Barthes would have something to say about this.

I’m not sure what he’d say, but you probably wouldn’t like it. And it would’ve been in French.

“Ultimately, Photography is subversive not when it frightens, repels, or even stigmatizes, but when it is pensive, when it thinks” Barthes

I was reading a bit about the quote above when I found this unusually powerful piece in the Guardian, which is a wonderful read:

“My father is today nearly five years dead. But, thanks to this holiday snap, he is brought back to life for one last game, a game that never ends. Dad is for ever framed in mid-action, I’m for ever protecting the wicket, and Neil is never going to stop a through ball unless he crouches a little. Those days are gone for ever and eternally present. The colours are faded, but not enough to stop the photograph breaking my heart.”

It was a great piece, but most of the pictures were missing.

Following a link to a version with all the pics surprisingly took me to the wretched Daily Mail (minus the Barthes).

The Guardian piece fails due to lack of pictures, a trait typical of their site unfortunately, and almost a crime on a piece like the above, and the Daily Mail piece fails due to too many vacuous pictures imposing themselves on pictures of nothing and everything.

There is a lesson here, but I’m not sure what it is. I’m going for a lie down.