The Photograph as visual embodiment of experience
Date Issued
June 2015
Author(s)
Abstract
Most research concerning vernacular
photography focuses on representation (what
photographs show), meaning (what photographs mean)
and distribution (where and how photographs
circulate). The proposed presentation focuses on a
fourth, almost invisible, aspect of vernacular
photography that is largely understudied: that of the
photographic process—the act of taking a photograph
and its relationship to experience. To investigate the
relationship between photography, reproduction and
experience, I conducted a research project that
examined how visitors use their photographic cameras,
smart phones and tablets in an art museum.
The research project in discussion was
executed in 2014 as part of a Smithsonian Institute
Fellowship in Museum Practice. The Smithsonian
National Portrait Gallery (in collaboration with the
Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access)
was used as a research site. Observation, in-depth
interviews with visitors and photo-elicitation were used
to examine the relationship between art experience
and photography. Emphasis was placed not only on the
reported potential uses of museum photography, but
also on the participants’ movements, interactions,
feelings and thoughts during the photographic process.
The data of the research suggest that the use of
photography has an effect on the actual museum
experience. Despite the fact that a few participants
rejected the use of cameras in art museums as an
additional, unnecessary and damaging lens to the
museum experience, the majority of participants had
positive attitudes regarding museum photography.
Most visitors/ photographers admitted that
photography could not possibly capture the “essence”
of an artwork or an aesthetic experience, but talked
instead of using photography for visually capturing an
“embodied” experience with a museum object. They
saw photography as a way to better engage with the
museum environment and visually represent a personal,
physical, sensory and mental connection with an
artwork, museum object or person.
photography focuses on representation (what
photographs show), meaning (what photographs mean)
and distribution (where and how photographs
circulate). The proposed presentation focuses on a
fourth, almost invisible, aspect of vernacular
photography that is largely understudied: that of the
photographic process—the act of taking a photograph
and its relationship to experience. To investigate the
relationship between photography, reproduction and
experience, I conducted a research project that
examined how visitors use their photographic cameras,
smart phones and tablets in an art museum.
The research project in discussion was
executed in 2014 as part of a Smithsonian Institute
Fellowship in Museum Practice. The Smithsonian
National Portrait Gallery (in collaboration with the
Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access)
was used as a research site. Observation, in-depth
interviews with visitors and photo-elicitation were used
to examine the relationship between art experience
and photography. Emphasis was placed not only on the
reported potential uses of museum photography, but
also on the participants’ movements, interactions,
feelings and thoughts during the photographic process.
The data of the research suggest that the use of
photography has an effect on the actual museum
experience. Despite the fact that a few participants
rejected the use of cameras in art museums as an
additional, unnecessary and damaging lens to the
museum experience, the majority of participants had
positive attitudes regarding museum photography.
Most visitors/ photographers admitted that
photography could not possibly capture the “essence”
of an artwork or an aesthetic experience, but talked
instead of using photography for visually capturing an
“embodied” experience with a museum object. They
saw photography as a way to better engage with the
museum environment and visually represent a personal,
physical, sensory and mental connection with an
artwork, museum object or person.