Friday, July 22, 2011

First person photographs


Some interesting “first person” photos. The first few are far more successful than the later ones, but it's interesting how the inclusion of a body part signals the first person perspective. While the viewer of a photograph is always aware that it is created through a first person point of view due to the very nature of the camera, in photography point of view is largely obscured, even effaced. Traditionally the role of the photographer as creative agent is masked. This is amplified by the frame and screen which, echoing painting and echoed in film, makes the photo seem removed, as if coming from an omniscient narrator. Some photographers do reinsert themselves into the frame through the inclusion of shadows and reflections. But here that experiential, embodied element is brought through by the fps convention of the fragmented limb. The 'first person' title alludes to both game and narrative techniques. All in all, one or two great images, and an interesting concept.


Cool First Person Photo Project: Andrea Di Gioia is a great photographer from Italy. Here is a set he's been working on of "first person" photos, but make sure you go check out the rest of his stuff a...