bajac, the age of distraction: photography and film
TRANSCRIPT
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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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3Bajac
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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5Bajac
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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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
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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
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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
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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. .
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