Bajac, The Age of Distraction: Photography and Film

7/26/2019 Bajac, The Age of Distraction: Photography and Film

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Bajac

In he immediae posorld ar I period disracion

as perceied as one o he undamenal elemens o he

modern condiion.hese earsdescribed as ollesin

rench roaringin he Unied Saes and ildenin

ermanere also disraced ears in eer sense o

he erm: in he sense o modern mans ne incapaci o

ocus his aenion on he orld as ell as a hirs o orge

his on condiion o be enerained. In he ees o hen-

conemporar obserers he ne cinemaih is

consan flu o images and hen sounds hich seemed in

conras ih he old conemplaion o he unique andmoionless oroffered he bes illusraion o his in he

orld o he isual ars fig. .

In in his essa ul der ersreuung Cul o

disracion Siegried racauer made luurious Berlin

moie heaerssies par ecellence o he disracion o

he masses he poin o deparure and insrumen o

analsis o erman socie in he s. In he emples o

disracion he roe he simulaions o he senses suc-

ceed each oher ih such rapidi ha here is no room

le or een he slighes conemplaion o squeee in

beeen hema siuaion he compared o he increasing

amoun o illusraions in he dail press and in periodicalpublicaions.he olloing ear in he ould pursue

his idea in his aricle on phoographdeploring he bli-

ard o images in he illusraed press ha had come o

disrac he masses and dier he percepion o real acs.

In erman beeen he o orld ars racauers

oice as no isolaed. he idea ha ne means o repro-

ducion and communicaion ere prooundl changing

modern mans percepion as a he hear o inellecual

debaes and in he press. In he philosopher Marin

Heidegger in his criique o moderni Being and ime

denounced he preeminence ha he conemporar era had

accorded he sense o sigh hich as hough o lead ohe impoerishmen o percepion in aor o disracion: a

purel curious incessan gae ha ould all on he ne

and gie he sensaion o neer ocusing o neer delling

anhere.he erman ord or disracion ersreuung

comes rom he erb sreuenand he idea o dispersion

scaering. In he lae s Heidegger ould eplicil

connec his a o seeing o ne orms o mass communi-

caionhe cinema and he illusraed press. round he

same ime in he mid-s aler Benjamin in he or

o r in he ge o Mechanical eproducion defined

he ge o Disracion:

Phoograph and ilm

gDiga ero. Phoomonage o film rom ran oh and Jan schichold.oo-uge: oos der ei Phoo-ee: phoos o he ime. Sugar: .edeind . Plae . he Museum o Modern r ibrar Ne or

ha he called he ieers recepion in disracion: a

floaing aenion in hich sensaions ere more he rui

o a chance impression han o susained aenion. ess

criical regarding his phenomenon he sa is parosmal

culminaion as racauer did a decade earlier in he

specacle o film.


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2Bajac

he firs characerisic o he cinemaic model is he

sensor oerload i proposes: ha racauer noed in

Benjamin oo up in urn conrasing he conempla-

ie model o paining ih he disracion o cinema:

he paining inies he specaor o conemplaion beore

i he specaor can abandon himsel o his associaions.

Beore he moie rame he canno do so. No sooner has his

ee grasped a scene han i is alread changed. I canno

be arresed.he grammar o cinemaa democraic and

mechanical ar one o moemen and moionas ell as

he indusr isel ould pla a undamenal role in upend-

ing modern mans ssem o percepion. hese became he

cenral elemens o a reoluion o he gae and o he

Beau-ars ssem ih he mode o disracing recepion

maing is mar in eer domain o ar. s Benjamin sum-

maried in hisrcades Projec : film: he unolding . . . o

all he orms o percepion he empos and rhhms hich

lie preormed in odas machines. he same ime

in an aricle deoed o Charles Baudelaire Benjamin

shoed ho insan phoograph as inened a he er

momen modern man sa eerda lie become increas-ingl puncuaed b he shor si saccao gesures

associaed ih increasing mechaniaion: he camera

gae he momen a poshumous shoc as i ere.he

clic o a buon could fi an een in ime oreer.

or Benjamin he isual oerload ha resuls rom he

filmic specacle and engenders a recepion in disracion

as similar in is inensi o ha modern man eels in he

meropolis. he cinemaic eperience he noed in he

or o r in he ge o Mechanical eproducion

eoes he eerda lie o eer pedesrian in a big

cian eerda lie ha he described in his essa on

Baudelaire as a orm o isual and sonic rauma a shoceperience ha urns he indiidual ino a aleidoscope

equipped ih consciousness a phrase borroed rom he

rench rier. Published in a e decades aer sociolo-

gis eorg Simmel roe he Meropolis and Menal ie

in Benjamins idea ha he urban enironmen eposes

he indiidual o a succession o arious shocs on a dail

basis ha deepl modi he indiiduals percepion and

behaior became an acceped concep in he inerar period.

In ainer Maria ile began his noel Die

ueichnungen des Male aurids Briggehe Noeboos o

Male aurids Brigge ih a descripion o his urban

sensor oerload eperienced as rauma: o hin haI can gie up he habi o sleeping ih he indo open.

lecric rolles speed claering hrough m room. Cars

drie oer me. door slams. e ears laer ernand

ger lined he aden o he modern ci and he birh

o Cubism: he abandonmen o radiional perspecie

in aor o muliple and snchronic poins o ie and

sensaions echo o him he isual cacophon o he big

ci and he arrial o more rapid locomoion hans o

hich a modern man regisers a hundred imes more sen-

sor impressions han an eigheenh-cenur aris.

In in his manieso on he uure o phoog-

raph Pui soremennoi oografii he pahs o conem-

porar phoograph lesandr odcheno also dre a

lin beeen conemporar meropolises and changes in

human percepion. he conemporar ci ih is muli-

sor buildings speciall ereced acories plans ec.

o- o hree-sor-high indos rams auomobiles

ligh and space aderisemens ocean liners airplanes

all o he hings ha ou so marelousl described in our

aricle One hundred and hree das in he es all o

his lie i or no has shied he cusomar pscholog

o isual percepion hough onl a lile.I odcheno

noed he imidi ariss displa in he descripion o

he mosl anasical modern urban enironmen he

called or a deeper reoluion o he gae hich phoog-

raph migh help bring abou. his reoluion ould

firs require he abandonmen o classical perspecie

oen a single poin o ie in aor o a muliplici o

iepoins discordan and egaliarianlie he opical

eperience o he modern urban deller composed o a

muliude o quic and ragmenar ies and similaro he mobile and alas changing approach o he

figGermaine Krull. Untitled (Eiffel Tower). . Gelatin silver print " (. . cm). The Museum of Modern Art New York. Thomas WaltherCollection. Gift of Thomas Walther (MoMA .). Estate Germaine KrullMuseum Folkwang Essen


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filmmaer. s he underscored in he same manieso:

he objec mus be seen in seeral differen phoos

rom differen iepoins and posiions as hough

looing around i and no as hough peeing hrough

one ehole.

hile ragmenaion has been a consiuen par o he

phoographic ac since he dan o he mediumhe

idea o he snheic composiion o paining ersus he ana-

lical process o raming in phoograph appears in he

she phoographers o he inerar period ssem-

aied i ino an aesheic. ending he idea alread

dear o philosopher Henri Bergson and he Cubiss ha

reali in moion should be caugh rom muliple poins

o ie he inerar phoographic aan-garde enisioned

aing phoos in he cone o a broaderfilmic

coninuum he onl ariss a he ime o ae his ne per-

cepion ull ino accoun.

he approach as adanced b he commercialia-

ion and success o he eica camera in . Using mmfilm ha unound horionall resuling in a negaie o

o millimeers he eica brough phoographic echnol-

og closer o film echnolog. he echnical superiori o

cinemaograph lielier o hae a finer grain han san-

dard phoographic film as a selling poin or he camera.

he success especiall in s urope o oher small

eas-o-handle camerasespeciall ones ha used cellu-

loid film such as he rmano and olleifle cameras

promoed he increase o images and ors in sequence

or in series oen considered more significan han he sin-

gle image. odcheno himsel eperimened ih his

sle o phoographing during his sa in Paris in

ih he iffel oer as his subjec one o he subjecs

aen on b man phoographers including ermaine

rull sl Mohol-Nag and l issi. firs he

subjec considered oo unoriginal barel held his aen-

ion. I as onl b approaching i sil in a bus ha

his ne eperience moing and ragmened modified

his iniial percepion and produced a more oerpoering

bu also more ineresing impression han he more gen-

eral ie: I remember in Paris hen I firs sa he iffel

oer rom aar I did no lie i a all. Bu once I aspassing nearb on a bus and hen I sa he lines o he

meal diminishing upard rom righ and le hrough

he indo his perspecie gae me he impression o

he mass and he consrucion hich rom he nael

creaes onl a genle spo he one e are so sic o on

all he poscards.

aced ih he same subjec a e ears laer rull

came o he same conclusions: ha o an archiecural

objec a once imposing in is mass and delicae in is

srucure made o posiie and negaie space here i

becomes difficul o ell inerior rom eerior fig. . nd

hus he impression i produces can onl be ranslaedb he use o muliple ies aen a close range capable

o represening boh he sense o being crushed and he

disorienaion he phoographer is eperiencing. More

han producing an image he poin or rull as ell as or

odcheno as o render an eperience. rull eperi-

mened ih his oen in her or conroning impressie

indusrial subjecs and re-creaing heir magic in a single

image. hus he ships in he por o oerdam: I aned

o see hem o sho heir orce. I aned o capure hem

on film. Bu ho o phoograph hem? he ere so big

and srong and so impressie. o see hem one had o

moe bac a long a and hen he los heir impac. I ashauned b hem or das and das I dreamed o hem. I

phoographed hem and could neer epress ha I

aned. I oo ees o come up ih ne ideas.In

order o achiee a cinemaic effec i seemed sensible o

r a sraeg o ragmenaion aciliaed b he lile Iar

camera she oned and o mulipl he arious poins

o ie: high-angle and lo-angle shos offering parial

ies and hereore doing aa ih more radiional per-

species giing he ieer a isual shoc or disurbance

as ell as a sense o he archiecures poer.

germaine rull. Coer o Mal. Paris: ibrairie des ars dcorais .he Museum o Modern r ibrar Ne or. ermaine rull saeMuseum olang ssen


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gIllusraion rom . Boeen. Bij een ragmen an De Brug an Joris IensOn a ragmen o Joris Ienss he Bridge. ilmliga no. ebruar .

oundaion Digial ibrar o Duch ieraure dbn eiden hinelandChamber o Commerce

gDiga ero. Man ih a Moie Camera. . Sill rom mm film blac andhie silen min. Coures ero-Collecion usrian ilm Museum ienna

rull learned his approach parl in Holland in con-

ac ih he Duch aan-gardeCsar Domela Paul

Schuiema Pie ar as ell as filmmaers rom he

reie ilmliga and rom her husband Joris Iensand

parl rom Soie direcors such as Sergei isensein

hom she me in Paris. I is ineresing o see ho similar

Malfig. he boo she published in in Paris is in

is composiion and spiri o he film De Brughe bridge

fig. hich Iens made he same ear in Holland and

in hich she paricipaed. side rom a laou ha migh a

firs appear raher classic and no er dnamic ih one

phoograph isolaed per plae Malsill represened he

loss o radiional spaial marers or he reader. he

images ere oen aen rom aboe or rom belo and

appear in he boo in no paricular order he can be read

and appreciaed rom arious direcions. here is a mi o

ies boh close-up and rom a disance and a succession

o subjecs o aring scalesmonumenal archiecure

and small decoraie objecs. he use o superimposed

images can also mae or difficul reading. In a similar a

De Brug filmed a a nel consruced raila bridge inoerdam aors a ragmened and sncopaed approach

mos oen reusing a general ie in aor o analical

almos phoographic shos in high angle and lo angle on

he deails o he srucure. Heail influenced b he ideas

o Diga erofig. he opening o De Brug ih is

close-up on he camera lens ells us a he ouse ha he

films subjec can be ound as much in he mehodolog as

in he objec o sud isel.

his modern phoographic orm o disraciona

floaing gae ha neer manages or ries o selerecalls

a muliplici o poins o ie and an influ o images.

Superimposiion a double eposure o he negaie resul-ing in he presence on he same image o o disinc

spaioemporal siuaions hich rull used in Malhas as

much o do ih cinema as ih aan-garde phoograph

o he ime. In a aricleMohol-Nag eplicil lined

he o orms b eplaining ha ailed phoographs o

eens recorded on he same plaque gae cinema he

idea o superimposiion.ha as once seen as phoo-

graphic ailure as in he s claimed as a conscious

pracice on he par o he aan-gardes ho eploied all

o is creaie possibiliies. I as a orm ha ero ould

use a grea deal in cinema o narraie ends bu also o

poeic and aesheic ends especiall in his Man ih aMoie Camera filmed in . he orm also became cenral

o Mo ers phoograph boo Paris fig. .

Suspended in he arresed ime o he phoographic image

superimposiion offered a sor o rop pleino images

a isual sauraionha relaed o he genre o phoomon-

age creaing a relaionship beeen o disinc images.

I could sere o ranslae moemen and speed MoM

. or an ereme sensor eperience similar o

erigo MoM . and . or o depic a

relaionship beeen ineriori and eeriori oen in he

same image MoM . . .

. and . as in he dissole o cinemas

dream sequences.

haeer he uncion o hese phoographic superim-

posiions all o hem share a cerain difficul in being

read inheren in he genre: he ee flis ceaselessl unable

o ocus ring o sele. similar effec as obained

ihou special effecs: he modernis echnique o phoo-

graphing a glass indo ih is effecs o ransparenc

and inerpeneraion o inerior and eerior. I offered he


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phoographer as ell as he ieer a ne isual challenge

ha o a rue monage or collage in reali made ih no

ricer a all. Such is he image o a Berlin sree fig. in

hich Umbo Oo Umbehr maes he inerior space

o a deparmen sore inerpenerae he eerior space o

he sree hereb producing a desabiliing almos

aleidoscopic perspecie.I is ineresing o noe ha een genres ha appear

o be purel phoographic ere conaminaed in he

minds o he eras criics b he cinemaic paradigm.

he same or he phoogram: in is echnical simplici

he process as er much appreciaed in aan-garde

circles hich sa i as an epression o he essence o

phoographa pure luminous imprin made ihou he

mediaion o a camera. he same ime Man as

phoograms ere considered b cerain criics as haing

cinemaic qualiies. or Man a himsel ho since his

firs film eour la aisoneurn o eason in prac-

iced phoograph and cinema a he same ime hephoogram appeared o be he ransposiion o cinemaic

eperience o phoograph. Herein lies he paradoa

echnique he phoogram perceied as boh he essence

o phoograph ih a cerain puri o he medium and

a subsiue or cinemaograph a luminous projecion

on a sensiie surace. Happ o blur he boundaries Man

a used he phoogram process reel or his a-

ographs on paper as ell as or eour la aison placing

small objecsfleas and rombonesdirecl on rolls o

celluloid eposed o ligh.

rom superimposiion o he ragmenar ie or a num-

ber o phoographers o he period he increase in poins

o ie onl rul oo on orm and sense hen lined

hrough isual arrangemens ha borroed rom he princi-

ples o monage. ha is ha Jan schicholdgraphic

designer selecion commiee member o he grea ehibi-ion ilm und ooo and one he main heoreicians o

he Ne pograph underscored in : he iniiall

accidenal orm o he indi idual phoo gra ones sruc-

ural effec line moemens acquires arisic meaning

hrough he composiion o he hole.In his underaing

o reconsrucion i as once again he cinemaic model

ha made isel el as much on he prined pagein gen-

eral-ineres magaines aan-garde reies and boos o

phoographas in he ehibiion spaces hemseles.

prined laou conribued o reinorcing he ne dnamism

aemping o pu an end o he classic reading rom le o

righ o he radiional preeminence o he e oer heimage in aor o a snheic laou sauraing ones ision

ih images ha hae become signs ha is elemens o

language. I olloed he organiaion o Ne pograph:

he isolaed image los is primac and auonom in

aor o a relaionshipon he page or on he all o he

ehibiionin hich i as reaed more or less lie

isual puncuaion. he or as a hole ried o incie

ne reading reflees in he ieer b reproducing a dis-

raced isual eciaion similar o a filmic unolding or o

he imager being spread in aderising.

gSpread rom Mo er. Paris. PhoographiesParis: phoographs.Paris: J. aler . he Museum o Modern r ibrar Ne or. Mo erMoshe ai-orobeiche coures Mo er Moshe ai sae el i

gUmbo Oo Umbehr. ie o Berlins Deparmen Sore arsad Blic au dasBerliner auhaus arsad. . elain siler prin " .

. cm. he Museum o Modern r Ne or. homas alher Collecion. io Shirle C. Burden b e change MoM .. Umboallericen BerlinPhllis Umbehr Bild-uns Bonn


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6Bajac

he parosm o hese pracices as reached in

he eercise o phoomonage hich alone seemed o

embod according o is firs heoreicians he maimal

usion o phoographic and cinemaic pracices: Domela sa

i as an inermediar sae beeen phoograph and film

hile aoul Hausmann defined i as a combinaion o pho-

ograph and prined e ransormed ino a ind o saic

film. he same ime camera users manuals recom-

mended ha phoographers ae inspiraion rom he

echnique o film monage o edi heir on phoographic

reporage eiher b preparing real sorboards ahead o

ime or b ediing laer.Herber Baer ranslaed his pho-

omonage concep or he ar o he ehibiion in his amous

Diagram o he ield o ision hich he conceied and pub-

lished or he firs ime or he Deuscher erbund

ehibiion in Paris fig. beore reoring i in o mae

i een more engaging or he ieer. he ieer-as-ee

oall surrounded b images sa his or her isual field sa-

uraed on all sides ihou he slighes chance o escape.

he unilaeral and ronal conemplaion o a single or

as replaced b he simulaneous presence o a muliudeo images. I he principle eoed as ha o an ani-

cinema because i inered cinemas schema a ieer in

gHerber Baer. Diagram o he ield o ision. eproducion in he caalogueor he Deuscher erbund ehibiion in he Salon o he S oci des risesDcoraeurs Paris . Bauhaus-rchi Berlin. r iss ighs SocieS Ne or Bild-uns Bonn

gSpread rom sl Mohol-Nag Dnami der ross-Sad Dnamico he Meropolis a secion in Malerei oografie ilmPaining Phoograph ilm.Munich: lber angen erlag . he Museum o Modern r ibrar Neor. riss ighs Socie S Ne or Bild-uns Bonn


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7Bajac

moion ih a muliplici o moionless images i neer-

heless resored he primar idea o isual oerload.

ur orff edior-in-chie rom o o he

Berliner Illusrire eiung one o he main erman periodi-

cals eauring phoograph a he ime poined ou

ha hose laous oed o cinema and ho he had o

respond o he ne habis o a readership ha read more

quicl and hose aenion as more scaered: I is

no coincidence ha here are parallels beeen he deel-

opmen o he cinema and o he Berliner Illusrire. ie has

become more hecic and he indiidual has become less

prepared o peruse a nespaper in leisurel reflecion. So

accordingl i has become necessar o find a eener and

more succinc orm o picorial represenaion ha has an

effec on readers een i he jus sim hrough he

pages.choing his obseraion Johannes Molahn in a

aricle eocaiel iled Nich mehr sehen esen

Sop reading oo sa he definiie culminaion o his

moemen in he aden o a purel opical era in hich he

opical media and more specificall phoograph ould

occup a primordial place: he phoo is he pace seer orhe empo o ime and deelopmen he muliude and

arrangemen o isual sensaions orces he uninerruped

or o assimilaion on he ee and he psche.he indi-

idual ould rom hen on hae o adjus consanl o ne

isual simuli increasingl numerous and rapida ariaion

on he idea alread epressed b Mohol-Nag ha he

illierae o he uure ill no be he uneducaed person bu

he person ho is no conersan in phoograph.en

ears laer in he essa ha accompanied aler anss

merican Phoographs incoln irsein could in urn

lamen he ac ha he merican reading public is as

becoming no een a looing public bu a glancing orglimpsing public.

he boo or reie proided he aored eperimen-

al errain or hese moionless films. o boos published

in summarie hese eploraions ell. he firs is he

aoremenioned Malerei oografie ilmb Mohol-Nag

in paricular he boos las secion Dnami der ross-

Sad. er he heoreical deelopmen in he firs secion

his suie o oureen pages seems o implemen as a final

illusraion some o hose ideas. I is a boo ihin a

boo o phoographs enisioned as a orm o cinema.

Mohol-Nag himsel described he sequence as a film

scrip and roe in an epigraph o he sequence: heinenion o he film Dnamic o he Meropolis is no o

each nor o moralise nor o ell a sor is effec is mean

o be isual purel isual. he elemens o he isual hae

no in his film an absolue logical connecion ih one

anoher heir phoographic isual relaionships neerhe-

less mae hem ni ogeher ino a ial associaion o

eens in space and ime and bring he ieer aciel ino

he dnamic o he ci.

aning o prooe greaer acii rom he reader

Mohol-Nag combined phoographs and pographical

gnud nberg-Holm. Deroi raffic oerDeroi erehrsurm. eproducedin rich Mendelsohn.meriaBilderbuch eines rchieen. Berlin: udolph Mosse re. ed. . he Museum o Modern r ibrar Ne or. Coures henud nberg-Holm rchie rom he Marc Dessauce Collecion

fig El Lissitzky (Lazar Markovich Lissitzky). Record (Rekord). . Gelatin silverprint " (. . cm). The Museum of Modern Art New York. ThomasWalther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther (MoMA .). ArtistsRights Society (ARS) New YorkVG Bild-Kunst Bonn


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8Bajac

maerialsshor es poems leers and signs in a con-

inuum here each spread inends o re-creae beond ision

he sensor simulaion eperienced b a pedesrian in a

large ci fig. conroned b aderising sounds signs.

ih is images o aring subjecs archiecure science

spors film bursing on he page is pages loosel orga-

nied ino grid paerns is arros poining in differen

direcions depending on he page Dnami der ross-Sad

offers an eperience ha is undamenall differen rom

radiional reading. ach o is seen spreads as conceied

o be seen in an oerall unocused a so ha he ee is

unable o se le amid he scaering and arie o ele-

mens. Disjoinedness and siness ere encouraged b

Mohol-Nag: he erm empo meaning rhhm as ell

as speed in erman is presen on almos eer spread

uncioning as a leimoi o he secion hich is isel

closer o a musical score han o a rien e or film scrip.

he rhhm he ished o impose on he reader is assuredl

a rapid and sncopaed one similar o ja hich Mohol-

Nag reerenced specificall in he sequence. Ja he

musical genre dear o Bauhaus ariss and he eimaraan-garde as perceied as an eminenl conemporar

orm as a criic o he ime noed i maes audible some

quinessenial modern eperiences: o being run oer b a

car o elecrical shoc o a locomoie horn and o sharp-

ening a raor.

he second or ismeria a boo o phoo-

graphs aen mosl b he archiec rich Mendelsohn

during a rip o he Unied Saes fig. . Benefiing rom

he ne ascinaion or merican ciiliaion he or

as a grea success reprined fie imes in he o ears

olloing is publicaion beore an epanded ediion came

ou in . Despie dealing ih a subjec similar oMohol-Nags sequencehe conemporar meropolis

and being published he same ear he boo a firs glance

appears as is oal opposie. B design Mendelsohn chose

a laou o grea simplici mosl one image per spread

ih descripie e on he opposie page beeen he

capion and he plae so as no o disrac he reader. e

b choosing o modi he sie o each image and is place-

men on he page he gae he reading a sncopaed rhhm

hich does eoe Mohol-Nags sequence as ell as he

absrac films o Hans icher and iing ggeling.l

issi rue o orm inerpreed he or as a dramaic

film

going so ar as o inie he reader o use ne modeso readingsuch as placing he boo aboe ones head o

re-creae he impression o being crushed or replicae he

perspecie o an urban pedesrian in he merican merop-

olis.issi laer used one o he mos dnamic

phoographs published in he or ih muliple epo-

sures and a someha blurred aspec seeming o sugges

rapid displacemen o sere as a bacground o his ecord

eord o fig. .

he same ime ha phoograph as nearing

aspecs o cinema film as acquiring a phoographic saus.

eproduced a imes in he orm o an isolaed image or a

snopic ableau bu mos oen in he orm o a filmic rib-

bon fig. he film sill made a big appearance in he

s in he columns o popular magaines aan-garde pub-

licaions and phoograph ehibiions o he poin o

becoming a sign o moderni. his ne isual orm hich

eraced cerain images rom a srip o film b reeing a

momen o he filmic unolding underscored he conigui

beeen he o echniques insising on he phoographic

naure o cinema. Sopping he images and reealing shos

ha are oherise indiscernible during he projecion

indirecl reinorced one o he ideas dear o modern cir-

cles and o Benjamin in paricularha o he camera

as reealer o an opical consciousness.

Saring rom hese ideas he sculpor Consanin

Brancusi used film ha Man a had sho as a poin o

deparure o creae his on phoographic porrai as Man

a recouned in his memoirs: I sho abou a hundred

meers o film hile he milled abou in he sudio. e

ere maing a slo-moion film and he shoed me hich

sho he approed o ih his fingers.n aenie reader

gran oh. Under aerUner asser. MoM .. Nine negaieconac prins shon here as plae o oh and Jan schichold. oo-uge: oos der eiPhoo-ee: phoos o he ime. Sugar: . edeind . heMuseum o Modern r ibrar Ne or. sae ran oh Munich


9/12

9Bajac

gerner rff. s omm der neue oogra Here comes he nephoographer. Berlin: H. ecendor . Coures ob arren BoosNe or

gHans icher. ilmgegner on Heueilmreunde on Morgen ilm haers oda film loers omorro. Berlin: Herman ecendor .Coures ndre Cahan: Booseller d. Hans icher

o he philosopher Henri Bergson Brancusi had aen

rom him he belie ha ha is real is he coninual chang-

ing o orm orm is onl a snapsho o a ransiionand

ha he bes a o gie a ace o his consan change as

in he suble shis rom phoograph o film and ice ersa.

his enangling o echniques is on ull displa in he s

in he ehibiions ipho ino und Phoo organied in Berlin

in he all o and io ilm und oo hich oo place

in Sugar in he earl summer o . hile ipho

ocused more on cinema and phoograph as indusries

ioas more arisic in is ambiions. he inerdisciplinar

crossroads a ioincluded phoographers mulidisci-

plinar ar iss Mohol-Nag issi icher hisorians

o archiecure Sigried iedion designers and pogra-

phers ar schichold. io in spie o is usional ile

presened isel as a phoograph ehibiion ih an

aan-garde film es ial organied b icher. I as he

firs ehibiion o address he o mediums a he same

ime. he hanging o cerain secions more clearl under-scored he lin beeen he o echniques ranscending

he disincion beeen he ehibiion o phoographs on

he one hand and he esial o ilms on he oher: he

Soie secion designed b issi and Sophie issi-

ppers presened film sills rom ussian producions

o he s and films in iefinders alongside phoographic

prinshus beginning cinemas migraion ino he radi-

ional ehibiion space. In he hanging o his secion

Mohol-Nag used a number o resources rom film mon-

age enisioning i as a sorboard. o publicaions ere

prined in conjuncion ih he ehibiion alhough neiher

consiued he official publicaion: one on phoographs omm der neue oograHere comes he ne phoog-

rapher b erner rff he oher on cinema ilmgegner

on heuefilmreunde on Morgenilm haers oda

film loers omorro b icher figs. .

s usa So ios direcor poined ou he ehi-

biion differed undamenall rom he usual inernaional

phoograph shos organied each ear here and here

hile happil leaing i o he genlemen ar hisorians o

argue abou heher or no phoograph and fi lm should

be par o he as domain o ar. ha quesion So

poined ou in response o io en ell beond he

circle o ar hisorians o include riers philosophers andariss hemseles. hen in he earl s Benjamin

described a cinemaic model ha ould affec all he ars

he idea as no longer nehere ere numerous

echoes o i elsehere including in he aror o he

aan-gardes: in he filmmaer isenseins concepions o

cinema as an eension o paining or Hausmanns firs

phoomonage rom eniled Cinma snhique de la

peinure Snheic cinema o paining as a a o announce

he broadening o paining b means borroed rom filmin

his case monage.Beond paining or phoograph no


10/12

10Bajac

arisic discipline ould escape he conaminaion o he

cinemaic model rom he idea o he archiecural prome-

nade b e Corbusier o ha o he moing sculpure b

Brancusi. his shi eended isel more generall o he

oerall hbridiaion o echniques and disciplines across

he ars no jus ih cinema. hus he phoograph o

he period also held sa as a lierar paradigm: in

Blaise Cendrars chose he ile oda Documenaireor his

collecion o shor poems looing lie nespaper clip-

pings in in he journal Noi leNe lea under

he guidance o odcheno phoograph and is documen-

ar characer ere ereced as a model or lieraure called

acograph.his porosi o he medium in relaion o

oher d isciplines is sharpl reealed in he emergence o

ne erms eauring he ord phoographphoomon-

age hich appeared aer orld ar I in Dadais circles

here phoograph as becoming one elemen o a ne

mechanical ar no unlie engineering. Or pophoo

a erm coined b Mohol-Nag in o designae a

ne isual language ha ould ull combine he image

and he leer phoograph and pograph.er he iniial idea o film as projeced moing pho-

ograph hich as ound in he riings o criics a he

urn o he nineeenh cenur he inerar period sa

he emergence o more comple quesions and a more

ruiul inerdisciplinar echange. he era produced a sig-

nifican number o phoographers lured b he cinemaic

eperience. ihou compiling an ehausie lis and lim-

iing ourseles o phoographers represened in he

alher Collecion le us menion Mohol-Nag and Man

a boh he creaors o so man eperimenal films in

he s and s Henri Carier-Bresson maer o o

aciis films in and ho said ha cinema hadaugh him o see leandr Hacenschmied ho ould

go rom urope o he Unied Saes and rom phoograph

o cinema bu also icher oh eni ieensahl Maurice

abard he hermersons and man ohers. o hesenames e ould hae o add collaboraions beeen pho-

ographers and filmmaers such as odcheno and ero

in he Soie Union Jean Painle and li oar in rance

and rull and Iens as cied earlier. On he oher side o he

lanic hough eamples ere more rare e mus menion

Paul Srand and Charles Sheeler ho ogeher in

made Manhaa Srand laer pursued he cinemaic eperi-

ence as par o he Nino collecie in he s. Sho in

sills ih subjecs ha had alread been eensiel

reaed b he phoograph o he ime he sline o he

por o Ne or pedesrians on all Sree and in Ci

Hall Par roo ops and smoe b Srand himsel as ell asb lred Siegli figs. Manhaaappears o be an

eension o he phoographic aesheic b means o he

moing image. criic o he ime described he film as

superbl phoographic and no araid o sho i.Neer

had he cinema seemed more desering o he name

moing phoograph.

One o he srong conceps o he aan-garde as

he undersanding ha phoograph and film could be used

o represen he orld. he obseraion is clearl saed

b Mohol-Nag in in he firs line o his inroducion

gPaul Srand and Charles Sheeler. Manhaa. . Sill rom mm filmblac and hie silen min. he Museum o Modern r Deparmen o ilm. perure oundaion Inc. Paul Srand rchie

gPaul Srand. Ci Hall Par Ne or. . Phoograure ". . cm. he Museum o Modern r Ne or. nonmous gi. perure oundaion Inc. Paul Srand rchie


11/12

1Bajac

o his manieso Malerei oografie ilm: in he eac

mechanical procedures o phoograph and film e pos-

sess an epressional means or represenaion hich

ors incomparabl beer han did he manual proce-

dures o he represenaional paining e hae non

hihero.or Mohol-Nag film paricularl in he realm

o moemen and ligh eended and amplified research

conduced ih phoographhich as he poin o

deparure o his reflecion and remained his main preoccu-

paion. or each ime he quesion arose o he relaionship

beeen phoograph and film Mohol-Nag recalled he

preeisence o he phoographic oer he cinemaic.

or cerain criics o he ime on he oher hand he

phoograph ould be reed rom he picorial model onl o

all under he influence o a ne model no cinemaic. In

heir riings he relaionship o paerni beeen he

phoograph a hundred-ear-old medium and he cinema

poised o become he major ar orm o he cenur

seems o be reersed. s he rench ar criic aldemar

eorge roe in in an aricle cenral o modern pho-

ograph in rance he rehabiliaion o phoograph is heor o he filmmaer.his remar can onl be under-

sood in ligh o anoher idea eorge menioned in he

same aricle: namel ha aer being inened a cenur

ago phoograph ould onl finall be discoered in all is

arisic possibili in he conemporar era an idea ha

Mohol-Nag had alread epressed in Malerei oografie

ilmin and ha ould become a leimoi o he

phoographic aan-gardes o he period. or eorge he

increasing arisic legiimac o cinema noabl in rance

ould reflec ell on phoograph according i a ne ouh-

ulness and a ne moderni.

n eension o his idea as he hesis deeloped

shorl hereaer b he criic Jean eheuil in an aricle

eniled enoueau du cinma he reial o cinema:

Cinema has doubl influenced phoograph. ih he ar o

increasing camera angles shoing he poer o close-

ups he poer o suggesion o moing objecs he use o

double eposures caches blurs disorions hile per-

ecing he negaie suppors and also educaing he

masses eaching hem o hae a ase or hese effecs.

he influence as so proound ha or Sigried racauer in

he earl s i as no longer possible or phoograph

o claim is auonom ihou running he ris o looing

oudaed and irrelean. o sa modern his immobile

model had o imiae he cinemaic paradigm becoming

more mobile and dnamic: phoograph hen claiming is

auonomappeared o be a orm in he process o

becoming hisoric. I is deached slol rom he preseno ae on an oumoded appearance. In his i is similar

o he railroad hich is o he plane ha phoograph is o

film . . . oda e are deached rom he rails in he same

a ha e are deached rom he immobili once indis-

pensable o he camera.

ranslaed rom he rench b Jeanine Herman

See esp. Jonahan Crarechniques o he Obserer: On

ision and Moderni in he

Nineeenh Cenur Cambridge

Mass.: he MI Press and

Suspensions o Percepion:

enion Specacle and Modern

CulureCambridge Mass.:

he MI Press . On he

culure o eimar see Parice

PeoJoless Srees: omen

and Melodramaic epresenaion

in eimar ermanPrinceon:

a he Uniersi Press .

.nnes olles oaring enies

and ilden Jahreare he acceped

epressions characeriing his

period o he s.

. Siegried racauer ul derersreuung ranurer eiung

March ng. rans. as

Cul o Disracion: On Berlins

Picure Palaces in racauer he

Mass Ornamen: eimar ssas

ed. and rans. ein Cambridge

Mass.: Harard Uniersi Press

pp. .

. Ibid.

. racauer Die Phoographie

ranurer eiung Ocober

ng. rans. as Phoographb ein in Criical Inquir no.

Spring :.

. Peo Percepions o

Difference: oman as Specaor

and Specacle in omen in he

Meropolis: ender and Moderni

in eimar Culure ed. aharina

on num Berele: Uniersi

o Caliornia Press p. .

aler Benjamin uredar lpoque de sa reproduc-

ion mcanise in eischri r

Soialorschung Jahrgang

ng. rans. in he or o

r in he ge o Is echnological

eproducibili and Oher riings

on Media ed. Michael .

Jennings Brigid Doher and

ein Cambridge Mass.: he

Belnap Press o Harard

Uniersi Press p. .

. Benjamin he rcades Projec

Cambridge Mass.: HarardUniersi Press p. .

. Benjamin Ober einige Moie

bei Baudelaire eischri ur

Soialorschung Januar

ng. rans. as On Some Mois

in Baudelaire in Illuminaions:

ssas and eflecions ed.

Hannah rend and Harr ohn

Ne or: Schocen Boos

p. .

. See Oliier ugon e mar-cheur: Pions e phoographes

au sein des aan-gardes udes

phoographiques Noember

pp. .

. On he relaionships beeen

cerain modern lierar orms

and he phoographic paradigm

see ndreas Hussen Modernis

Miniaures: ierar Snapshos o

Urban Spaces PM no.

Januar :.

. ernand ger es ralisa-ions picurales ac uelles es

Soires de Paris no. ng.

rans. as ecen chieemens

in Conemporar Paining in

ger he uncion o Paining

rans. leandra nderson Ne

or: iing p. .


12/12

Documents

Bajac, The Age of Distraction: Photography and Film