Said

Throughout After the Last Sky Palestinian Lives, Edward W. Said discusses the relationship between photographs and time specifically as it pertains to political violence committed against the Palestinians. Regarding photographs of old Palestinian homes, villages, and camps, he writes “Each Palestinian structure presents itself as a potential ruin”. To Said, these pictures function as reminders of the destruction and theft of Palestinian land. Yet, these pictures once acted as keepsakes, memorandum, and souvenirs of various Palestinian families. Said argues that time has played a role in morphing the cultural and historical value of the photos as well as changing their function.

In this week’s readings, what are some other examples of time morphing the function, meaning, or value of photographs? How does memory or post-memory of political violence inform this process? How does time play a role in the consumption of these pictures, especially ethically? (Nate)

Azoulay

In Ariella Azoulay’s “Potential History: Thinking Through Violence”, Azoulay proposes the important dilemma of how to write the history of a violent event that does not “partake in preserving the constituent violence, history that is not merely its reiteration”, and then goes on to boldly claim how it is not “sufficient for such history to criticize the existing situation. It must reconstruct the possibilities that have been violently erased and silenced in order to make them present anew at any given moment”. Azoulay highlights how her archive of photos enabled her to “make historical moments reappear at junctions where other options could have been chosen”, and how its importance lied in the fact that “When nonviolent options for sharing life were constantly eliminated, the simple fact that they had existed earlier became inconceivable”.

What is the importance of recreating and displaying the other “silenced options” in a history of oppression? How does this approach differ from the more voyeuristic “mobilizing shame” approach, and what advantages does this new approach have? How can photography be used to represent the possibility of various options in a history where the most violent option was taken? (Amine)