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David Levi Strauss: Between the Eyes: Essays on Photography and Politics
In an era of social confusion and visual pandemonium, David Levi Strauss tackles issues of photography and politics in a way that few critics today are courageous enough to attempt. The essays collected in "Between the Eyes" address topics ranging from propaganda and the imagery of dreams, to Sebastião Salgado's epic social documents and the deeply personal photographic revelations of Francesca Woodman. Other issues broached here include the legitimacy of photographic imagery and the media frenzy surrounding the events of September 11, as well as essays on the work of Ania Bien, Miguel Rio Branco, Alfredo Jaar, Joel-Peter Witkin and others, plus an interview with painter Leon Golub (who worked from photographs). Reviewing the first edition of "Between the Eyes," "Publisher's Weekly" "'Photography and Propaganda, ' a study of the work and deaths in '80s Central America of photojournalists Richard Cross and John Hoagland, should be required reading in the age of embeddedness, and 'Photography and Belief' is a terrific meditation on truth in the age of digital manipulation."
207 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 1, 2016
"It's not that we mistake photographs for reality; we prefer them to reality. We cannot bear reality, but we can bear images - like stigmata...we believe them because we need what we are in them."
From discussion of some great photographic works (Hotel Polen was a favourite), to some of the best poignant and telling quotes - this book sets many thoughts in motion. Thoughts about how images are used/can be used in propaganda or in dealing with difficult realities like 9/11 and holocaust, or how they are used to construct identities. It often roams in the sphere of politics - commenting on wars and capitalism, even democracy.
I just wish someone comes with a image book version of this - where the text is accompanied by the referred images.
From discussion of some great photographic works (Hotel Polen was a favourite), to some of the best poignant and telling quotes - this book sets many thoughts in motion. Thoughts about how images are used/can be used in propaganda or in dealing with difficult realities like 9/11 and holocaust, or how they are used to construct identities. It often roams in the sphere of politics - commenting on wars and capitalism, even democracy.
I just wish someone comes with a image book version of this - where the text is accompanied by the referred images.
August 18, 2023
some chapters piqued my interest. others reminded me that i’m stupid about art
January 16, 2008
check out his writing on alfredo jarr.
June 11, 2017
Definitely some food for thought in the essay "The Documentary Debate." I keep going back to his debate over the "aestheticization of photography" and find a lot of merit there with regards to how we capture and how people respond to images. I also keep turning over the phrase "elevating the messenger and not the message" in my head, and agree that we tend to fetishize and prop up certain photographers and make the work about them, rather than the people in the photographs.
Great, but slightly dated, read for any photographer who is ready to philosophize about the whys of photography.
Great, but slightly dated, read for any photographer who is ready to philosophize about the whys of photography.
January 28, 2023
'Between the Eyes' contains some excellent essays about how we see and perceive images, and how photography's power has diminished in recent generations. The essays on propaganda and how photography's use in telling stories accurately has been effected by its use in the mainstream are particularly memorable.
June 7, 2018
A book that I have read for the past 4 years - I often find myself turning to this book when i'm in between others. A great set of essays that touches base on ethics, journalism, documentary and history.
July 21, 2018
A prescient, provocative, and ultimately chilling collection of essays. Highly recommended.
December 28, 2016
BETWEEN THE EYES: ESSAYS ON PHOTOGRAPHY AND POLITICS is an important book even though it is a bit dated, perhaps even because it is a bit dated (2003). The book is truly a collection of essays, somewhat disparate and some inconsistently related to the overall theme. But don’t let that stop you. There is plenty of meat in this book and plenty of valid issues to contemplate.
An early topic is the “aestheticization of the documentary image.” This is a quandary that has been around for a long time and is a damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don’t issue. Do you photograph the unfortunates of the world in a way that preserves their dignity; and then be accused of masking & trivializing the “truth” – the War is Beautiful syndrome? Or take the low road of poverty porn? Which is closer to the truth? What is the truth? “Salgado’s images begin at compassion and lead from there to further recognitions. One of the first of these further recognitions is that starvation does NOT obliterate human dignity.” (p. 48)
Another major theme is the commodization of imaging in today’s world (or, rather, the late 20th century) strictly under the thumb of a global capitalist economic system. “The principle requirements of the audience have become passivity and obedience. We’re all becoming global village idiots.” (p. 156) A particularly frightening passage discusses democracy, corporate power, and propaganda: “One of the principal techniques of propaganda today is to overwhelm the viewer’s ability to process or store images.” (p. 180). Why is this frightening? It was written in the year 2000; four years before Facebook (the #1 “news” source for most Americans) was even founded.
The back cover of my copy gives equal weight to the bio of the author of the Introduction, John Berger, as it does to author David Levi Strauss himself. This is justified as Berger’s contribution is a political manifesto in itself. “Few things are said in black and white. Both military and economic strategists now realize that the media play a crucial role – not so much in defeating the current enemy as in foreclosing and preventing mutiny, protests, or desertion.” (p. xiv)
An early topic is the “aestheticization of the documentary image.” This is a quandary that has been around for a long time and is a damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don’t issue. Do you photograph the unfortunates of the world in a way that preserves their dignity; and then be accused of masking & trivializing the “truth” – the War is Beautiful syndrome? Or take the low road of poverty porn? Which is closer to the truth? What is the truth? “Salgado’s images begin at compassion and lead from there to further recognitions. One of the first of these further recognitions is that starvation does NOT obliterate human dignity.” (p. 48)
Another major theme is the commodization of imaging in today’s world (or, rather, the late 20th century) strictly under the thumb of a global capitalist economic system. “The principle requirements of the audience have become passivity and obedience. We’re all becoming global village idiots.” (p. 156) A particularly frightening passage discusses democracy, corporate power, and propaganda: “One of the principal techniques of propaganda today is to overwhelm the viewer’s ability to process or store images.” (p. 180). Why is this frightening? It was written in the year 2000; four years before Facebook (the #1 “news” source for most Americans) was even founded.
The back cover of my copy gives equal weight to the bio of the author of the Introduction, John Berger, as it does to author David Levi Strauss himself. This is justified as Berger’s contribution is a political manifesto in itself. “Few things are said in black and white. Both military and economic strategists now realize that the media play a crucial role – not so much in defeating the current enemy as in foreclosing and preventing mutiny, protests, or desertion.” (p. xiv)
February 27, 2008
While living in Boulder, Colorado this book served as essential reading. The introduction by John Berger is as much a gem as the following text. Intelligent essays focusing on the cross-over between photography and aesthetics. When does a photograph's social content become destabilized by the viewer? What kind of negotiations need to occur between photograph as object and viewer? Does the photographer's intent become lost through social codes ameliorating the conflict inherent in photographs of war? These are some of the questions that Levi-Strauss threads together in this book of essays.
December 28, 2011
The first essay is the best, but his observations about Alfredo Jaar and Rio Branco are also pretty great. His thoughts about photography's truth-claim and position within the media add little new to these areas.
November 25, 2007
Pretty obvious from the title, if you love photography and have an interest in politics or how photography relates to culture this is a must read.
April 13, 2008
Levi-Strauss brings a super-thoughtful, contemporary perspective to the topic of photography and politics.
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August 9, 2010weeeeeew judulnya keren. mari berburu :D
March 18, 2016
Vey good, can't believe it came out in 2003, how time flies! Great read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews