Respond to This Quote: “All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this - as in other ways - they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it.” ~John Berger
First, I have to say how much I have enjoyed John Berger’s works and essays. I find this quote to be particularly compelling. I like the idea of thinking of photographs as inherently opposites of paintings. I have been wondering how to explain this idea for a long time, and I think this quote does a great job. When I look at a painting I am usually trying to figure out or understand what the painter is trying to do or say. With a photograph, while I think there is definitely a photographer’s own expressions, it is much more possible for the viewer to interpret a photograph based on their own understanding of signs and codes (something actually discussed in Berger’s book Another Way of Telling. Again, I really like this quote and how it ties into photographic expression and interpretation.
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