,framing

andobjecthood.^7 ForMetz,thephotographbelongsinextricablytothe

past,whilefilmalwaysseemstounfoldinthepresenttenseaswewatch.

Filmisavirtual,immaterialprojection,whilethephotographisafixed

imageandafixedobject.Assuch,thephotoiscapableofbecominga

kindoffetish,standinginfortheabsentsubjectormoment.Bycontrast,

film,initsorchestrationoftheviewer’sdesirethroughthefullnessofits

unfolding,iscloserinstructuretovoyeurism.Itiseasytoidentifywiththis

lineofthought,butwhatisatstakeherearenotsomuchthedifferences

orsimilaritiesbetweenfilmandphotographyperse(ifsuchthingsexist),

butbetweenfilminitspopularnarrativeformaspresentedinthecinema

andthephotographasdomesticsnapshotormnemonicaid.Filmisnot

inherentlynarrativeorpopular.Photographyisnotinherentlydomestic

orasnapshot.Theanalysisstartsoffgeneralandtechnicalbutsoon 11