Category Archives: Student Blogs

@JacobCWalton
This picture of Vancouver lake demonstrates aura. This picture is taken from a slanted view, demonstrating the round shape of the lake. In the middle of the lake, one can see the round island. When shot from above, it appears to be a portrait of a massive eye, giving off a mystical feeling. Staring at the picture is like being in a fantasy world. It represents the ways in which satellite photography can be used to take two-dimensional things we normally perceive as being flat, and give them new life by revealing them in another light.

@KyleChinn1

The photo I decided to use for this post was the Vista House on crown point in the Columbia River Gorge. It’s a very pretty place because it looks into the heart of the gorge to the east, and down to the valley to the west. The Vista House is an observatory at Crown Point in Oregon that also serves as a memorial to Oregon pioneers and as a comfort station for travelers on the Historic Columbia River Highway. This beautiful building built in 1918 is visited by many tourists and is immortalized in thousands of photographs. According to Walter Benjamin “This unique existence of the work of art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of its existence. This includes the changes which it may have suffered in physical condition over the years as well as the various changes in its ownership (pg. 3 para. 1). This applies to the Vista House because this building battles winds and storms which made required a big structural renovation of the building, but it stands as a art piece for the entrance of the Columbia River Gorge, and it will probably stand 100 more years. I picked this photo because not only is Vista House a pretty sight to view, but the scenery surrounding it is even more beautiful then the manmade building. It makes me wonder if the people in the photo are more amazed by 100 year old building, or the view of the Columbia River Gorge?

@chrisdtc101

The image I found on google maps was of a group of people both walking and riding camels in the Saharan desert in Algeria. In his article The Work Of Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction Walter Benjamin says that, “Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be. This unique existence of the work of art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of its existence” (3). Since this image is a copy of the original event, we have no context as to what is happening here: Where are they going? What is their purpose? What are they carrying?

Another element from Walter Benjamin’s writing that correlates to this image is “Aura”. Aura is, “the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be” (4). In this image, we see the people and camels with some masses of rock some distance away, but we can’t really tell how far away they are. In the image they appear fairly close to the people and camels, but cameras can often distort distances, especially since the land is completely flat other between the people and the rocks. It is likely that the rocks are actually very far away, and the people will have to walk for quite awhile before actually reaching them. Unfortunately, we cannot discover how far of a distance it is without traveling to the location of the image itself.

mexico

@brandonluc01

This photo is of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary in the central plaza of Mexico City. Surrounding the Cathedral are Mexican locals and some tourists. The building in this photo is a very artistic design containing many intricate stone carvings.

In Walter Benjamin’s article he talks about the recreation of art through mediums such as photographs. But he claims that modern mediums lack some artistic values because anyone can simply take a photo of someone else’s art and say it is authentic or original. Benjamin says that the “sphere of authenticity is outside the technical” meaning the original art piece is independent of the copy.

Benjamin claims that copies of art often lack an element which an original piece can provide. Copies usually lack context. Copies can’t always capture the relevance of a piece of art at a specific period of time. An artist however can make several variations to their piece to incorporate thoughts, themes, or historical symbols to reveal some truth about the reality they are recreating. Another element artistic pieces include but copies usually do not is “Aura” which is the mood or close feeling a piece creates. In the photo of the Cathedral there are many people walking around it. They are in the presence of the artistic building and according to Walter Benjamin can feel the Aura of it. Benjamin claims that Aura can only be found within the presence of an artistic piece and cannot be captured within a copy or photo of a piece. Photos and copies make the viewer feel distant and unable to feel the Aura of the Cathedral.