LEE WOODMAN
CCDN 331 PROJECT ONE
ME IN MY CITY
The discourse of the flâneur is ubiquitous in history’s literature. The result of this discourse causes us to see the world the flâneur lived in. We understand much more about public life in Paris, but through the dissemination of this character. When the flâneur is described to us, he stands out as different and therefore we are unconsciously opened to the wider context (Rapaport, 1993). The surrounding culture is visible only in contrast to the flâneur. We might say that in the writing of Baudelaire, the flâneur is the object, but is he really? We could also say the he is the subject, and society is the object. In this way, both subject and object are understood through each other, and as such are consequently negated (Adorno, as cited in Rapaport, 1993).The result of extensive discourse on the flâneur is our significant understanding of the feel on Paris streets in the early 20th century. We come to understand this feeling from the reception and discourse of a character that is unlike his surroundings; the flâneur.
In my city today, I am not free to take pictures of other people. Our cultural ‘code’ demands that I receive consent from the photographed, and that they sign a form saying so. This however, is not something that I feel comfortable doing. Requiring consent moves the context of ‘watching’ and recording, to imposing and intruding. Subject and object become confused and any sense of context is displaced. In this photo essay, I propose to subvert the notion of capturing the city from a subjective view, and supplant myself as the ‘object’ within my investigation. My hypothesis is through shooting reflections of myself, I will capture the feeling and epoch of the city.
Maybe some people will watch me as I do this, maybe they won’t. If they do and in doing so are captured in the reflection, they will look into my world, entering my space. In this way the notion of subject and object are confused and negated. My reflection is seen in varying contexts, those contexts are important as they show the substrate, the ‘canvas’ for my idea. While is it not always obvious where I am in the picture, I am always there. Discourse can disseminate what these contexts represent, and I could do so given the space. But for this project I will leave it open. This is me in my city. As for my own privacy, I have asked myself and granted permission.
REFERENCES Adorno, T., (1973) Negative Dialectics. New York: Seabury. As cited in Rapaport, H., (1993). The Zeitgeist Complex, American literary History, Vol 5 (2) (pp347369) retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/ stable/489753?origin=JSTOR-pdf& August 8th 2012 Rapaport, H., (1993). The Zeitgeist Complex, American literary History, Vol 5 (2) (pp347369) retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/ stable/489753?origin=JSTOR-pdf& August 8th 2012