@v_kono
As I was I searching on Google Maps, I stumbled upon this image taken in New York. This is a photograph of a sunset over Crystal Lake. This photograph captures the moment of a beautiful evening by the lake as the day comes to a close. Although this is a beautiful sunset, there is no way to fully undergo the aura of this sunset simply by viewing a photograph. One must be there to have the entire experience. Walter Benjamin mentions the aura in his article, and says that the aura is “the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be” (4). The sun setting in the picture looks as though it is just on the other side, when in reality, it is far away. We are under the impression that we can go over to the other side and we will be closer to the sunset. We don’t know the distance. This is an example of the trickery of a photograph. The camera seems to bring the sun closer to us. For all we know, this image could’ve been photoshopped. Benjamin also says: “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”(3). We know that the photograph was taken at an unheard of Crystal Lake, but where exactly is the lake located? Is it off a road? Or is it at a nearby park? By the sunset, we assume that the time is around 6PM. How are we to know for sure? Any work of art lacks in the element of time.