La Jette

La Jette

Lauren Jackson February 4, 2013

La Jette, despite being a series of still images, had the feel of a film because of the way in which the images are sequenced. The sequence of the images helps to tell the story. Because of the repetition of certain images, the story became obvious. The key element of time travel all really came together for me at the end, when the series of photographs in the beginning were presented again in the end. The use of the same images communicated the idea that the main character was in the same place both as a child and as an adult, and that as a child he was witness to his own murder. The repetition of the experimenters face from the upward angle also helped to transition between time travel and the present moment.

The repetition was probably what intrigued me most, and made me reconsider my previous thoughts on photographs in book form. I had never considered using the same image more than once to help tell a story. I found the use of the same image grounding and thought-provoking. I also felt that the use of repetition helped with the narrative of the story. Overall, the narrative was quite clear because of the sequencing of the images.

Although there was actual narration, which helped me to significantly understand the story, I feel like La Jette could have potentially stood alone and told the same story. The idea of time travel would not become clear until the end, or the details of the story. However, I feel like without narration, if this was in photo book form, I would want to revisit the story several times. After reaching the end, I would go back into the book to understand the beginning.