PUNCTUM

[Bongo]

The punctum is a specific point in a photo that imparts meaning without invoking a system of symbolic representation. It arises from certain details in the photo that are unexpected and beyond the photographer's control. The punctum disrupts the studium. It is often a detail, something that grabs your attention.

Out of a fast moving crowd -the little girl in the yellow fairy outfit caught my eye. Only much later looking over the photo, deciding where to crop, did I notice the eye contact between her and the girl in the stroller. That "punctum" imo completely transforms the image. They are the only ones in the photo making eye contact, human interaction. I get choked up every time I look at this.

Caught the moment of this "father" and kids playing football with the iconic Seattle Space Needle in the background. But what makes the photo imo is the little kid against the wall, the "punctum" , too young to join in, and maybe not part of the gang.

On a deserted side street I saw this little happy sunshine figure on a fence. I pretended to be talking on my cell phone while waiting (and waiting) for someone to walk past. Finally, a few people strolled by, but none of them noticed the figure. After another long wait, a couple came by - saw me "on the phone" - this time I looked toward the figure and they followed my gaze, wondering "why he (me) is so interested in that? and their expression transferred perfectly to the sunnyshine figure. As if they're thinking, "what the hell is that? why is it so happy?" or maybe disapproving of it being there ? Without their unanticipated expression the "punctum" if you will, the photo would have been much less .

 

[Enyaw]

Agree, that fairy pic is a winner. Very cool to see kids still know other people are alive.

 

[Donna T]

Thanks for the new vocabulary word, Bongo. Great captures of life’s little moments! I like the little boy by the wall and the way his shadow keeps him company.

 

[bethany]

I love these so much - you have such an eye! Thanks for the new word!

 

[Bongo]

thanks everyone, much appreciated

 

[Triduana]

Thanks Bongo, word of the day
Very well observed. I love the last one.

 

[brianvds]

The punctum is a specific point in a photo that imparts meaning without invoking a system of symbolic representation. It arises from certain details in the photo that are unexpected and beyond the photographer's control. The punctum disrupts the studium. It is often a detail, something that grabs your attention.

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Out of a fast moving crowd -the little girl in the yellow fairy outfit caught my eye. Only much later looking over the photo, deciding where to crop, did I notice the eye contact between her and the girl in the stroller. That "punctum" imo completely transforms the image. They are the only ones in the photo making eye contact, human interaction. I get choked up every time I look at this.

Very nice catch. There is always something poignant about a moment captured this way. I often find such photos from a century ago haunting: every last one of the people in the photo is now dead. And of course, with a bit of luck, a century from now your photo will still exist, and the same thing will apply. Well, likely, depending on progress in medical science!

Those kids looking at each other adds an extra touch of the profound. In an hour, they will both have forgotten the other one, and then their lives go on, they grow up, they have careers, perhaps kids of their own, and through all those years, never thinking of this moment you captured, because they have forgotten it, and the parents never even noticed it. Perhaps they'll even meet again one day, unaware that they have briefly met before.

Common old everyday reality is often "deeper" than any attempt at making profound art that "says something" about life, the universe and everything.